If you live in an area where the weather is getting a bit too frigid to keep grilling outside, it’s time to clean and store your grill.  Just ignoring your grill until next summer can cause problems that you really don’t want to face when the grilling season starts up again.

Start by referring to the owner’s manual for your grill.  Some grills have very specific, detailed maintenance instructions.  If so, follow those to the letter for the best results.  For instance, a stainless steel grill has specific products to clean the exterior that will not scratch.

However, most grills, whether charcoal, gas, or smoker, have a few cleaning requirements that are similar.  Let’s just cover a few basics here to get you started with winterizing your grill.

You’ll need a few items to get you started.  Here is a quick list.

• Bucket large enough for soaking the grates.
• Bucket for scrub water.
• Cardboard box that fits underneath opening in bottom of grill.
• Stiff grill scrubbing brush.
• Small soft scraper, like for paint.
• Soft scrub brush.
• Steel wool pads.
• Ammonia or oven cleaner spray.
• Dish soap and hot water.
• Old rags and sponges.
• Spray vegetable oil.
• Cover that fits your grill.

Start by scrubbing the cooking grates down with a stiff wire brush.  Then remove the grates from the grill and place in a large tub or bucket.  Pour in a mixture of hot water and ammonia and set aside to soak. Be sure you keep this outside because ammonia can be quite irritating to the eyes and nose.  For especially difficult baked on crud, use a steel wool pad and scrub the grates down again after they’ve had a chance to soak.  Be sure to rinse the grates thoroughly after soaking and scrubbing.

If you have a charcoal grill, remove the ash pan, dump out the ashes, and wash off the ash pan with a mixture of dish soap and hot water.  Rinse and set aside.

If you have a gas grill, remove the drip pan from underneath the grill.  If you a disposable drip pan liner, discard it.  Then remove the permanent drip pan from the clip and wash it with hot water and dish soap.  Dry thoroughly and set aside.

If you have a gas grill with “flavor bars” or  briquettes, remove those.  Wash the “flavor bars” with hot water and dish soap and set aside.  Determine if the briquettes need to be replaced, and if so, discard the used ones appropriately.  If briquettes are still good to use, check with the manufacturer to see how to store them properly until next year.

Now, starting at the inside of the lid, begin with a soft scraper and scrape the flaky deposits off.  Work your way down until the lid is clean.  You may also need to use a brush to remove pieces of loose debris.

Continue scraping and brushing down through the “belly” of the grill, being careful to avoid any gas jets.  You should end up with a pile of crud on the bottom of the grill.  Place a box under the open bottom of the grill and brush the pile of debris out the bottom, discarding the debris appropriately.

Now you can take your soft scrub brush, old rags, and a bucket of hot water with dish soap and, again, starting on the inside of the lid, start washing your way down until you have wiped out the entire interior of the grill.  Leave the lid open and allow the interior to dry.

Now it’s time to clean the outside of the grill.  Starting at the top of the lid, wipe down the entire surface with hot water and dish soap.  Go over the entire exterior once again with a clean rag and fresh hot water to rinse off the soap.  To give your grill a little extra attention and shine, you can mix a solution of baking soda and water, wipe down the grill, rinse, and then dry it with a clean, soft rag.  Some people report good results using a ball of aluminum foil for removing spots of grime on the exterior surface.  Gently rub the spot with the aluminum foil before washing the exterior of the grill.

After the exterior is clean and shiny, you will install your “flavor bars” if you have them, and then your grate.  Before installing your grates, give them a nice spray with cooking oil.

Now that everything is back together, cover your grill and put it away in a sheltered area.  If you do not own a cover, I highly recommend buying one and using it now and throughout the grilling season.  If you can’t buy a grill cover, use a tarp or piece of plastic sheeting to cover the grill, tying rope or string around the bottom to secure it.

Of course, if you have a gas grill, be sure to read your owner’s manual and follow the manufacturer’s recommendation for cleaning the gas jets.  This can be done now before you put your grill away, or you may want to tackle that project when you uncover your grill in the spring.

Now that your grill is all clean and securely stored for the winter months, you may want to start planning your strategy to tackle even more of those chores with ideas from Spring Cleaning Tips For Mom.  It’s always nice to look forward to spring… even spring cleaning!

Tags: charcoal grill, clean and store grill, clean charcoal grill, clean grill, gas grill, winterize gas grill, winterize grill

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 10:33 am and is filed under Tidy Tuesday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.