After some good consistent use, your BBQ may need some loving care and a deep clean. Keeping your grill clean is extremely important, it is a maintenance task which keeps everything sanitary and ensures that all components are working and operating at peak performance.

The Lid

Overtime, you may find that the inside of your BBQ lid looks as though it is peeling. This is not paint, nor is this anything to worry about. When using your BBQ, grease, and the smoke change into carbon and this is deposited on to your lid. These carbon deposits will eventually peel, looking very much like paint. This is a nontoxic substance, but these flakes could fall into your food if this is not cleaned regularly.

The high heat of your grill will cause the deposits to harden. It is important to distinguish between grease which most are familiar with which is oily and carbonized grease which is extremely different in appearance and texture.

To clean the inside of your Gas BBQ Lid, you are able to use a Stainless-Steel Grill Brush. This will remove the majority of the build-up. Should you find that there are some stubborn bits which have not cleaned off, a scraping tool will allow you to remove these.

For a deeper clean, after using your steel brush and scraper, apply a grate cleaner/washing liquid to the lid which will break down any remaining grease. Leave this to sit for around 30 seconds and wipe with a damp cloth/towel. Any flakes which you have managed to remove can be brushed away.

To reduce this build up after grilling in the future, you are able to wipe the lid with a paper towel whilst the grill is still warm, please ensure to do this with care so you do not burn yourself.

The Cooking Grates

It is advised that your cooking grates are cleaned before every use to ensure a sanitary cooking space and to reduce flare ups, food to stick and increase the longevity of the grates.

When preheating the grill on a high heat for around 15 minutes (with a closed lid), take a T-brush and rub over the grates.

This will remove any build up of fats of food from the grill. Any debris will fall into the cookbox which will burn away. Should you find there are any odd bits, when the grill is cool, you can brush them in to the drip pan.

The Flavourizer Bars

The Flavourizer bars direct grease and drippings away from your burner tubes which reduce flare ups. Due to their purpose, they do get very greasy. It is not uncommon for the bars to have some surface corrosion, this is nothing to be concerned about, they are still in very good condition and will serve their function.

Surface corrosion is to be expected and this does not warrant a replacement, however, if you find your flavourizer bars have holes which expose the burner tube underneath, a replacement is required.

After taking a look at the bars to determine if they are in good shape for a clean, shut the lid down and let your BBQ run on a high heat for around 15 minutes. Once this time has passed, turn the BBQ off and let it cool. These 15 minutes will allow you to burn most of the grease and residue off the bars into ash, this makes the cleaning process far easier than if this step is missed.

Once the Flavourizer bars are completely cool, give them a brush. It may be at this stage that your bars are moderately clean, and you wish to leave it there. Should you find that, the brush has not gotten everything clean enough, a plastic scraper would be ideal to scrape off the excess.

If you would like to do a far deeper clean, soaking the flavourizer bars in warm soapy water and using a rough pad will do the job. Please ensure you do not use a citrus based soap or use the dishwasher, oven cleaner or a self-cleaning over to clean the bars as this may cause damage to the product. The amount of food and debris from the bars may also cause your drains to clog up if using a dishwasher.

After soaking, rinse the bars thoroughly and use a towel to dry them. It is vital that you do not leave the bars to air dry, this may cause premature rusting.

The Burner Tubes

There are two areas on your burner tubes which are key contributors to your BBQ working at its peak performance. These are the portholes, and the air shutter screens at the end of the burner. Keeping these components of the burner clean is essential to ensure safe operation of your grill.

Use a clean stainless steel bristle brush to clean the outside of the burners by brushing across the portholes. Please ensure the brush you are using is clean and not the same brush you use to clean your cooking grates. In addition, do not put any sharp objects into the burner port holes as this will push any debris into the burners and may result in gas flow issues.

When cleaning the burner tube portholes, avoid the ignition electrodes that are attached to the burners by brushing around them (only certain models have these electrodes attached to the burner).

To clean the air shutter screens, you need to find the end of the burners on the underside of the control panel where they meet the valves. On some Weber BBQ’s the control panel may need to be removed to get access. If this is the case, you will be able to find instructions on how to do this in your owner’s manual.

Using a soft bristle brush, like the one found in the ‘gas grill maintenance kit’ or a toothbrush, clean the air shutter screens.

The Heat Deflectors

If you have a grill which has heat deflectors located under your burners, these will need to be cleaned, dependent on usage. The purpose of the heat deflectors is to distribute heat evenly throughout the cookbox whilst cooking therefore, keeping them clean is vital to enhance the cooking experience on your grill.

The appearance of your heat deflectors may vary, depending on your model. Once you have identified the heat deflectors, you are able to scrape them with a plastic scraper to remove the debris. If needed, you are able to brush the heat deflectors with a stainless-steel grill brush.

The Cookbox

Your cookbox will accumulate grease and leftover food and this may cause flare ups. To clean the cookbox of the grill, you can use a plastic cookbox scraper to scrape the debris off the sides and bottom of the cookbox and push all the debris into the opening at the bottom of the cookbox that leads to the drip pan liner. This can then be disposed of.

The Grease Management System

On all Weber grills, a grease management system is featured which directs grease away from the food and into a disposable drip tray liner.

Depending on which model you have, the grease management system may consist of a slide out grease tray or a slide out catch pan, but all models will have a disposable drip tray. Cleaning these parts has been made very easy as this is an essential step every time you prepare your grill. If these parts are not cleaned, this could pose a risk of a flare up.

Remove the slide out grease tray by pulling the tray from underneath the cookbox (if your model has this). Use a plastic scraper to remove excess grease. Remove the catch pan and check for excessive amounts of grease in the disposable drip tray liner and dispose of this if necessary. Replace with a new liner. Please monitor your drip tray liner when cooking to avoid this from becoming overfilled as fat fires are not covered under warranty.