How to Thoroughly Clean Your Electric Grill After Every Use

Keeping your electric grill clean after each use is extremely important for performance, safety, and durability. While cleaning may seem tedious, establishing a proper cleaning routine helps prevent grease buildup, stuck-on food debris, and potential electrical hazards over time.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through fail-proof methods to clean all parts of your electric grill from top to bottom. Follow these best practices after grilling to keep your BBQ spotless and functioning like new for years of backyard cooking.

Safety First – Preparing to Clean Your Grill

Before scrubbing away at a dirty grill, follow these preparatory safety tips:

• Unplug The Grill – Always unplug your electric grill before cleaning. This prevents electric shock while you scrub.
• Let It Cool – Allow the grill to cool completely before handling and cleaning. This takes 30-60 minutes depending on outdoor temperature. Attempting to clean right after grilling can cause burns.
• Protect Your Hands – Wear thick rubber gloves and use grill brushes with long handles. This shields hands and arms from harm while scrubbing the grill head.
• Watch For Drips and Spills – Clean outdoors in an area clear of slipping hazards. Avoid electric outlets that could spark if liquids spill.

With safety first, you can now prep supplies and tackle cleaning your electric grill thoroughly.

Also Read: Electric Grill Safety Tips for Outdoor Cooking Enthusiasts

Supplies Needed For Cleaning Electric Grills

Gather the following supplies to properly clean all components of your electric grill after each cookout:

• Small bucket or spray bottle with warm water and mild dish detergent
• Stiff brush with stainless steel bristles for the grill grates
• Non-abrasive scrub pads such as those made from nylon or synthetic fibers
• Old towels that can get dirty
• Optional white vinegar for extra shine and sanitization
• Optional commercial grill cleaner for burnt-on messes

Steel brushes, scrub pads, and towels are necessities. Make sure to avoid abrasive scouring pads or stiff brushes that can scratch your grill’s surfaces.

With supplies assembled, here is a comprehensive process for cleaning each part of your electric grill:

Step 1 – Clean The Grill Grates Thoroughly

The first step is removing all food debris, grease drippings, and charred bits from your grill’s cooking grates. These metal grates directly heat food over the electric heating element and get the dirtiest each time you grill.

Follow this process for cleaning grill grates:

1. Use a steel bristle grill brush and vigorously scrub grates immediately after cooking while grates are still warm. This is when stuck-on messes brush off easiest before drying out over time. Wear protective gloves while brushing.
2. Dip your grill brush into the warm soapy water to add light detergent as you scrub. The soap helps lift greasy buildup off grate surfaces.
3. Focus extra scrubbing on areas with visible food debris and crispy edges where drips accumulate most.
4. If anything remains stuck-on after scrubbing with soap and water, spray white vinegar directly onto tough spots. Let vinegar sit briefly before more brushing. The acidity in vinegar breaks down stubborn char.
5. Use a wadded-up wet towel to wipe entire grates down once brushing removes all visible debris. This picks up greasy residue and dirty soapy water.
6. Go over grates once more with a dry towel to remove all standing moisture before replacing into the grill. Water can otherwise drip onto heating element and electrical components.

Repeat this thorough grate cleaning after each grilling session. Over time, built-up food burns into tough black carbon that requires heavy-duty cleaner to remove if you don’t stay on top of regular brushing.

Step 2 – Clean Inside The Grill Head Cabinet

After scrubbing the cooking grates spotless, cleaning inside the grill head cabinet is next:

1. Use a dry towel to wipe out any grease or debris that fell off grates during brushing so it doesn’t bake onto the bottom cabinet.
2. Check that burner heat shields above the heating element are free of food build up. Use scrub pad and soapy water to remove any grime.
3. Carefully lift out removable heat baffles, diffuser plates, or other internal components and clean fully with non-abrasive scrub pad.
4. Take a soapy pad to the remaining cabinet ceiling, walls, and bottom to remove invisible grease film that accumulates over time.
5. Double check electrical connections are free of moisture before continuing. Use a turkey baster to suck up and remove any water drips if necessary before replacing grates.

Wiping down these hidden secondary surfaces keeps grease and debris from accumulating out of sight. This prevents rancid smells or attraction of bugs/pests drawn to food mess buildup inside your grill’s guts!

Step 3 – Clean The Grill Lid Exterior

While you scrubbed inside, the grill lid remained closed so debris and dripping residue wouldn’t transfer onto the lid exterior. With the interior cabinet now sparkling clean, tackle the outside of the closed lid:

1. Use a wet soapy towel to hand wash the entire lid exterior. Get into crevices including hinges and ventilation holes where grease hides.
2. For stainless steel lids, scrub gently following the brushed grain finish to avoid scratch marks.
3. Rinse off soapy residue with a fresh wet towel.
4. Wipe the lid completely dry with towel when done. Avoid letting soap or water drip into ventilation holes.
5. Inspect glass lids closely for etched-on debris not fully removed by towel drying. Use sudsy non-abrasive pad and plenty of elbow grease to eliminate etched gunk.
6. Finish by drying glass fully before opening lid again.

Thorough cleaning removes greasy film that makes lids appear cloudy over time if ignored. This also prevents rancid odors.

Step 4 – Clean The Lid Interior

Flipping your sparkling clean lid open, shift focus to cleaning inside the lid:

1. Use a lightly soapy scrub pad on lid interior surfaces where grease splatter accumulates, especially above grill grates. Apply some elbow grease to remove all debris remnants.
2. Take special care around lid thermometers, ensuring to fully clean temperature sensors without damaging delicate parts. Use soft brush and toothpick if needed.
3. Double check any lid lights, infrared burners, warming racks, smoking boxes, or other lid features that collect grease. Fully de-gunk accessories.
4. Wipe down the lid interior with a fresh wet cloth followed by a dry towel to eliminate all standing water before closing the lid again.

Thorough scrubbing inside your grill’s domed lid prevents particle buildup that can flake off into foods later. This also protects electronic grill accessories from grease failure over time.

Step 5 – Deep Clean Exterior Surfaces

With grates cleaned and cabinet plus lid interiors degreased, finish by cleaning your grill’s external surfaces:

1. Scrub the outside of cabinet doors and drawers where greasy handprints accumulate. Use stainless steel cleaner spray if needed for shiny finish.
2. Use a soapy pad on cabinet handles and control knobs to remove grime from hands adjusting them. Get into crevices well.
3. Check edges along cabinets and lids where grease drips often trickle behind gaps. Use an old chopstick, toothbrush, or kitchen scrub brush to detail hard-to-reach areas if you spot debris.
4. Finish by drying the entire grill exterior and edges well so no water spots form on stainless steel surfaces with minerals in water. Avoid letting water drip into cracks.

Thorough scrubbing of the full exterior keeps your entire grill looking shiny and new. This ensures no bits of food debris or grease spots detract from curb appeal on your pristine grill!

Step 6 – Deep Clean The Drip Tray

While cleaning grill grates and interiors earlier, hopefully, you avoided getting raw meat juices, marinade drippings and leftover charcoal from falling into the drip tray below. But even with care, electric grill drip trays still require frequent emptying and scrubbing:

1. Carefully remove drip tray drawer without spilling contents. Transport over outdoor trash for disposal.
2. Over trash, pour out greasy collected drippings from drip tray into trash carefully. Wipe down tray interior with paper towels to remove leftover debris remnants before taking to sink.
3. Use hot soapy water and a non-abrasive scrub pad at your sink to clean tray interior thoroughly. De-grease all surfaces fully. An old toothbrush can help detail tight corners and edges.
4. For tough grease stains, apply full-strength white vinegar directly onto stained areas. Let vinegar soak before more vigorous scrubbing on stained regions only.
5. Rinse drip tray fully with hot water to eliminate soapy residue. Dry completely with a towel.
6. Replace clean drip tray back into your electric grill when done.

Deep cleaning the drip tray prevents rancid smells from old grease accumulation. This easy step keeps your grill running optimally.

Step 7 – Freshen Up Electrical Components

With the entire grill freshly scrubbed down, finishing touches protect electrical components:

1. Carefully detach and rinse metal grease catchers covering heating elements using running water. This prevents grease absorption into porous metal over time.
2. Gently wipe down exposed heating rods to remove any scattered char bits from grates that fell during cleaning. Avoid excess water dripping onto wiring or other electronics.
3. Use a toothbrush dabbed in rubbing alcohol or electronics cleaner spray to gently freshen wall power cords as well as knobs and temperature controls. Buildup of oils can impede conductivity.
4. Allow your freshly cleaned electric grill to fully air dry indoors for 1-2 hours before storing back in a deck box or grill cover outside. Any moisture invites mold if stored too soon after washing.

These finishing touches extend lifespan for key electronic and heating elements that can fail over time if too grease-laden. This keeps your grill automatically lighting properly season after season.

Step 8 – Clean Grill Tools and Accessories

Don’t neglect accessories in your grill cleaning regimen. Proper tool hygiene prevents cross-contamination of vegetarian foods by meat juices or allergic reactions from inadvertent contact:

• Use a scrub pad, hot soapy water, and an old toothbrush to clean basting brushes, skewers, tongs, meat thermometers, oven mitts, pan scrapers and any other grilling tools used during cookouts between each use.
• Rinse accessories in clean hot water before fully towel drying to prevent mold growth in damp tools while storing.
• Replace worn grill brush heads before metal bristles detach onto cooking grates or into foods later.
• Freshen stained potholders and reusable grill mats in the washing machine to eliminate grease, marinades, and other mystery stains that accumulate over the grilling season.

Proper scrubbing of grilling accessories ensures you always start seasonal grill outs with clean utensils. This prevents health hazards or unintended flavor transfer between grilled foods.

Maintain Cleaning Diligence For Peak Grill Performance

While tackling a deep clean of an entire electric grill seems labor intensive at first, establishing these best practices after each cookout prevents huge grease buildups over time.

Staying diligent with proper grill cleaning methods leads to:

• Optimized heating functionality and temperature regulation
• Preventing rancid grease odors or bug infestations
• Increased lifespan by protecting electronics from grease damage
• Better tasting backyard barbecue year after year

Refer to this comprehensive cleaning checklist to methodically wipe down all components of your electric grill after each use. While stepping through each cleaning task may take 30-60 minutes start to finish, you’ll be rewarded with a like-new grill ready for action at your next cookout!

Over time, these cleaning essentials become second nature. Consistent scrubbing preserves your grill investment so you enjoy consistent backyard grilling performance season after season.

Now get out there, fire up your freshly cleaned electric grill, and start enjoying delicious barbecue and entertaining outdoors once again!