We're at that part of the year where I'm using the BBQ very often and considering extra purchases like a cheaper Pizza Oven or a smoker.
What does OzBargain do to clean their grills? Any brands to watch out for, any secret recipes for maintaining cast iron?
Have you tried cleaning any BBQ equipment and realised you really messed up or any other shenanigans like that? Any fun stories related to BBQs?
I made a poll for funsies but would really love to hear people's stories.
But after a cook I've eaten half a kilo of meat, drank a few beers and need a nappy nap, not to go out and clean.
I only have a humble baby q. So clean up is only a few min.
Ten min to get to preheat.
Then three min to scrap
Then three min to put away
Depends on the bbq. With my weber kettle I just brush the ash out between cooks and every month or so I'll give it a hose out. If I wanna get it sparkling I get out the scraper and some 0000 steel wool.
If it has cast iron parts you don't want to leave them wet and you wanna give them a clean and a coat with a high temp oil after use (I use grapeseed).
We use a Weber Q multiple times a week all year round.
After cooking I just shut the lid and go and enjoy my meal.
When next using the BBQ I preheat for 15 minutes which turns the previous use scraps into dust. I then just wire scrape the grills, blow the residual dust off and cook away.
Every couple of months I disassemble the Q, give it a full wash and degrease then let it air dry. No fancy products or tools.
Mine's a stainless steel marine type. Once a year, I take it apart, spray with oven cleaner, then hit it with the pressure washer.
Yep, can't beat a Bear Grylls, plenty of gas and fierce heat.
I'm autistic and I just scrape and leave it. I feel confused 😕
DO NOT use a wire brush of any kind , and even some stiff bristled ones are dangerous (residue consumed)
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/barbecue-brush-warn…
These sharp bristles can break off and get left behind on the grill plate and potentially stick to your food when cooking, posing an ingestion hazard."
Basically pay attention
No paying attention is not enough. You'd need to do a before & after bristle count, to know for sure. Ppl can't even be arsed making a phone call these days.
It's a high risk practise.If you never share the food from your BBQ ,fine, eat metal. But if you care, find a safer way
The case I linked is far from the sum of the problem.The stats are out there It's an issue that can take years to be diagnosed.Not a good look.
"Rare but not isolated
The ordeal Ms Saunders's daughter went through is uncommon but not unheard of in Australia or overseas.
A 2016 US study published in the Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery journal estimated that there were about 1,700 ER visits related to grill brushes from 2002 to 2014, or about 140 cases per year.
"It's something that doesn't happen that often, but it happens enough and I'd hate for someone else to go through something like this," Ms Saunders said.
"Think of how many barbecues are running at every Saturday sport and Sunday sport."
Yeah there's a bloke in one of the Aussie BBQ FB groups who had to get cut open after eating one of these brush bristles. I think it's actually pretty common.
@Cheaplikethebird: Just imagine the harm a meandering piece of wire can have inside your body, especially over months & years of unknown existence.No thanks
@Protractor: Interesting discussion and the reason I created this post is to hear viewpoints like this.
Would you use this? https://www.amazon.com.au/Grill-Brush-Scraper-Bristle-Free/d…
@esq: Probably not. I think I prefer something more passive combined with heat,moisture, maybe paper towels, and a gentle (careful)scrape (if anything) with a decent SS scraper.
Better yet, consider whatever is recommended by the people firing warning shots about the dangers of wire brushes.
I havent cleaned my webber in years.. I just use a couple of webber hotplates on top and wash those.
My dad always wasted a bit of his beer to clean his Weber…. but thats all beer is good for anyway
Most grill plates are cast iron so I just clean it like I do my cast iron kitchen pans… Straight into the dishwasher /s
I let the council worry about maintenance since it's their BBQ. It would be nice if they left the toilets open over night. Often I'm busting in the morning by the time they open up. Otherwise it's a great park.
A freaking thorough clean. All because there are plenty of Australian rats around where I live, have seen them on the camera running across the alfresco.
Sydney,mega rats, makes sense.
When I lived in Newtown even the cockroaches looked as big as my fist, and there were quite a few of them loitering in the evening.
Unless they were giant burrowing cockroaches, maybe you have very thick glasses or fists like figs?
Live footage of me during my US roadtrip.
https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/021/605/tru…
McDonalds clean their griddles with this powerful cleaning liquid, let that cook, scrape, and then rinse with a (profanity) tonne of water. You could probably do the same for public bbq if you wanted it really clean.
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i just use those bbq wipes while its still a bit warm after a cook.
every few cooks i spray the bbq cleaner on it and give it a good hose down.