As summer draws closer, cooking dinner on one of the best charcoal grills or best gas BBQs becomes the only acceptable way for many. While cooking on charcoal or gas makes for an atmospheric experience, cleaning a barbecue on the other hand is a less than desirable task.
Knowing the best way to clean your barbecue is essential to ensure your grill works efficiently and safely. “All too often with busy lives, we are guilty of not looking after our barbecue year round, and people often find that they want to get fired up for a feast in the spring and are left with all sorts of horrors” author, editor of UK BBQ Mag, and teacher at the UK BBQ School Marcus Bawdon tells me.
“Barbecues naturally build up grease and soot deposits, which can taint your food, or be unhygienic and can cause flare ups,” explains Bawdon.
So if your outdoor grill needs some TLC in time for the warmer weather, read on for the best way to clean your BBQ, according to an expert.
Read more: Best charcoal BBQs 2026, reviewed by an expert
How to clean a BBQ
“The best way to clean a BBQ is with fire, almost like the pyrolitic cleaning cycle on many modern indoor ovens,” says Bawdon.
After clearing out any fat traps, run your gas barbecue on max, or load up your charcoal barbecue with a coals, light and leave the air vents top and bottom fully open. This allows the barbecue to burn off any grease or nasty bits. Bawdon says to aim for more than 300C and leave at this level for a couple of hours, then close the vents top and bottom and allow them to cool.
“Once cool, use a ball of heavy duty tinfoil scrunched up to run over the grills and to remove any loose carbonised material inside the barbecue,” instructs Bawdon. “I’m not a fan of bristle barbecue brushes as they can leave bristles on the grill, which is a potential hazard.”
Then use a little vegetable oil to wipe of the grill. “I never use chemicals or cleaning products inside a barbecue, as they can taint the food if any residues are left.”
When it comes to the outside, “a good degreaser works a treat or for very stubborn stains or chromework/stainless barkeepers friend is great. A little wipe of veg oil in any castors or moving parts will keep them moving.”
Weber enamel cleaner
Bawdon’s degreaser of choice is Weber’s BBQ enamel cleaner. You simply apply the mist spray on enamel surfaces, wait 30 seconds and wipe to lift grease, dirt and residue.
Buy now £10.37, Amazon.co.uk
Uniflame 2 burner gas BBQ
If you’re looking to save on a gas barbecue this summer, you can’t go wrong with this Uniflame 2 burner grill from Asda. Expert tester Flora Baker said in her review of the best gas barbecues that she “couldn’t fault” its performance, with two burners that “heat the grill up quickly and provide a nice, even cook”.
Buy now £71, Asda.com
Vonhaus XL American BBQ with smoker
If you prefer to cook over coals, Vonhaus’s XL American BBQ with smoker is a great value charcoal barbecue. In our roundup of the best charcoal barbecues, reviewer Samantha Priestly praised the charcoal shelf on the barbecue: “you can crank it up to increase the heat in the grill, or crank it down to lower it. It’s a simple feature, but really made this barbecue stand out.”
Buy now £131.99, Amazon.co.uk
Asda is selling a cheap gas BBQ – and we ‘couldn’t fault’ performance
