Clean your grill
Time to deep clean the residue from the months of delicious summer dinners off your grill.
Start by preheating your grill and allowing the grates to get warm, but not hot. Using a grill brush and a soap/warm water mix, start scrubbing the grates clean.
Cleaning your gas grill:
Always make sure your gas grill is fully cooled down and you disconnect the gas line before you begin cleaning the internal components of your grill. Remove the grill grates and clean each of the flame tamers using a steel wool sponge or steel wire brush.
Once those are clean, go ahead and give each of the burners a good scrub to clean them. You can use a toothpick or q-tip to get into the smaller holes and remove any stuck-on residue. The hood of your grill may have also collected some residue over the busy grilling months – if so, go ahead and give the inside of the hood a good scrub with your wire brush as well.
Cleaning your wood pellet grill:
Cleaning a wood pellet grill is pretty easy and straightforward. First, turn the grill on high heat, close the lid and allow it to sit for around 10 minutes before reducing the temperature to around 250 degrees. Now that the grill grates are hot, it should be easy to remove any stuck-on residue with a grill brush.
Once your grill is fully cooled down, remove the grates and internal components, so you can see the bottom of your grill. From there, you can use a shop-vac to simply vacuum leftover ash from the inside of your grill.
The internal components of your grill can be cleaned with a quick scrub with a gentle dish soap and water mixture.
Once the inside of your grill is fully cleaned, the outside should be a breeze. Just wipe down the exterior of your grill with a warm cloth and some gentle dish soap if necessary.
Store it safely
In the PNW, grilling season is never really over. But if you decide you’re done grilling for the winter, it’s time to store your grill somewhere safe from the elements. If you have a gas grill, make sure to disconnect it fully from the propane tank. For your pellet grill, remove all wood pellets to ensure they don’t get soggy and stick to the inside.
It’s always best to keep your grill somewhere with overhead cover, however, avoid bringing it into the garage, as even a small gas leak can be dangerous.
Cover it up
Whether you’re storing your grill, or using it throughout the winter, a grill cover is always a good idea to protect your grill from the winter weather. Moisture can cause rust, so make sure you have a nice grill cover to protect your grill from the elements.