11 Steps to Clean a Flat Top Grill

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If you’re a BBQ enthusiast, you know that nothing tastes better than food cooked on an open flame. However, if your grill is dirty and covered in grease from past use, the taste of your food will be compromised.

Keep reading to find out how to clean a flat-top grill so it’s ready for its next meal.

Step 1: Collect Your Tools and Ingredients

You will need to gather your supplies before you begin cleaning. Make sure that you have everything on hand so you can finish without delay.

Here is a list of items that are necessary for this job:

  • A pair of gloves
  • Baking soda
  • Water
  • Scrub brush or a clean cloth

Step 2: Prepare the Grill for Cleaning

Turn your flat top grill on and let it warm up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5 minutes. This is an important step because you will use the heat from the grill in order to loosen any buildup that has formed over time.

Make sure not to touch anything metal while the grill is heating up.

Step 3: Spread Baking Soda on Grill

Once your grill has heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, turn off the heat and start sprinkling baking soda onto the hot surface in a thin layer. When you sprinkle it on, ensure that you keep enough room between each piece so they don’t clump together.

Step 4: Let It Sit and Steam

Once you have spread baking soda onto the grill, let it sit for about 20 minutes so that the heat from your grill will start to cook off all of the oils. As a result, this should loosen up any buildup on your flat-top grill.

Step 5: Put On Gloves and Scrub the Grill

After 20 minutes, put on a pair of gloves and start scrubbing away to remove any oil or grease that is left over from previous use. If you’re not able to get much off at first, let it sit for another 5 to 10 minutes before repeating this step again.

Repeat until all residue has been removed from your flat-top grill.

Step 6: Rinse the Grill with Water

After you have scrubbed your flat-top grill clean, it’s time to rinse it off. Turn on the water and make sure that all of your baking soda has been removed before turning off the running faucet.

Now turn on your grill again so any excess water can evaporate and the temperature will return to normal.

Step 7: Let It Sit

Once the grill is cool, give it an hour or so for any leftover water on its surface to dissipate before using again. This step ensures that your flat-top grill won’t get damaged by excess heat while you’re cooking with it later.

After an hour or so, you can turn your grill on and start preheating it back to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 8: Cook Something Yummy!

Once the grill has been cleaned and is at its normal operating temperature again, use whatever ingredients you want in order to make something delicious for dinner tonight. If all else fails, try cooking some burgers to get back into the grilling spirit.

Step 9: Let It Cool

After you have finished cooking, allow your grill to cool completely before turning it off and removing any leftover food from its surface. Leaving these leftovers on will just give them a chance to dry up and become significantly harder to remove later.

Step 10: Put Everything Away

Once your grill has cooled down, you can put all of your tools away and store them in whatever safe place makes the most sense for you.

Step 11: Enjoy Your Clean Grill

Now that it’s clean, make sure to use it properly after every use so it doesn’t get dirty again over time.

Bobby Johnson

When he's not writing about barbecue, you can find Bobby smoking meat for friends and family. He's been a backyard pitmaster for roughly half his life, and has worked with nearly every cut of meat. Not everyone has a hands-on guide to teach them BBQ, but that's what Bobby hopes to do with Electric Smoker HQ. He wants to help people create amazing food that they can be proud of.