Unevenly cooked veggies, chops, and steaks?
The culprit could be your clogged or deteriorating gas grill burners. It’s the most important component in your grill. A dirty, clogged grill burner won’t work properly. It won’t distribute heat evenly, making your barbecue grilling session a complete disaster.
But you can mitigate this problem and prevent it from happening with a little bit of maintenance. You can do this by cleaning your gas grill burners after each use.
Doing so will keep your gas grill in tip-top shape, maintain safe operation, and minimize some of the damage that regular use can entail. It will also extend your grill’s lifespan, giving you great and fantastic barbecues and grilled dishes for many years.
And we get it—cleaning isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
Getting those pesky dirt and debris off your burners won’t be as exciting as grilling. But think about the beautiful gas flame your grill burner will produce afterward. Cleaning them will help in minimizing flare-ups while providing consistent, even heat.
After all, the burners are your grill’s heart. So if you’re new on the job, don’t worry, learning how to clean gas grill burners is a lot easier than you might think.
In this post, we’ll give you the easiest way to clean your gas grill burners with only a few tools. And if you’re staring at your dirty gas grill burners right now, it’s time to give them some TLC!
What Are Gas Grill Burners?
Gas grill burners are hollow metal tubes situated beneath the cooking grids. These tubes are common in both natural gas and propane-fueled grills. They can be made of cast iron, cast brass, or maybe even cast stainless steel, which is significantly thicker and thus heavier.
They have holes (gas ports) in them where the fuel can flow and escape. These gas ports play an important role in learning how to clean gas grill burners. The holes surrounding the burner are in uniform shape and spaced evenly around it.
When the gas is ignited, it passes along the burners, delivering even and consistent flames throughout the length of a grill. This allows for a steady cooking temperature to achieve evenly cooked food.
Sounds great, right?
But they can affect the quality of your food if you don’t keep them clean. Whenever you cook, marinades, grease, sauces, and melted food will eventually make their way down into your grill’s cook box and flavorizer bars.
Those drippings may get burned off while you’re cooking, however, they can accumulate thickly in the gas ports and they will corrode over time. You’ll soon notice uneven flame patterns, resulting in food that is done on one side and uncooked on the other.
Cleaning your gas grill burners is the best way to avoid any blockages on the gas ports. This will also give you the opportunity to check the tubes for issues such as fractures and rust.
Things You’ll Need
You can’t take on an important mission unarmed. Have a checklist of the following tools:
- Gloves
- Stiff nylon brush (don’t use a wire grill brush as it can be too abrasive)
- Putty blades to scrape off grimes
- Small diameter bottle brush
- Anything with a pointy tip like a toothpick, drill bit, paper clip, or soft metal pin
- Cleaning rags or paper towels
- Degreaser (lemon and vinegar are also great options)
Easy Steps for Achieving Clean Gas Grill Burners
Once you’ve gathered your cleaning tools, you’re now ready for the task. Follow our simple step-by-step guide on how to clean gas grill burners.
Note: Make sure to perform this in a well-ventilated area.
Turn Off the Gas Supply.
Prioritize your safety by turning off the gas and the propane tank valves. Gas will make you dizzy and faint and a little spark will ignite the gas and could result in major fire issues.
After that, disconnect the gas cylinder from your grill so there’s no gas leaking while you’re cleaning the burners.
To access the burners, you need to remove the grill grates and whatever is underneath them like the drip pan, flavorizer bars, ceramic briquette trays, and heat plates.
Spray some degreaser on them and wait a few minutes before removing any grime with a nylon grill brush. Put them aside for reassembly after you clean the burners.
Detach the Burners.
Depending on the manufacturer, you may access your grill’s screws, clamps, or cotter pins either at the front or back. Refer to the owner’s manual for instructions on how to remove the burners.
Make sure to keep the hardware together or you can keep them in a secure plastic bag for reassembly later. Once you’ve removed the fasteners, you can now dislodge the burner from the valve hole.
Scrub the Burners Thoroughly.
Using a putty knife, scrape off any grimes from the burners. Then, scrub the exterior surfaces with the grill brush, making sure you’re missing a spot. Move the brush from side to side instead of going up. After that, use the bottle brush to clean and dislodge any debris from the burner’s interior.
Note: Don’t clean the burners with water or any other liquid that you would normally use on stainless steel surfaces. This can result in premature failure due to corrosion.
Unclog the Grill Burners.
This may be a tedious part to some but is also satisfying.
Gas ports can get easily clogged and it can be difficult to spot right away. If you let them stay clogged while cooking, there’ll be more gas driven out of the other holes that are unclogged. And this will cause stress cracks between the holes that inevitably turn into larger holes.
After you’ve cleaned the burners, get a pointy tip like a toothpick, paper clip, or drill bit to unclog the gas ports. Make sure to go gently until the buildups come out. You can blow, vacuum, or shake the burner tube to get rid of any debris that has fallen inside.
Re-assemble.
And now you’re almost done!
But before reinserting the gas grill burners, make sure you check each tube for any soft patches, holes, or splits. If you notice an issue, you must replace the burner tubes. But if you don’t find any damage, put it back in its original location and fasten it with the same screws or clamps.
Put the other components that you remove earlier and be careful not to harm any of the associated hardware. Now, reconnect the gas line and switch on the gas tank valves. You’ll want to test the grill to check that everything is functioning right.
Troubleshooting the Burner Tubes
If you still can’t achieve an even flame, clean the nozzle hole at the tip of the gas valve. Gas jets can become clogged with grease, too. For burners that produce a popping noise, there may be food debris, bugs, or insects inside. In this case, you can lift the burner and clean it up.
If the gas grill burner tubes are producing excessive or too little flame, check the holes. You may not have cleared all the clogged gas ports. Those clogged holes can cause serious and unnecessary flame blowouts when grilling.
However, if the burner has holes that were not intended to be there, there will be excessive gas flow. The increased gas flow and hot patches in your grill are due to damage. This will also create frequent flare-ups, charring your meat or burning off your seasonings.
You could solve these issues without calling in a professional. But if they continue to affect your cooking, then you may need to replace them soon.
FAQs
How often should you clean grill burners?
It’s ideal that you clean your gas grill burners every 6 months. If you use it often, you should perform a thorough cleaning process and examination of your grill. You must disassemble the unit, monitor gas flow, and look for any signs of corrosion on the grates.
How do I make my cooking grates look new?
You can soak them in soapy water for about 10 minutes. Make sure to use dish soap that breaks through baked-on food. Then, remove the grates and brush them clean with a grill brush.
What happens if you don’t keep your grill clean?
If you don’t clean a dirty grill, it will become a breeding ground for bacteria, contaminating your food. Any charred food on grill grates causes carbon deposits on which bacteria and dirt thrive. The heat will kill the bacteria, but cleaning them will make your gas grill look fresh and clean.
Recap
Cleaning the burners on a gas grill can be a messy undertaking, but it’s an important step if you want to achieve constant heat and even flames. If you can, clean them after each use. It’s a simple process that doesn’t take much time or effort to complete.
Once you’ve cleaned them, you’ll have sparkling burners ready for your next grilling sessions.
Good luck and happy grilling!
