One of the best parts of summer is enjoying the smells and taste of food on the backyard barbecue. The smoky flavors in the meat and vegetables are hard to beat. What's not hard to beat: scrubbing your barbecue clean after a family party.
If you dread clean up time after family and friends hit the road, check out a few of these tips for getting your barbecue sparkling between uses:
1. Easy-peasy Ammonia methodGet your grill super clean with a bit of ammonia. You'll need a trash bag, rubber band, safety glasses and gloves too. Place your grill plates in a large garbage bag and add 1 cup of ammonia. Seal the bag completely and let them set outside overnight. According to
This Grandma is Fun, you can remove the grills the next day, lightly wash them and rinse the ammonia away.
*Note:
When opening the bag the next day, turn your head away to avoid the overwhelming ammonia odor wafting from the bag.
2. Scrub charcoal grill grates with foilCharcoal grills should be cleaned at least twice per season to ensure even cooking and prevent rusting. One simple way to clean the grates: Use a ball of tin foil to scrub the debris and gunk away. To keep them clean, try greasing the grates before grilling.
3.
Use a little vinegarCombine 1 part water with 1 part vinegar in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray your grill with the mixture to saturate and allow it to soak for about 10 minutes. Then apply regular white vinegar to a piece of tin foil and use the foil to scrub the grill clean.
4.
Bake your grates in the ovenIf your grill grates are small enough, you can bake them in the oven at 500 degrees. You'll want to place a pan on the rack below your grill grate and perhaps even line the bottom of your oven with a little tin foil (so you don't have to scrub that too!) Once the grate cools off, dust most of the debris into the garbage and then use dish soap to remove any excess grease,
One Good Thing by Jillee recommends.
Make sure to try one of these cleaning tricks before your next barbecue and let your friends enjoy their meat off of a clean barbecue! Make sure to share these tips with your friends on Facebook, so they can clean their grills before you come over for dinner too!
