House Hacking Project: Easy BBQ Cleaning

 
Summer is waning, and no doubt you enjoyed it as much as we did. We used our BBQ and Traeger grill extensively this year, and with that comes a little clean up. Some insurance to make sure these fire up the next time we use them 🙂
This is a dirty job, and nitrile gloves are an easy way to keep BBQ grease off of your hands. They are great for any number of things around the house, and it is nice to keep a few different sizes available. We used a shop vac, BBQ cleaner, scrub pad, and hot water and dish soap for the outside surfaces.

The grill doesn’t look that bad, but it isn’t sparkling either.

The Traeger has been busy this year, and the drip tray is a mess!

We start by removing all of the grill components, and use BBQ cleaner to soak the carbon build up. We prefer doing this before cleaning up the backyard, since it makes a mess.

Any wood pellet grill is going to generate build up from burning. We have a solid coating of dust and ash, time to bring in the shop vac to clean out the burner cup and bottom of the grill.

Much better! We tackled this process while the grills are still soaking, that way the gunk gets a little more break down time.

Close up of the firebox. Now the ignition source is exposed again, and a clear path is available for pellets to fall from the auger.

Over at the BBQ, we see a bit of rust and other detritus built up on top of the flame guards and in the bottom of the drip tray.

We use the shop vac again, to get rid of all the junk that has built up since the last time we cleaned the grill. The burners are free of flaking corrosion, and ignition points have a clean contact again.

BBQ is reassembled, and grates are installed after a good scrubbing and bath. The inside of the grill lid was cleaned with BBQ cleaner and hosed off as well. The outside was wiped off with hot water and dish soap. After all of the cleaning, it is time to light the grill to dry off all of the components. After setting all of the burners on high, we let it run for 15 minutes at full temp.

Grill is cleaned in the same manner, and new foil is applied to the drip tray. It is easier to unwrap the foil then it is to scrub gunk off directly. Lit, set on high and run for 15 minutes to dry.

All cleaned up, and ready for another round of service. We are hoping to eek another year out of the BBQ. The Traeger has a weather cover that helps keep it out of the elements. It is nice to have options when grilling.
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