For The Best Searing & Sizzling BBQ, Keep Your Weber Q Clean!

If you're somebody who loves to get their grill on, the aroma of well-seasoned foods sizzling on a grill is an almost unbeatable experience when it comes to cooking. With that sentiment, barbeques are probably a regular occurrence for you, however, even if they are not, it's still important to clean your grill for the next cookout.

While a dirty grill looks unpleasant, the real problem goes much deeper than just the appearance. Between the risks of your food tasting odd, mould buildup when out of use, or accidentally igniting the grease and oil that's covering your grill, it's worth making sure everything is cleaned before using it again. 

That brings us to the specific cleaning instructions for a Weber Q grill. Firstly, you should note that Weber has their own dedicated set of cleaning and maintenance tools and supplies; therefore, it is advisable to invest in these products for the best and safest maintenance of your grill. Of course, having all the tools and cleaners aren’t enough if you don’t know how to use them. 

So, today, MaidForYou is sharing everything you need to know about cleaning your Weber Q grill. Let’s begin!

How to Clean Weber Q Grate

Just like an outdoor barbeque, a clean Weber Q grill gives you great searing and even cooking. This makes the barbeque grate the first and most integral part of your Weber Q to clean. Depending on the type of grate you use, you'll need a different approach to ensure proper and safe cleaning of the component. 

Here are two common types of grates, and how to clean them.

Steel Grates

For steel grates, it's pretty easy since you can literally burn off any debris stuck to the grill. To begin, it's best to preheat the grill on high heat for about 10 - 15 minutes. From there, you'll need to brush the grate clean with a clean, stainless-steel brush. 

It's important to note here, that if your brush is showing signs of wear or if the bristles are getting clogged, you should replace it. The general rule is to replace the brush every season to ensure you're doing a good job cleaning the grill. 

Besides this, using a proprietary Weber brush for this task will yield the best results, however, you can also use a similar brush from a different manufacturer if you are unable to purchase the Weber product. 

Porcelain Grates

When it comes to porcelain grates, the approach is a lot milder. This is very important to keep in mind as you could seriously damage your grill if you are not careful enough. 

In this case, you'll want to avoid heating it before cleaning, and instead, rely on the Weber grate grill cleaner solution. By using a soft, nylon bristle grill brush rather than a stainless steel one, you can carefully brush the grate clean, without risking any kind of damage to it.

In the event that you do not have the grate cleaner solution, you could use a mild, lukewarm soapy solution made with dish detergent, and brush it clean in a similar manner.

How to Clean the Burner Tubes

When using a gas grill, you've got burner tubes to take into account for the cleaning too. Sitting underneath the grates in the cook box, burner tubes risk a lot of debris from foods and grease falling onto them. Note that a clogged burner tube won't heat evenly, and will ruin a good barbeque . Therefore, it's best to give burner tubes a good cleaning every month or so, if you're using the grill regularly. 

In this case, it's best to clean the tube while it's cool, and to do it with a stainless-steel brush like we used on the grate. The difference here is that the brush needs to be a new, separate one than the one you used on the grates. A pro tip is to brush in the direction of the burner openings, and you should get the tube cleaned in no time. 

For those of you who use electric grills, there are no burner tubes to account for. Instead, there is a heating element that sits under the grate, similar to the burner tube, but it doesn't need any kind of cleaning. The heating element gets super-heated as you use the grill so nothing can get stuck to it in the first place.

Cleaning the Cook Box

Now it's time to clean the cook box itself. Since all the fat and debris falls through the grill, it tends to gather in the cook box over time. This can cause trouble as it can block the burner tube, or lead to a fire hazard if the fat or oils ignite. 

It's pretty simple cleaning the cook box as it just needs to be scraped to chip away all the debris stuck in there. All you need is a simple plastic putty knife to get the job done. Scrape all of it to the drip pan opening in the bottom, and then proceed to dispose of the debris once accumulated in the pan. 

The Drip Pan

Fortunately, for the drip pan, you don't have to make any effort for the sake of cleaning it. The drip pan is actually a disposable component on your Weber Q, so it's pointless attempting to clean it out and put back. 

Since they are relatively inexpensive, and can be replaced so easily, it's best to let the pan collect as much debris as it can (without overflowing), and then safely dispose of it along with the debris and oil it has accumulated.

It's a good idea to check underneath your grill often to ensure that your drip pan isn't overflowing. Once you notice the pan starting to fill up completely, remove it, and throw it out. You can get replacement drip pans from the Weber website, as well as from their dealerships. A good rule of thumb is to always have a spare drip pan in stock so that your barbecuing is never interrupted.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It goes without saying that it is vital to keep your grill in good shape if you want even heating, and nothing unaccounted for that's influencing the flavours. On top of this, regular cleaning will help prolong the lifespan of your Weber Q.

With regards to how often you should clean your grill, simply brush the grates clean and check your drip pan after every use; besides this, check and clean your burner tubes and cook box after every 5-6 uses.

While it may seem like a task to get all that burnt grease off, cleaning a Weber Q is actually a lot simpler than it seems. This is made even easier when you have the recommended tools and products for the job.