After you have set up your grill and cooked a meal on it, follow these steps to keep your outdoor electric grill clean for years of use. Cleanup is especially easy if you have an outdoor electric grill with good-quality cooking grates (such as the porcelain-enameled, cast-iron ones on the Weber Q1400 and Q2400). You only need a couple of tools and follow the simple instructions below. Clean it after each use and you’ll keep the overall effort to a minimum. This is a grill. So, It does not need to be washed and scrubbed and kept shiny. You want it to season over time to impart a rich flavor. In addition to being more work than required, continuously cleaning your grill could cause it to smell like chemicals or your food to not taste as delicious as it could.
Warm Grill Cleanup
After removing food from the grill, close the lid and turn the grill up to high for 10 to 20 minutes depending on how soiled the cooking grates are. You want the residue on the grates to be burned to black char. After this time, turn the grill off and leave the lid closed for at least 10 minutes or until you are ready to clean the grates.
While the grates are still warm, brush them with a good-quality stainless steel grill brush. Hold onto the grill handle to make sure it doesn’t tip or rock too much while you’re brushing. To start, move the brush away from you (front to back) over the entire surface so that grease and charred bits that break free fly toward the open grill lid and not onto you and your clothes. In addition to cleaning the top surface of the grates, angle the brush to clean the sides of the grates. Never use anything more abrasive to clean the enamel cooking grates. Not the metal scraper that might be on the grill brush. No pan scrubber. No cleansers or soap. You do not want to damage or leave a residue on the cooking grate surface. If a sauce or marinade proves difficult to remove with the brush, use the plastic putty knife discussed below to help chip it away.
Next, leave the lid open until the grill cools down completely and the wood pellets burn out.
Cold Grill Cleanup
When the grill and smoking tube are cold, lift the cooking grates and use a 1” to 1-1/2” wide plastic putty knife to lightly scrape the bottom side of the grates and the grill bowl. You are not trying to clean it until it shines. You are just scraping cooked food bits and grease that will come off easily into the hole at the bottom of the bowl and into the drip pan. Wipe the scraper off with a dry paper towel when finished. Wipe the top of the grates with the dry paper towel to remove any remaining loose debris. Also, wipe the inside of the lid to prevent grease buildup which can flake off.
Remove the aluminum foil drip pan liner. Make sure the smoker tube is cool before picking it up and dump the ash into the drip pan liner. Place a small amount of water on the ash in the pan to ensure it is wet and cold. Then, wipe the drip pan liner out with a paper towel into a trash can and wash it with hot water and soap. Dry it and replace it under the grill in the drip pan.
Finally, unplug the grill and replace the cover.