Shutterstock / Maderla©Cleaning last year’s grease from the grill pan can be an arduous task but scrubbing with onions, beer and coffee are among ten surprising tips for a summer-ready, clean BBQ.
The gardening experts at GardenBuildingsDirect.co.uk have put together their top tips on how to achieve a sparkly grill and clean BBQ.
Steam cleaning with water-soaked newspapers and rubbing the bars of the grill with a raw onion are among the unusual tips.
Others include soaking in coffee, creating your own vinegar spray and pouring half a bottle of beer over a warm grill.
“Cleaning the BBQ grill is one of those jobs we all love to put off,” a spokesperson for GardenBuildingsDirect.co.uk said
“After finishing off the food and enjoying a few bottles of cold beer, scrubbing off the greasy food remains is not fun.
“Luckily our hacks will give you a few ideas on how to get the grill sparkling without having to put in too much elbow grease.
“They’re also fun – who knew you could clean a greasy grill with an onion, coffee and beer?”
Take a look at the full tips below:
Heat it up
If you’re dusting down your BBQ for the first time this year, heat it up to try and remove any stuck-on food.
This should burn off the most stubborn remains.
Steam clean
Once your BBQ has started to cool down, cover the grill with water-soaked newspaper and close the lid.
Leave it shut for 30 minutes to give it a god steam clean.
Clean with an onion
While there’s still some heat in your grill, attach and onion to a fork and rub over the hot bars.
The water in the onion steam cleans them and removes any stuck-on food.
Vinegar spray
Mix 500ml of vinegar and the same amount of water in a spray bottle. Spray the solution onto the grill and leave for ten minutes.
Empty the bottle, refill with vinegar, spray on and then scrub to clean the grill and its interior.
Coffee cleaner
Try soaking your grill and utensils in coffee for hard to remove food remains.
The acid in the coffee loosens up the caked-on dirt.
Baking soda
Sprinkle baking soda on the grill and dissolve some in water.
Use a sponge with a scourer to scrub until all the baking soda is gone and the grill is sparkling.
A waste of beer?
Pour half a bottle of beer onto a warm grill and scrub with some newspaper or a wire brush.
In no time, your grill will be sparkling.
Scrubbing remains
If there are still remains on your grill, scrub them in hot, soapy water.
If you don’t have a BBQ grill brush, scrunch up some foil and use that instead.
Cleaning the base
It’s important to remove old ash and coals before you start cooking again.
Tip them into a bucket and use damp kitchen towels to pick up any remains. Then give it a good wash down with warm, soapy water.
Scrubbing outside
Once the inside of your BBQ is sparkling, don’t forget to give the outside a good wash down.
Hot soapy water and plenty of elbow grease is all you will need for this.
Take a look at our Cookery pages for some delicious BBQ recipes.
It’s not just a clean BBQ that’s important when cooking outside. You also have to make sure you cook everything thoroughly to avoid common bugs and bacteria. Click here for our advice on doing just that.
Marion McGivern As editor of the cookery, money, pets and eco pages, Marion covers a wide range of regular Features content. Along with the rest of the Team, she enjoys finding interesting features for both the weekly and Special issues that readers will love. Having so much variety every day means that over ten years with the “Friend” has just flown by!
