How to Clean Your BBQ Using Aluminium Foil

I don't know about you, but I personally hate cleaning the barbecue after a long day of grilling meat and vegetables on it. This is why I often leave it, which is a very bad idea, because this way the food particles and the grease get stuck to the surface of the barbecue for good. So, it's undeniable that the easiest way to maintain your BBQ in a great condition, is to clean it regularly after each usage. But when you're having fun at your own BBQ party and you talk to many nice people, cleaning the grill becomes a very low priority task, which usually waits for the next day. And on the next day the food particles are usually well stuck to the surface of the grill grates. Fortunately, you can easily and quickly clean it up using only aluminium foil. Here's how you can do it:

Prepare the barbecue. Before you start doing anything, you should make sure your BBQ is ready for the cleaning session. In order to do that, you will have to check if the barbecue is turned off and cold. And be especially careful if you're dealing with a gas barbecue, because they are quite gentle. Some people even try to remove some of the grease before they apply the aluminium foil, but this is pointless, because this whole process will be a lot easier if you just follow the instructions. Once you've made sure that the barbecue grill is completely cold and safe, you should prepare two stripes of aluminium foil, with the approximate size of the barbecue grill grate.

Apply the aluminium foil. Some people think that when they clean their BBQ grill grates with aluminium foil, all they have to do is wipe the surface with the foil. But if you want quality results, the process is a little more complicated than that. First you'll have to cover the entire barbecue racks with the foil and tuck in the edges, so absolutely everything can be covered. Also, the shiny side of the aluminium foil should face the racks for better results. Then you should prepare the grill and fire it up. Once the fire is burning, you should close the lit and let the fire do the rest of the heavy work. If you notice lots of white smoke coming out from beneath the lid of the barbecue, don't worry! This only means that the cleaning process is going by the plan. You should leave the fire for about 15 or 20 minutes, and then you should turn it off and let it cool for a while.

Remove the residue. Once the barbecue grill grates have had some time to cool down, but are still a little warm, you should pick up the aluminium foil and make a ball out of it with your hands. Don't worry, it won't be hot. Aluminium foil never gets hot. Then use the ball to rub the foil all across the racks to remove all the stuck leftover food. This method will also help you remove all the leftover residue, which will leave the barbecue cleaner than it ever was.

Rinse everything. Once all the residue and leftover food have been loosened and removed from the barbecue surface, you should pick up a sponge and rinse everything with water, so all the dirt can go somewhere else. If you don't have a sponge, you can just rinse everything under running water. Once you're ready, just live it in open air to dry. And you're done!