Poll: How often do you clean your barbecue?

[Jason]

Cleaning your barbecue is never a fun job, particularly when you've left grease and grime build up over a long time.

As the weather turns warmer and we start to fire up the barbie more often, cleaning is an important chore. But how often should we tackle it? 

Our latest Workshop poll asks how often you clean your barbecue. Are you fastidious and clean it before or after every single use? Or do you believe that the flavour builds up over time and prefer a more sporadic cleaning regime?

Let us know by voting in the poll on the front page. You can also justify your choice by replying to the discussion below. 

Thanks for joining in the conversation on Workshop.

Jason

[Kehly]

Pretty sure my hubby hasn't cleaned ours in months!!

[Grandy]

I clean after every use, if it was a late night then it gets done next day.
I also give it a once over before each use just to ensure that the native critters have not been playing in the BBQ

[Andy_Mann]

@Jason, I don't see the point in cleaning barbies, we've got a lid, fat drains, & a massive drip pan on ours. It's a massive show of disrespect to the manufacturers, who've gone to such lengths to save their customers from the chore, if we surcumvent their efforts by cleaning anything.

I somethimes sneak out to treat myself to a fair dinkum "Depression Sandwich". Yums.

For those too young to be aware of the recipe, what you do is trowel on a thick slathering of "dripping" (solidified 100% saturated fat, that was the treasured bi-product of cooked meat), onto a roughly hand sliced slab of white bread. Copious amounts of pepper & salt, give it the gourmet touch.

Enjoy.

[ChrisWho]

Clean? What is this 'clean' of which you speak?

[Andy_Mann]

@ChrisWho, I pick on the chop bones that refined gentlemen, & elegant ladies who use cutlery at barbies, leave on their plates.

I learnt that from my Dad, it was his contibution, & called "Cleaning up".

[MoonshineBen]

I scrub down the grill plate after every use, and because I am usually using Heat Beads or charcoal, I sweep that out of the Weber as well (once it's cooled down of course...) . Every few months I'll give it a good pressure blast, but the best way to clean it is to crank it as high as it will go until all the build up just turns to ash and can clean out easily.

[Jackson]

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@Andy_Mann wrote:

I somethimes sneak out to treat myself to a fair dinkum "Depression Sandwich". Yums.

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@Andy_Mann - I'm still waiting for you to tell us that this is a joke. I gagged a little when I read it 

[Shane]

I've always thought the most common advice was to clean before the cook. Leaving the oil on the plate and grill after cooking helps prevent rust. 

[Andy_Mann]

@Jackson mate, Depression Sandwiches are the real deal, I learnt about them as a a kid, when Mum & Dad were reminiscing about the good ol' days. Yep, they experience the real depression, not the procession of the "depression that we had to have", invented by politicians, & all you suffered were higher interest rates on your loans & credit cards.

Being kids, we were curious, & as there was always a dripping stash at home, we (twin Sister & I) made some. They were originally made to fill empty tummies to ward off hunger, as food was heavily rationed.

True to my recipe, the bread was roughly sliced (we didn't have sliced bread back then), the dripping was trowelled on (we were brought up as children of excess), & lavished with salt & pepper, so were probably had the Matt Preston version. Come to think of it, I'm more sickened by seeing Matt Preston eat anything.

Anyways, they were pretty alright, & I've had plenty since.

Fair dinkum mate, you'll have to trust me on this one. *crosses heart & swears a lot*