While there have been a lot of developments in the world of BBQ grills and the way gas grills heat, the burner is essentially the primary force behind a grills performance. The gas grill burners take a lot of harsh treatment in any barbeque. Any material experiencing extremes of heat or cold will expand and contract. Add rain and grease and there are plenty of reasons for these grill parts to rust or corrode. However, the burners in your gas grill are made to last and to resist the weather, temperatures and cooking grease. As you use the BBQ grill, how do you treat your burners and keep them clean to ensure long-term reliably?
Most of the barbeque grills sold today are made very inexpensively overseas. When this is the case a replacement gas BBQ burner is usually better quality than the original burner that came with your barbeque. No one likes to hear this and I apologize but it is often true for most of the popular and widely distributed barbecues. If you have a DCS, TEC, Solaire, Alfresco, FireMagic, American Outdoor, OCI or any of a handful of high-quality American made grills the gas grill parts are well constructed and can be cleaned repeatedly. Less expensive grills that use cheaper parts are more difficult to clean and take care of because the grill parts fall apart so fast. Either way, I sell gas grill replacement parts and you can read on to hear how I clean my burners or you can contact me to get perfect fit new BBQ grill burners shipped immediately.
I use an infrared gas grill at home and one side of the cooking surface will get to 1400 degrees within three minutes. Obviously the first step for me when I am cleaning is to turn the infrared gas grill burner on high and walk away for ten minutes. Without an infrared grill this is still good advice. When you are done using the barbeque you can turn the burners on high to help the cleaning process. The heat will dry the grease and dirt. Often if this is all you do the bugs, rodents and other things attracted to your barbecue because of the smell of small amounts of food will be gone. Leave food in the grill and you get unwelcome visitors. Burn the food off and the grease is easier to scrape off because it is dried up and burnt.
After heating your burners brush them with a long handled steel or brass brush. Use a long brush because the steel will be hot from the burning off process. Brush while the steel is hot so the grease and dirt do not cool down and attach to the barbeque burner. When the burner is cool, I use a rotary brush. I went to the local hardware store and bought a round brush with steel bristles that attaches to my drill like a drill bit. The rotary brush spins much faster than I could brush and cleans the burners like they were new.
Many backyard grillers like you and me have brushes with brass bristles on them. The brass bristles are softer than the heavier gauge stainless steel bristed brushes. Some BBQ manufacturers will use porcelain coated steel cooking grates because they are less expensive than stainless steel cooking grates. These usually use a very cheap steel but the porcelain coating will protect the cooking grates from direct contact with grease, moisture, heat, etc. The problem we have is when the porous porcelain starts holding on to the grease that drips off the cooking food, we have to clean it off. The softer we clean the cooking surface the less damage we will do to the porcelain coating. Once the porcelain coating on the cooking grates, heat shields and flavor plates is damages the steel below will begin oxidation. Usually we cannot see it until the cooking grid falls apart in our hand.
When cleaning the burner, we can use a stronger brush than we use on the other parts of the BBQ grill. I use the rotary attached to my drill. I used to use a steel brush from an auto parts store that was really stiff and hurt to touch but it cleaned well. I have also used sandpaper but use it very lightly.
Once the burner is adequately cleaned look at the ports. Before cleaning the burner as a whole you may not be able to see the individual ports. The ports are the small holes the gas comes through. Heat plates, flavorizers, flame tamers and other heat spreaders in barbecues should deflect grease from the ports but these are not always successful — especially if they are rusting and falling apart by the time we look at the burners. Now that we can look at them, inspect the holes to see if they are rusting together in to one large hole from three single ports. If the holes are fusing together you are close to replacing the burner. If it is only intermittent you may get a little more time from the burner but keep aware of hot and cold spots created from uneven gas flow from the ports on the grill burner.
Check to see if the ports are clogged. Use a small screwdriver or a pin to see if you can clear the burner opening. If it is difficult get something stronger. I have had to use tiny drill bits to clear burner ports when they were badly clogged but it has to be done for the burner to grill properly and safely.
When the burner is cleaned and the ports cleared check the wind vent on the venturi. These often need to be lightly degreased to keep the adjustment screw functional. When you replace the burner and test it look at the flames to make sure you are getting a proper safe gas flame. Gas flames should be blue with a slight orange tip on the flame and the entire flame should not be more than 1 .25″. If the flame is improperly colored closing the vent will burn more gas adding blue to the flame. Opening the vent on the venturi will add air to the gas mixture in the burner bringing more orange to the flame.
Check the flame. If you did not mount the burner venturi properly onto the orifice end of the gas valve checking the flame should let you know. I have had to replace a lot more than just a barbeque grill gas burner when some do-it-yourself-er improperly mounted the burner when rebuilding their newly-cleaned grill.
Finally and most importantly: Have Fun. Backyard cooking, grilling, barbecuing is meant to be a great time together with family and friends. If you are uncomfortable or unsure of the cleaning process call a professional. We will clean it right and replace any necessary parts so your use of the barbeque grill is purely for enjoyment and eating.