Tips for Cleaning Your Grill

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Your grill gets a lot of use during the summer months. Like all things that are used a lot, it is important to keep them clean, especially if it's something that you cook your food on. Here are some tips for cleaning your grill.

Keeping a clean grill is the secret to great grilling. Yesterday's steak marinade won't taste good on today's lime-grilled tilapia. Just like a cast iron skillet, cooked-on flavor can be a good thing for your grill, but you don't want your grate coated in spices and melted cheese. And seafood is also notorious for adding unwanted flavors to your grill grate. A dirty grate also can make some meats stick, especially fish. You can avoid that situation altogether by cooking fish dishes, like salmon, on foil placed on top of the grate. You can also buy pans that are specifically made for grilling. They have holes on the bottom that allow the flames to lick the meat, so you still get that fresh grilled taste, and wooden handles that don't conduct heat. Here are a few other tips for cleaning your grill to ensure accurate cooking flavors.

Use Olive Oil

Spraying or rubbing your grill grate with a light olive oil coating is a good way to keep meats from sticking, and it also makes for a good grill cleaner. After getting off the larger chunks of grill mess with a good wire grill scrubber, coat the entire grate with olive oil. Then use a scrub brush or grill scraper to remove the rest of the caked-on food and spice. Then simply rinse the grate with water and your grill is nice and clean. You can remove the grates and do it in the yard to prevent a wet mess in your grill tray.

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