Grilling or BBQing seems to be a warm weather passion for many people all over the world. This usually means that sometime in autumn, the grill or BBQ is placed into hibernation. It is interesting that this phenomena happens, even in the tropical parts of the world with many people, even though the outdoor temperatures do not get very low. We pull out the grill or BBQ in spring sometime and the great afternoons and evenings of outdoor cooking commence again. There is almost nothing worse than cooking up a treat of fish and then finding that the last beef marinade taste is through the fish. The type of grill will determine the amount of maintenance that is required.
There are also maintenance requirements during the summer. Some people clean their grill after every use, whilst others have a rolling fortnightly or monthly clean. The most important thing is to keep the cooking surface in good shape and the heat system workable, particularly in gas fired grills.
The cooking surface will usually be either a grate or a plate, usually made from one steel or another. After each use, clean all the foodstuffs from the surface, either with a scraper tool, while the surface is still warm. I use a steel paint scraper and a wire brush, but there are grill or BBQ scrapers with wire brushes attached. The paint scraper is always easier to clean, so use the wire brush part sparingly. When clean, brush a light layer of cooking oil into the plate, so that it does not rust. I use a silicone basting brush for this task.
If the scraping process is not working, use oven cleaner – it is brilliant and needs very little manual persuasion to remove burnt foodstuffs.
Before cooking, check to see that everything is working properly and heat the grill to cooking temperature, use paper to remove the oil that was left from the previous cleanup and add new oil lightly for the new meal. Some people use water or beer on a very hot plate for cleaning, but this can warp the plate, if on i snot careful.
The gas system in the grill should be turned off at the gas bottle when not in use. In some parts where I have lived, the nozzles on the burners have been closed in by insects so that the gas does not flow evenly and they need to be cleaned regularly. Just poke the stuff out of the nozzles with a needle or skewer.
If you use charcoal in your grill or BBQ, change the charcoal regularly, especially if they get wet, because the charcoal forms an acid which is absolutely no good for cooking.
Keep the smoking chips dry for best results.
Grilling does not require any expert training – it is mainly common sense. Try new things all the time – it is amazing how many different food combinations have been discovered whilst experimenting. Ask your friends and family over for a fun time.
Grilling has been a great pass-time and for more information on grilling and cooking utensils, go to http://kitchenandkitchenutensils.googlepages.com
Tags: barbecue grill, barbercue, BBQ, BBQ tips, grill, grill tips, maintaining a grill
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