Keep your gas grill clean...you've been warned!


 
I keep a spray bottle with water in it at the grill at all times. I know you’re not supposed to put water on a grease fire but it’s great for knocking down the flare ups before you put your pork chops in danger
 
Thanks for the advice.
Timely that you should mention cleaning your grill. It’s threatening to turn to sunny spring days here in Southwest Washington. Wanting to get into the Spring spirit my wife went out a few days ago to cook up some chicken. She discovered that a mouse had taken up residence in our 5 year old E210 we keep covered on the patio. (yes, all winter long). Large nest piled up to the grates and nasty white spots all over the cook box. (Looks like aluminum oxidation to me but not sure yet). We live in a forested area in farm country so we have all sorts of critters, but this is the first time for a nest in the bbq.
I’ve already taken the whole thing apart, ordered some new parts and am about to attempt the project of cleaning it. I’ll be posting questions on this forum tomorrow regarding how best to attack the job. With the cost of these type units these days I’m bound and determined to restore this one.
 
Take it to the car wash, spray it out good, maybe cover the valve orifices first. Then light it up and turn it on high for 30-40 minutes and you should be good to go.
 
John Landstrom said:
Thanks for the advice.
Timely that you should mention cleaning your grill. It’s threatening to turn to sunny spring days here in Southwest Washington. Wanting to get into the Spring spirit my wife went out a few days ago to cook up some chicken. She discovered that a mouse had taken up residence in our 5 year old E210 we keep covered on the patio. (yes, all winter long). Large nest piled up to the grates and nasty white spots all over the cook box. (Looks like aluminum oxidation to me but not sure yet). We live in a forested area in farm country so we have all sorts of critters, but this is the first time for a nest in the bbq.
I’ve already taken the whole thing apart, ordered some new parts and am about to attempt the project of cleaning it. I’ll be posting questions on this forum tomorrow regarding how best to attack the job. With the cost of these type units these days I’m bound and determined to restore this one.
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Welcome to the forum John! If you have questions, you will definitely find answers here. I'm sure your quest to de-mouse your grill will be a successful one.
 
I keep a 20lb ABC fire extinguisher close by in case of flareups. I just had it serviced a few months ago, so it is good to go. I keep a smaller one in the kitchen. However, cleaning a grill, is, important. I just cleaned my gas Q grill, and I'll clean the Genesis this spring.

Anyone had any issues with WSM buildup catching fire?
 
Thanks for putting this up guys. I FINALLY cleaned out the Genesis, I use it at least three times a week, and today after probably a year I removed the burner tubes and replaced them with my spare set all cleaned up, scrubbed down the flavorizer bars, pulled out the bottom grease tray and the mini grease catcher and cleaned that all up. Feels good, I'm going to make some burgers and dogs to celebrate!

It is a great time to clean up the guts of the grills, spring fever clean it up!
 
Since we've all been busy cooking all summer, I thought I'd bump this with a pic or two from someone (not me) that didn't clean their E330, and gave it away to me.

Cookbox melted a bit, grease pan holder falling away, igniter wires burned, cabinet scorched and the plastic door handle mounts melted.


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DanHoo said:
Since we've all been busy cooking all summer, I thought I'd bump this with a pic or two from someone (not me) that didn't clean their E330, and gave it away to me.

Cookbox melted a bit, grease pan holder falling away, igniter wires burned, cabinet scorched and the plastic door handle mounts melted.
Click to expand...

There ought to be a law!!!
 
Love how the bonehead keeps insisting he cleaned it out, yet it looks like a pig stay. Actually that's an insult to pigs as they're cleaner than that guy
 
I have had some grease fires all the way down to the drip pan (small pan). But have always been able to get it out by shutting down the grill and closing the lid. The only way you will get a nuclear melt down is if the grill is left on with the grease fire raging for an extended time.

You would think that guys grill would be cleaner if he has had to clean it up after dosing it with a fire extinguisher.
 
After a couple batches of 70% burgers I put it on high to clean it up.

3 mins later...



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It was burning on the lower heat deflectors not the slide out pan so I just shut off the gas, opened the doors and kept watch. With the gas off it died down quickly.

Time for a thorough cleaning.

Oh yeah, no burgers were harmed. This was the last round.

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Glad no burgers were harmed. Am I right to assume that this turning your grill into an inferno to clean may be tied to the old days of lava rocks? In those days the rocks collected a lot of fat in those crevices and if you did not do an intention high temp grease burn, you would have an unintentional one eventually. However with Weber's advances either the grease should find its way to the drip pan or if you know there is a lot of fat build up it is "preferable" for life and equipment to wait until the grill cools, scrape the fat off the nice smooth Weber grill surfaces, empty the fat, and do a nice high heat (no burn) cleaning. I could be totally wrong and guys just like to see things burn;-)
 
How timely this tread reappears. Barb and I were cleaning our two gassers yesterday getting ready for the grilling season. Both the E320 and the gen 2000 have CI grates so I seasoned those, and we scraped down the FBs and the hood and fire box. Today we will finish up and clean the grease trays and put in new drip pans.
 
@Joe Anshien My intent was to clean the grates. I find a few mins on high makes it easier to scrape off cheese and anything left behind. Usually I just shut if off and clean it when cool. I'll look at it today, however I suspect the lower heat deflector under the sear burner may be gunked up causing the grease to not drip down.

The E330 has had a lot of winter cooks with minimal cleanup and is overdue for a deep spring cleaning.
 
I believe somewhere in Weber literature I read not to cover the grates with foil and fire the grill up for a good 20 minutes on high heat...but it's worked for me just fine with every Weber I've owned and never caused a problem.
 
While visiting our youngest daughter in Seattle several years ago, decided to grill a couple slabs of St. Louis ribs. She had been given a used gas grill (not sure of the brand) that one of her roommates had used a couple of times. It appeared to be fairly clean so just gave the grates a good brushing once they were hot and put on the ribs. A few minutes later, dark smoke was coming out of every crack and it was apparent that it was on fire. Shut off the propane, carefully lifted the lid and rescued the ribs. It was a bit scary, especially since there was no fire extinguisher in the house.

Even though I keep my grills pretty clean, it's comforting to have a fire extinguisher just inside the back door. As a backup, we keep another under the kitchen sink. No such thing as too safe. Also, I only use my own grills after that.
 
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