Weber Grill Deep Cleaning Question from a Noob

[chelgau]

Hi everyone,

Feel free to laugh at me as long as you're helpful :)

It's not my grill, but my husband's. He asked if I could look into how to deep clean the grill and do it for him. I happily agreed. He has a Weber kettle charcoal grill.

Well, I found an article stating to scrap all the gunky black stuff off the inside of the lid, and from the article I inferred a metal scraper was fine. Well I quickly noticed that the metal was leaving scratches for one. So that's problem number 1. I switched to green scratch pads.

I was explaining to H that it's been taking forever to clean the grill because of the gunk and because we have a lot of foggy/overcast days here but from the article I assumed I needed full sun to dry everything without it rusting after cleaning. H said that he didn't think all the gunk needed to be removed for seasoning and to help it seal so I probably just needed to scrap off the lose but and leave the stuck on stuff.

So that's my plan, but today I opened the grill and saw that the inside of the lid looks rusty. How did this happen? I let it fully dry in the sun and also make sure to dump out as much water as possible. Is it because I scraped off the gunk? How do I fix it?

Any other tips for deep cleaning? We're not trying to sell it, just get the best results for his summer grilling/smoking.

P.S. Considering what happened to the inside lid, how should I clean the inside bowl part to prevent from making this mistake again?

 

[JLeonard]

I use a spray grill cleaner on my kettle and a plastic spatula. Spray it down good, let it soak in and scrape away. Be careful not to bend the vent blades in the bottom. Then hose it off and leave the lid off and let the sun dry it. Others may weigh in with other options.

Jim

 

[chelgau]

I use a spray grill cleaner on my kettle and a plastic spatula. Spray it down good, let it soak in and scrape away. Be careful not to bend the vent blades in the bottom. Then hose it off and leave the lid off and let the sun dry it. Others may weigh in with other options.

Jim

Thank you for you reply.

Do you do anything with the grates?

He also has this two zone system so there's these metal trays in them. I'll include a picture. Spray and scrape those too?

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I clean mine with a big stupid hot fire. Then hit it with a steel wire brush

 

[JLeonard]

Thank you for you reply.

Do you do anything with the grates?

He also has this two zone system so there's these metal trays in them. I'll include a picture. Spray and scrape those too?

I'd do nothing with those metal trays. The grates I'd do as JIMSMOKES says and as the grill is heating you can take grill brush (non metal bristles) and knock any burnt food stuff off.

Jim

 

[chelgau]

I clean mine with a big stupid hot fire. Then hit it with a steel wire brush

"Big stupid hot fire" Got it

 

[chelgau]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Do you have any recommendations for getting rid of the rust on the inside of the lid? Do I need to oil it and then use that big stupid hot fire?

 

[chelgau]

I have one more question! After brushing all the gunk off the grates, they look rusty. Would I reseason them the same way as the lid?

 

[JckDanls 07]

What I have found happens when doing a deep cleaning (pressure washing) is... Now the intake vents (blades in the bottom) don't seal as good... After time with all the build up in the bottom the blades start to be pushed/lifted up with the build up.... You clean that build up out now the blades have a gap between them and the bottom of the kettel after being bent upwards... The build up is racked smooth and conforms to the blades when they are open and closed and then forms a better seal... For this reason try not to use the rotation of the vents for cleaning major build up...

I just use some pliers and grab the charcoal grate and use it (on edge) as a scraper for the bowl... The roundness of it fits down in the curved bottom, where as a straight edged scraper does as you found out... The corners dig in and scratch ...

As for the rust on the lid... Use a scotch brite, or better yet, Use an SOS pad... Rinse and let dry... Wipe/spray with oil and heat it up to reseason it ...

And then buy him (or yourself) a brisket to cook on that badboy ...

 

[chelgau]

What I have found happens when doing a deep cleaning (pressure washing) is... Now the intake vents (blades in the bottom) don't seal as good... After time with all the build up in the bottom the blades start to be pushed/lifted up with the build up.... You clean that build up out now the blades have a gap between them and the bottom of the kettel after being bent upwards... The build up is racked smooth and conforms to the blades when they are open and closed and then forms a better seal... For this reason try not to use the rotation of the vents for cleaning major build up...

I just use some pliers and grab the charcoal grate and use it (on edge) as a scraper for the bowl... The roundness of it fits down in the curved bottom, where as a straight edged scraper does as you found out... The corners dig in and scratch ...

As for the rust on the lid... Use a scotch brite, or better yet, Use an SOS pad... Rinse and let dry... Wipe/spray with oil and heat it up to reseason it ...

And then buy him (or yourself) a brisket to cook on that badboy ...

The brisket seems like a necessary step. You have to test it right?

 

[Redicans]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Do you have any recommendations for getting rid of the rust on the inside of the lid? Do I need to oil it and then use that big stupid hot fire?

Yeah when you get as clean as you want then I would try to wire brush as much of the rust off. It should just be a light surface rust. Then spray with any cooking oil you have and build a fire inside and heat it up. Basically seasoning it like a cast iron pan.

 

[chelgau]

Ok, so I did something stupid.

He has the spider venom temperature control on the grill. I thought, "Hey maybe I should take it off so it doesn't get wet. There are these screws right here so it should be easy to take off." I actually tried to unscrew the temperature control part of it from the rest of it like a dummy because I didn't check to see how it was installed. It was taking forever and not coming off, so I decided to leave it on. The problem is, now the screws won't tighten back. It's the screws with the rings around them like this:

Does anyone have tips for getting it to tighten back on?