Cleaning Kettle BBQ (Charcoal)

coL

Apologies if this is not the right tread but I am looking to see how everybody else cleans their kettle charcoal BBQs and keeps them in good condition.

I use mine regularly enough and almost always have it set up for indirect heat and use a drip tray. If its only been a little while since I last used it I will clean the grate using a BBQ cleaning wire brush after it has heated up but if i am not planning to use it for a while I will bring the grate in and give it a thorough clean in the sick.

I find that every 9 or 10 times I use it the inside of the kettle gets very dirty and sticky. It can be a pain to clean, the first time I used steel wool but this was tough on the enamel so don't do that any more and in future will probably use brillo pads which don't seem to be as abrasive.

Just wondering what everyone else does with regards to cleaning and maintaining their charcoal bbq?

neris

Scrunched up tin foil on the inside of the lid & a soft brush to clean up ash & dust in the coal chamber. Good wire brush & lot of heat to clean the grill grate

coL

neris wrote: »

Scrunched up tin foil on the inside of the lid & a soft brush to clean up ash & dust in the coal chamber. Good wire brush & lot of heat to clean the grill grate

Thanks for the reply and advice. What I am really struggling with is the insides of below the grate. Its horrible sticks stuff that seems impossible to get off. Wondering if there is some trick that I am missing? I presume over cleaner would work? Does anybody use that?

squonk

I guess it’s old grease. I’d try a grease cleaner like cilit bang. Otherwise I’d use quite hot water and washing up liquid and a light scourer. I wouldn’t go too heavy and it depends on your kettle. Ive a weber I bought recently so haven’t had to tackle that yet but I was think8ng if doing this before I put it away for winter.