The Maintenance Schedule You Should Be Following With Your Grill

Some people bust out their grill at the slightest hint of spring, while others have been grilling everything but the porridge since they were old enough to hold the tongs and spatula. Regardless of which group you count yourself in, one thing is for certain. The hottest BBQ season is fast approaching, and you can practically hear everyone's watering mouths.   

Whether your BBQ season is only just starting or you've never gotten around to ending it in the first place, you'll want to make sure that it's as delicious as possible — and for that, you need to make sure that your equipment is in order. As such, before you slap your next batch of burgers on the grill, it's worth going through a few quick pointers in order to make sure that it stays in optimal condition. Here's the maintenance schedule you should be following with your gas grill.

It's easy to think that gas grill maintenance is as simple as cleaning up the surfaces every once in a while, but while that's definitely part of the process, The Spruce Eats notes that there are many more steps you should take to ensure the grill's optimal performance. The dreaded big clean should take place once a year, ideally when you put your grill away for the winter. This is where you strip the grill of removable parts and clean, fix and check everything. Use this chance to replace broken or worn parts, as well as check if all the burners are working evenly.  

However, just because you put in the proverbial (and sometimes literal) elbow grease once a year doesn't mean that you can ignore grill maintenance the rest of the time. After every 10 uses, you should remove and thoroughly clean up the grates, brush the insides and see if the drip pan needs emptying. After doing this, heat up the grill until all the smoke clears out. Oh, and besides all this, every single time you fire up the grill, you should heat it thoroughly before cooking for at least 10 to 15 minutes, according to The Kitchn. This may all seem like a lot, but remember that proper prep work is the key to great BBQ and that applies to the grill as much as it does on your secret marinade recipe ... if not more so.