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During the summer months, grills become some people’s most used appliances. Families and friends spend hours under the sun while cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, veggies and much more. Beyond purchasing the right gas grill or charcoal grill and seeking out the right grilling accessories, an essential part of barbecuing is cleaning up your grill. Bill West, founder of Barbecue Tricks, said many people “think they can go for days and let char and burnt bits linger on the grill top.” Some believe the misconception that doing so seasons the grill grate. But that’s not the case, according to West. “Funk is not flavor,” he said.
While there is a plethora of products designed to help you clean your grill — from sponges to sprays — Derek Wolf, founder of Over the Fire Cooking, said they’re largely unnecessary. “There are two things you need to clean your grill: heat and elbow grease,” he said. “You’ll need something that can scrape food off the grate, too, but it doesn't need to be more complicated than that.” We talked to grilling experts about how, when and why it’s important to clean all parts of your grill, from the cooking surface to the lid. Experts also recommended products to use while cleaning, like brushes, scrapers and more.
Why it’s important to clean your grill
Wolf, author of the recently released “Food by Fire,” said it’s common for people to add fat to foods while barbecuing, like butter on steak or oily marinades on chicken. Wolf said grilling these foods is perfectly fine, but if you don’t clean your grill after it gets covered in grease, you may face problems later on. Sugar — an ingredient common in barbecue marinades and sauces — also burns quickly and, if it sits on a grill’s grate, can cause food to have a bitter taste the next time you cook.
“The problem is that heat and fat are friends,” Wolf said. “Having a clean grill really helps to prevent flare ups while cooking. If you don’t clean your grill grate, residual fat will drip into the grill.”
A dirty grill grate may also prevent your barbecue from cooking food evenly. A clean grill grate ensures a consistent cooking temperature throughout, which Wolf said ensures all sides of your hamburger, hot dogs or ribs are as done as you want them to be, equally. Clean grill grates also help create crisp sear marks on food from meat to vegetables.
