Cleaning and Maintaining your Barbecue

GUIDE TO CLEANING & MAINTAINING YOUR WEBER GAS OR CHARCOAL BARBECUE

It's easy to make your Weber barbecue last for many years - just take good care of it.

Weber Charcoal Grill Cleaning & Maintenance
Charcoal grills are easy to maintain. For best performance, clean regularly as described below.

Every time you grill:
Clean the cooking grate. After the coals have died out, brush off any loose particles on the warm (not hot) cooking grate with a brass grill brush or a handful of crumpled aluminum foil. For more thorough cleaning, use a wet, soapy, fine steel wool pad with only slight pressure. Rinse thoroughly and dry.
Remove cold ashes from the bottom of the kettle. This prevents airflow problems next time you grill. Ashes also absorb moisture, which may cause premature rusting of the One-Touch Cleaning System.

As needed:
Clean the inside and outside of the bowl and lid. If you allow cooking residue to burn off the inside of your grill every time you use it, you shouldn't have to work as hard at scrubbing the inside. You can simply brush off flaking baked-on grease with a brass wire grill brush. If you want to get your grill in sparkling condition, either inside or out, warm soapy water and a sponge or dishcloth are usually sufficient. If necessary, lightly scrub the porcelain-enameled parts with a soapy, fine steel wool pad. Be careful not to scratch the porcelain.

Never: Wax or paint the lid. The finish on your grill is baked-on porcelain enamel, so you never have to wax or paint it. This finish is glossier and much more durable than paint and wax will only streak when the grill gets hot. So just wipe the lid down with warm, soapy water when it gets dusty or dirty. Easy!

See our range of Weber charcoal barbecues

Weber Gas Grill Cleaning & Maintenance
Gas grills are relatively easy to maintain. Periodically, there are steps to take to ensure years of hassle-free performance. We cover them all below.

Every time you grill:
Clean the cooking grate. Before or after grilling, burn off any residue by simply turning the grill on high until the smoke stops, then brush the cooking grates with a brass wire grill brush. Easy! (Note: Cast iron cooking grates require slightly different care.)

As needed:
Change the Catch Pan Liner. You can buy replacement Drip Pans from your local Weber dealer. These pans are made to fit your catch pan under the bottom tray of your Weber gas grill. Regularly changing the liner also discourages animals from visiting your grill for a midnight snack.

Remove smoke stains from the grill lid and side burner cover. Carefully remove any smoke stains from the grill lid with a soapy, fine steel wool pad and a very light touch. For the stainless steel side burner cover, use only warm, soapy water and a sponge or dishcloth even fine steel wool will scratch it. Smoke stains are most likely to occur when your Weber gas grill is new, at the seams of the lid where the porcelain-enameled hood meets the end caps. They can also accumulate around the thermometer holder. These stains will stop appearing after your grill has built up a natural seal from accumulated cooking vapors.

Clean the Flavorizer Bars. You really don't ever need to remove the Flavorizer Bars from your grill to clean them, since preheating the grill and burning off residue by turning the grill on "high" is enough to turn any accumulated debris to ashes. Occasionally brushing the bars off with a brass grill brush or scraping them with a nylon, plastic or Teflon-putty knife should be sufficient maintenance. Just be careful not to gouge the porcelain-enamel finish.

Clean the warming racks and control panel. A soapy, fine steel wool pad will keep the warming racks clean and free of smoke stains and debris. It will also remove grease spots and stains from the control panel, but use a very light touch so as to not scratch the porcelain. Rinse thoroughly.

Clean the outside of the endcaps and cookbox. You should clean up grease drippings on these exterior surfaces as soon as possible. Grease is toxic to painted surfaces. Use mild, soapy water and rinse thoroughly. Harsh or lemon-based cleaners can ruin the paint finish on the endcaps and cookbox.

Clean the bottom tray. Remove the cool (never hot!) bottom tray from under the grill and place over a trash can. Carefully scrape the inside with a 1" putty knife or other straight, flat object. Push the residue out through the bottom hole into the trash can. To deep clean the tray, use warm, soapy water and a soapy, fine steel wool pad, being careful not to scratch the porcelain finish. (NEVER line the bottom tray with foil, as grease can accumulate in the creases in the foil and cause a grease fire).

Never: Wax or paint the lid. The finish on your grill is baked-on porcelain enamel, so you never have to wax or paint it. This finish is glossier and much more durable than paint and wax will only streak when the grill gets hot. So just wipe the lid down with warm, soapy water when it gets dusty or dirty. Easy! NEVER use oven cleaner on your gas grill. Oven cleaner is not friendly to the painted surfaces of your barbecue; it can remove the paint.

See our range of Weber gas barbecues

Ordering Parts
You can purchase replacement parts and accessories for your Weber grill from us, see our full range of Weber accessories and parts.

Ordering Parts
Reproduced with kind permission from Weber