British BBQ Society Forums

ok peps just quickly, do people on here clean your bbq's and how often

obviously i clean the cooking grate

but what about the rest, i thought you shouldnt as the char (if thats the right expression) helps act as insulation..

so if people do clean often what do you use..

big fire take it that means nuff coal

ok has anone tried any of these spray cleaners?

I've used the weber stuff, works on the grates but struggled on the inside surface. I keep the grates clean with a grill brush and tend to just brush off the loose stuff inside when it's cold any spills can be wiped off at the end of the cooking session

Reminds of a conv. at work the other week...

Colleague "What do you use to clean your BBQ?"

Me "20 kilos charcoal and a chimney starter"

Colleague "I use a pressure washer with some detergent in the washer bottle then I pressure wash off again"

Me "I'm pleased for you..

Colleague "It's a gas BBQ"

Me "Walking away now........"

I never really clean my kettles or WSM. For the kettles, I just use the heat from each new bed of lit charcoal to zap any crust on the grate and then brush it off with a wire brush into the coals. If I'm doing a one sided indirect cook, then I'll need to turn the grate through 180 degrees to get to both sides.

If the grate is really cruddy, then a good tip is to put a layer of aluminium foil on top of the grate for a while - this pretty much turns anything left on there into ash that just falls off.

For the smoker, I do empty and wipe clean the water pan after each use (or you end up mouldy fat in there). The water pan is normally almost empty by the time I have finished cooking, so I just lift it out, open all the vents wide to get the temperature up then brush the grates off and let the thing sterilise itself and then go out.

By the time I am finished cooking, I am so busy eating that I don't even think about cleaning the smoker

The only thing on my Excel 20 that gets any kind of cleaning is the grates. They just get brushed off when preparing for the next cook, and again after the charcoal is going and they are hot.

I don't use smoker grates, just simple oven ones and I wash mine using warm water and steel wool....comes off a treat. As for the smoker, i just scrape off the build up with a wall paper scraper and hover it up

For my WSM, the grates go into the dishwasher and come out nice and sparkly - look as good as the day I bought em. I dont clean the inside, but do brush the ash from the bottom of the charcoal pit

For the Weber Kettle, I get the charcoal going with the charcoal starter, once its fully lit, I drop the coals onto the cooking grate and leave them for 20 minutes, this burns everything off the grate. Then I drop the coals back into the kettle and brush the grate clean with a wire brush. Then wipe clean with a wet cloth.

Soapy water and some aluminium foil used as a scourer for the cooking grates and then kitchen towel to wipe the rims so that the WSM doesn't get stuck together. Clean out the water pan, the bottom is always foiled so no need to clean that and clear out the spent fuel/ash from the bottom of it...once cooled of course.

Will do that after every smoke...then cover on and off to bed usually

Don't wipe off all that sticky goodness on the rims mate. That patina build up improves the smoker, a sticky lid is a good thing.