4 helpful tips for easily and thoroughly cleaning your barbecue grill

Cooking meat on a BBQ can be a great way to enjoy summer and the outdoors. However, clean up afterwards can be a hassle. Follow these simple tips to make sure you do a thorough and effective job cleaning your grill every time.

• People tend to want to use strong oven cleaner to get the grit and grime off the grates of their BBQ grill.
• In reality, however, you should never use any harsh cleaning chemicals to clean your grill, since the chemicals can leave a residue that will affect both the taste and safety of whatever you cook on it afterwards.
• Harsh cleaners like oven cleaners can also corrode the stainless steel that your grill is made out of.

• To effectively clean your grill, clean it while it's still warm, but not hot. When you're done cooking, go over the grates of the grill once with a grill brush.
• Then, put a pie tin with warm water on the grill and close it. Allow the grill to cool for an hour or so, then remove the lid of the grill carefully (which should let out some steam).
• Once the steam has dissipated, use a grill brush and scrubber to get the warm, wet residue off of the grates.

• If you do want to do a deep clean of your grill, it's best to do so with vinegar. Put two cups of vinegar into a spray bottle with two cups of water, then spray it onto your grill.
• Allow the vinegar to dry for about ten minutes, then use a piece of aluminium foil coated with vinegar to wipe off the dirty grates.

• If you're cooking on a BBQ grill, place a splatter mat underneath it before you start.
• A splatter mat (which can be found at hardware and home goods stores) is heat resistant and collects splashes and drips from the grill.
• This will help keep the area around your grill clean and ensures an easy cleanup once you're done cleaning your grill, since it can collect all the caked on residue that falls off.