Publication date: 04/23/2010

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Give barbecue TLC before firing up the grill

A sure sign that spring is here is when you see people setting up their deck and patio furniture and firing up their grills. Whether you left your furniture and grill covered on your deck, or stored them in the garage, chances are they need a little tender loving care to get them ready for the long summer of entertaining.

If you haven't used your grill over the winter, its best to clean all the cooking surfaces and make sure it functions properly and then focus on sprucing up the exterior.

Pete Pone, owner of Evergreen Home and Garden Center, (586) 778-7400, www.evergreenhomeandgarden.com said that there are lots of cleaners on the market that are supposed to clean the grill grates, but he thinks it's best to first heat up the grill for 15-20 minutes, turn it off and scrub the grates with a brass wire grill brush to remove the majority of the burnt-on food. Then you can use an oven cleaner to get the grates really clean. Make sure you rinse them off after using the oven cleaner to get rid of any residue before cooking.

Next, he recommends cleaning the burner with a wire brush, using compressed air and portable vacuum. Most burners last a long time, but if you do need to replace it, you can get replacement parts at most hardware and home centers or online from the manufacturer's website.

One thing that Pete says many people don't clean is the Venturi tube that is attached to the burner.

"During the winter, spiders love to nest inside the tube and that can make it hard to light the grill or cause flare ups when you are cooking," Pete said. He said you can use either a Venturi brush made especially to clean the tube, or blow compressed air into the tube to clean it out.

If your grill uses lava rocks or ceramic briquettes, these should be changed annually. Pete said ceramic briquettes are generally the better choice because grease that drips on them vaporizes and they provide a better heat distribution, while lava rocks actually absorb the grease and can get rancid after a while.

For the grill's exterior, you can use special high-heat grill paint from Rust-Oleum, www.rustoleum.com or Krylon, www.krylon.com, to make it look new again and a product like Flitz Stainless Steel and Chrome Clean, www.flitz.com, to shine up the chrome accents.

For your patio and deck furniture, you can use an all-purpose cleaner like Simple Green in a 10-to-1 solution of water and a sponge or soft-bristle brush. Simple Green and other mild detergents will also work well to clean the padding on the furniture.

For plastic resin furniture that looks dull, restore its' luster by using Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Clear Plastic Cleaner, www.meguiars.com.

Next, turn your attention to the patio umbrella or the awning over your deck. For awnings, Anne Fisher at Marygrove Awning in Livonia, (734) 422-7110, www.marygrove.com, recommends spraying it down with clear water from a garden hose. If there are dirtier areas, she said you can use a mild liquid soap like Dove or Ivory in the same 10-to-1 solution and gently agitate it with a soft-bristle brush. For hard to reach areas I find that an extendable car wash brush works best.

This procedure also works well for patio umbrellas, with mild soap working best on fabric umbrellas. If you want a product that is designed to clean both fabric and vinyl umbrellas, try Fabric and Vinyl Cleaner and Fabric Guard from 303 Products, www.303products.com , which is recommended by Sunbrella, a manufacturer of patio furniture.

To help make your patio umbrella easier to open and close, spray a rag or paper towel with either a silicone-based spray lubricant like Jigaloo, www.jigaloo.com, or a Teflon spray from DuPont Performance Lubricants, www.dupont.com. Then wipe down the center tube where the runner slides up and down.

Now that you have cleaned it, you can enjoy your hard work by having friends over for a barbecue. For some great tips on grilling, visit the website for my grilling buddies, Mad Dog and Merrill, at www.maddogandmerrill.com.

Note: This article was accurate at the date of publication. However, information contained in it may have changed. If you plan to use the information contained herein for any purpose, verification of its continued accuracy is your responsibility.

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