GRILL CLEANING GUIDE

 

The delicious food you can create on your Pit Boss can be hard to resist, but don’t let that temptation distract you from an integral step. Before you fire it up, you’ve got to take care of business first and get the machine nice and clean.

Taking the time clean your grill may not sound all that fun, but it’s necessary to get the best, most flavorful food. Trust us. You don’t want accumulated grease, rust, or debris to stand in the way of your dinner plans.

If you carve out some time for maintenance, the process won’t take as long as it would if you put off cleaning. Plus, we’ve got some tips and tricks to help you out.

BEFORE YOU START

Before cleaning your pellet grill, it is important to remove your pellets from the hopper and burn off any pellets that are left over in the auger. Wet pellets can cause an auger jam, so doing this step is crucial. Simply remove the pellets from your hopper, turn on the grill to 400°F and the remaining pellets should burn off in about 15 minutes. Shut down the grill and let it cool down before starting your clean.

First, let’s run through the basics. These instructions can be applied to clean any type of grill, from pellet to kamado.

CLEAN YOUR GRATES

Before removing your grates from the grill, give them a hard scrub with your grill brush. After brushing the grates, take them off the grill and lay them out on a solid surface that you don’t mind getting wet. While wearing protective gloves, spray your grates with a cleaner/degreaser. Let it soak for about a minute, and then wipe and rinse with water. Be sure to scrub your grates with a mild detergent and water to remove the residual cleaner. Then rinse again and set aside to let your grates dry.

VACUUM ANY LOOSE DEBRIS

After you remove your grill grates and any heat deflector plates, it's important to first use a wet/dry shop vac to remove any loose debris or ash before using cleaner or spraying it down with a hose. This can help prevent the dry debris from caking after being exposed to moisture. Excess ash buildup can not only cake together but can also get blown around inside the grill and land on your food if you don’t take the time to vacuum it out.

CLEAN THE INTERIOR

Using a cleaner/degreaser, spray the entire interior surface of the grill and repeat the same steps used to clean your grates.

CLEAN THE EXTERIOR AND RINSE THOROUGHLY

Once again using a cleaner degreaser, spray the entire exterior surface of the grill including the hood and shelves, and let it soak in for about a minute. Then wipe it down, rinse with water, and dry with a towel.

CLEAN THE RUST OFF YOUR GRILL

If you have rust on your grill or on your grates, our Pit Boss cleaner/degreaser can help. After thoroughly spraying the affected area, let it sit and soak in for 20 to 30 minutes. You will need a Brillo pad or scrubber with a porous and rough texture to scrub away the rust that has built up. If you are cleaning rust off the grill hood, you might want to paint the affected area with high temperature paint after you have removed the rust, rinsed off the cleaner, and let it dry.