Gas Grill 101 – Your Educational Guide To Becoming A Grill Master
Please lets all take our seats, and we promise to be brief! Also feel free to print this out or to just save it to your desktop. We will be posting a link to this on our Facebook page Country Hearth Toledo.
CLEANING:
Cleaning your grill is a simple, no chemical, no fuss, no effort way to make sure that your grill lasts you for a REALLY LONG TIME. Plus, it prevents flare ups and gross tasting food. lol.
Below are the simple steps to follow:
1. Ignite Grill – Turn all the burners to the highest heat setting.
2. Place a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil, shiny side down on the cooking surface. *Make sure there is at least 1 inch space on all four sides.
3. Close the lid, and allow to run about 15 min MAXIMUM! If you see a mass of flames and black smoke – turn off burners and and let it burn out with the lid closed.
4. In the event that the grill is excessively dirty, allow the grill to cool, and repeat the process. *When you stop seeing smoke from the grill, you have completed the cleaning process.
5. After the grill has cooled, or at the next cooking, take your brass bristle brush and brush away the white ash.
If you allow grease and grime to lay at the bottom of the grill, it will cause premature deterioration of the burners, grates, and base of your grill.
NEVER EVER USE A CHEMICAL! Don’t use anything like an oven cleaner, grill cleaner, solvents, bleach, or glass cleaner on the inside of your grill. They are toxic. Please understand that when the grill surface reaches 175 degrees F even though it’s dirty – it is sanitary.
COATING:
Coating your cooking surface will help eliminate rust and keep your foods from sticking. After cleaning and brushing the white ash you want to coat the grates with an olive oil. You can use a olive oil spray or a regular olive oil in a bottle and brush it onto the grates. DO NOT USEvegetable oil or grill sprays as we have seen over the years that when these heat up and burn off they tend to leave a hard black plastic ash behind. A good olive oil will seal cracks and chips on your porcelain and will seal steel from rusting. Plus, it makes a great low stick surface and it’s good for you! If you clean and coat every time you’ll love the results! *disclaimer – olive oil on a dirty greasy grate is totally ineffective.
SPIDERS:
Alright now I know what you’re thinking… You’re thinking “um, I opened the lid and didn’t see webs so I don’t have spider”. Welp, you seriously might be wrong. You aren’t looking for a big spider or even a big web. The spiders we are talking about are small and love to live right in the venture tubes of your burner. When you have a spiders nest or nit it can cause a control panel fire and some serious damage. Plus, you can’t blow or wash those bad boys out with an air compressor either. Spider webs are one of the strongest fireproof materials on earth, an actual spider web 1/4″ in diameter can lift a automobile. It only takes a very small blockage to divert the gas back to your control knobs. You need a special brush meant for the job… A spider brush. Use the spider brush to gently clean the venture tubes. Make sure you take the burner out of the grill first. In the event of a spider flair up – TURN OFF THE PROPANE TANK MANUALLY IMMEDIATELY!
Stay tuned for our next lesson of GRILLING 102 where we discover how to use your natural gas or propane grill for smoking and cooking!
You’re Welcome!