How to Clean a Charcoal Grill

Deep cleaning a charcoal grill is very important as part of the maintenance of a charcoal grill. It does not take much time and it will definitely improve your grill’s performance. A proper scrub-down ensures better tasting food as all the previous cooking’s residuals or rust from a rusty grill will be removed.

A charcoal grill should be cleaned as often as possible. You may grill seasonally or often. However, it is important to clean after every use for hygiene and safety reasons regarding health because no one needs to eat contaminated food.

There are various ways to clean a charcoal grill. Some of the best ways to clean a charcoal grill include:

Maintaining your grill

What you’ll need

• Brush
• Plastic bag
• Ash catcher

Steps

1. Find a suitable place to clean your grill. This will prevent ash from dirtying a walking path. A place with ground cover is best for this.
2. Use a brush to remove the build-up from the grates. Moderate force should be used to prevent damage of the coating.
3. Remove build-up from the grill lid and bottom.
4. Use the ash catcher to remove leftover ashes and dump into the plastic bag.
5. Reassemble the grill and use aluminum foil for cleaner and easier grilling.

Oiling the grates

What you’ll need

• Oil
• Paper towel
• Oven mitten
• Tongs

Steps

3. Heat up your grill for 10 to 15 minutes. This prevents food from sticking to the grates.
4. Wet paper towel in oil. Use moderate oil to prevent from catching fire. Peanut, olive, or canola oil is best to use.
5. Apply oil to the grates using an oven mitten and tongs. Throw away the paper towel after use.
6. Alternately, oil the grates when the grill is cold.
7. Light your grill after applying oil to the cold grates. The heat will burn the excessive oil and the grates are ready to grill food.

Check this too: How to Put Out a Charcoal Grill

Preventing food from sticking to the grates

What you’ll need

• Oil
• Fish basket
• Iron griddle

Steps

1. Coat the grates with oil and grill at lower temperatures.
2. Use a fish basket. This adds cooking time to the fish and easy turning when one side is cooked. An alternative to this is aluminum foil.
3. Place a cast iron griddle on the grates of the grill. Lightly coat the griddle with high temperature and flip food when one side is cooked. A griddle with an oil-catching groove around the edges will prevent oil juices from dripping as they can cause flare-ups when in contact with fire.

How to clean a charcoal grill

What you’ll need

• Ash catcher
• Metal bucket
• Soapy Water
• Brush
• Fiber pad

Steps

1. Empty ashes after every use. Leftover as can collect moisture which forms a cement-like residue which is hard to clean. The moisture can also form rust on the grill grates. Prevention of this also helps in cleaning a rusty charcoal grill by preventing moisture from getting on the grates. Use an ash catcher to dump the ashes into the metal bucket.
2. Clean all parts at least once a year with a stiff brush, fiber scrub pad, and soapy water.
3. Take your time deep clean. You can follow this cleaning procedure on cast iron grills

How do you clean grill grates?

What you’ll need

• Brush
• Scrapper tool
• Grill cleaner
• Damp cloth or rag

Steps

1. Brush off grates after every cooking session.
2. Use a scrapper tool to scrape off burnt food.
3. Wipe the grates using a damp cloth to remove loosened bits of residue. Brush on some oil preferably vegetable oil for maintenance and wipe off. This helps in cleaning out rust off the grates as well.
4. Soak the grates in hot water and soap and grill cleaner This is part of the deep cleaning process.

Check this too: How to Clean an Infrared Grill