Charcoal BBQ
So I my self own a Weber 57cm (22.5inches for my american friends :) ) one-touch Original and I've owned it for a couple of years now. Now when I was working for ex-garden centre I had training from Weber with their products and to be honest I use their ways for cleaning my charcoal as it works, simple. Starting off these kettles come with 10 year limited warranty and they will go on far past this, mine is in the garden 24/7 without a cover and shows no sign of weathering. Of course the simple thing is to make sure the top vent is closed and no water will get inside as this will rust your grates if its not.
You can wash your BBQ down if you want to keep that almost new look from the shop but its not really worth it, unless you are in a garden with trees and lots of birds, then you will want to wash it down as you don't want that smouldering on the lid while your cooking :) Going to the inside of your kettle and again there really isn't much need to clean this. I do it maybe 3 times in the year and its not a heavy clean either, just a rinse round the bottom bowl and a wipe with a sponge if there are any thick bits of ash. Then with the lid I pretty much leave alone, reason for this is when you first use the kettle the inside of that lid cause's the heat to bounce around and makes it super hot, when you start using the BBQ a lot it builds up a oily film inside and the heat doesn't bounce around so much baking the life out of your food.
Now for the grates, the bottom grate or charcoal grate never need washing, that means never, you don't cook on it so no need for cleaning. As for the top grate this is where I have found so funny answers and videos on cleaning it, you don't put it in the dishwasher! you don't need a power drill, you don't soak it in a bucket all night long and you don't spray oven cleaner all over it! When you have finished cooking you leave your cooking grate on the BBQ for next time, then when you want to use your kettle again you get your charcoal going, place the grate in there and put the lid on. Leave it for about 5 minutes to get real hot, this will burn off most of any bits left on the grate, then take the lid off and use a long handle wire brush to scrub of any other bits. That's it you don't need to scrub it for 20 minutes, the oily residue left on the grate helps to protect it and when your cooking helps towards food not sticking so badly.
That's it, there really is no rocket science to this and those people out there using 24v power drill to clean there grate really need to come back down to earth. I am thinking about doing a video with the cleaning process I use, if you want me to do this then please contact me and let me know, thanks.
You can wash your BBQ down if you want to keep that almost new look from the shop but its not really worth it, unless you are in a garden with trees and lots of birds, then you will want to wash it down as you don't want that smouldering on the lid while your cooking :) Going to the inside of your kettle and again there really isn't much need to clean this. I do it maybe 3 times in the year and its not a heavy clean either, just a rinse round the bottom bowl and a wipe with a sponge if there are any thick bits of ash. Then with the lid I pretty much leave alone, reason for this is when you first use the kettle the inside of that lid cause's the heat to bounce around and makes it super hot, when you start using the BBQ a lot it builds up a oily film inside and the heat doesn't bounce around so much baking the life out of your food.
Now for the grates, the bottom grate or charcoal grate never need washing, that means never, you don't cook on it so no need for cleaning. As for the top grate this is where I have found so funny answers and videos on cleaning it, you don't put it in the dishwasher! you don't need a power drill, you don't soak it in a bucket all night long and you don't spray oven cleaner all over it! When you have finished cooking you leave your cooking grate on the BBQ for next time, then when you want to use your kettle again you get your charcoal going, place the grate in there and put the lid on. Leave it for about 5 minutes to get real hot, this will burn off most of any bits left on the grate, then take the lid off and use a long handle wire brush to scrub of any other bits. That's it you don't need to scrub it for 20 minutes, the oily residue left on the grate helps to protect it and when your cooking helps towards food not sticking so badly.
That's it, there really is no rocket science to this and those people out there using 24v power drill to clean there grate really need to come back down to earth. I am thinking about doing a video with the cleaning process I use, if you want me to do this then please contact me and let me know, thanks.
Gas Grills
Ok so we move onto the gas grills which will get nearly as dirty as those kettle's minus the charcoal dust. Now starting with the grates it basically the same as cleaning the charcoal grates, don't put them anywhere near dishwashers and don't worry about putting them in soapy water. Just turn you gas grill onto high, close the lid and leave it for 5 minutes, this helps to bake off and loosen the fat and bits of food. Clean with a long handled wire brush and that's it. Only difference here is with the gas you can clean this when ever you like really as with charcoal its best to do it when you next use it for cooking so you don't waste the coals.
As for cleaning the rest of the BBQ that can come down to simple soapy water on the outside but if you have a stainless steel beast then I would say to use a stainless cleaner and if you use this always remember the simple rule of always wipe with the grain. Cleaning the inside of the hood is something some people might only do this once a year or some might do it 4 times a year, my preferred method would be the same as my kettle, once a year maybe not even that. The same rule about the heat bouncing around. What I use to get every now and then when I was selling gas grill's (only with black enamel hoods or dark enamel) was people would come in saying that the paint on the inside of the hood was bubbling. What it actually is is the build up of fat and grease but because its dark in there you can very easily mistake it for paint damage, also you will only notice this after a couple of season's unless you BBQ all year round.
Another problem we use to have was people having gas issues from the burners and this was normally down to 1 simple thing. When the BBQ is put into storage (this apply's to light BBQ user's who don't like the winter) they would take the BBQ out for use and try to run it straight away. Now those burner tubes are a lovely place for our little 8 legged friends in the winter and they like to leave their silk in the holes which in turn stop's the flow of gas. So you will need to remove your burner tubes and clean them through (only do this if you are happy with your DIY otherwise get a professional to do it) best way to clean them through is with a hose, if you put the hose right up against the large hole of the tube the water will spray through the little burner holes.
While you have the burner's out you may as well give the base area a clean down as well, metal scraper will get the hard parts off, then use soapy water with a kitchen sink brush to finish the job. While you are doing all this I would recommend using a sheet of some sort under the BBQ to catch all the mess that will be caused. Always remember to turn off the gas and remove the bottle when you are not using the grill for cooking.
As for cleaning the rest of the BBQ that can come down to simple soapy water on the outside but if you have a stainless steel beast then I would say to use a stainless cleaner and if you use this always remember the simple rule of always wipe with the grain. Cleaning the inside of the hood is something some people might only do this once a year or some might do it 4 times a year, my preferred method would be the same as my kettle, once a year maybe not even that. The same rule about the heat bouncing around. What I use to get every now and then when I was selling gas grill's (only with black enamel hoods or dark enamel) was people would come in saying that the paint on the inside of the hood was bubbling. What it actually is is the build up of fat and grease but because its dark in there you can very easily mistake it for paint damage, also you will only notice this after a couple of season's unless you BBQ all year round.
Another problem we use to have was people having gas issues from the burners and this was normally down to 1 simple thing. When the BBQ is put into storage (this apply's to light BBQ user's who don't like the winter) they would take the BBQ out for use and try to run it straight away. Now those burner tubes are a lovely place for our little 8 legged friends in the winter and they like to leave their silk in the holes which in turn stop's the flow of gas. So you will need to remove your burner tubes and clean them through (only do this if you are happy with your DIY otherwise get a professional to do it) best way to clean them through is with a hose, if you put the hose right up against the large hole of the tube the water will spray through the little burner holes.
While you have the burner's out you may as well give the base area a clean down as well, metal scraper will get the hard parts off, then use soapy water with a kitchen sink brush to finish the job. While you are doing all this I would recommend using a sheet of some sort under the BBQ to catch all the mess that will be caused. Always remember to turn off the gas and remove the bottle when you are not using the grill for cooking.