No one loves to clean their barbecue, though cleaning your bbq is an important part of ensuring your bbq works well and tastes great every time. Here are five maintenance tips for the Weber Q (though are universal to most bbqs) you need to know to ensure your barbecue has been checked and is safe and ready to use this season,
TIP 1: CHECK YOUR GRILL BRUSH
A staple piece of cleaning equipment you’ll constantly use is your 3-sided grill brush. Like all handy tools, however, after lots of use, they may need replacing. In this instance, if your Weber grill brush is clogged full of grease and debris, has many of its bristles flattened, bent, or breaking off, then it’s time to replace it with a fresh brush.
This avoids the risk of more bristles being left on the grill (which then could become stuck to your food), or inadequately cleaning your cooking grills, which is also not ideal for your health. Now that you’ve checked and possibly replaced your grill brush, let’s move on to tip 2.
TIP 2: THE GENERAL CLEAN
Open the lid of your Weber Q and remove the cooking grills (yes, they’ll need cleaning, but this will happen a bit later). Using your stainless steel grill brush, brush across the Q burner. This cleans and clears the holes in the burner tubes, and reduces the chance of forcing any extra debris down through the holes.
Next, using a Weber cookbox scraper, scrape the entire bowl of your cookbox. Clear the bowl of as much grease and debris as you can, scraping it down into the disposable drip tray below. It’s important to remove the built-up debris in the bowl of your Weber Q, as the more grease built up, the greater chance there is of a fat fire occurring.
Finally, remove and replace the disposable drip tray which sits below your Weber Q. It’s recommended to replace the drip tray after a layer of grease and debris has accumulated, or before cooking really fatty foods such as pork. Again, we do this to prevent the risk of a fat fire from occurring.
TIP 3: THE LID AND BOWL
After performing the general clean, the inside of your barbecue should be looking fairly neat and tidy. There will however be some stubborn grease marks remaining in your bowl, and an accumulation on the inside of your Q’s lid.
We recommend that you use a non-caustic cleaning product to clean the inside and outside of your Weber Q lid. Weber produces a Weber Q Cleaner which works particularly well to keep the lid and bowl of your Q clean. Simply follow the instructions on the bottle for maximum effect.
Note: You’ll never get the inside of the lid 100% clean, just make sure there isn’t a large build-up of grease present.
TIP 4: THE SOAPY WATER TEST
A critical part of the spring clean, and something that should be done every time your gas bottle is swapped over, is the soapy water test. This test checks the gas connections and hose to ensure there are no potentially dangerous gas leaks. Follow the below steps to make sure nothing is missed.
Put some soapy water in a spray bottle or a dish.
Turn on the LPG gas bottle without turning on the BBQ. This pressurises the system.
Next, spray the entire valve, regulator, and hose assembly with the soapy water.
Alternatively, you can apply the soapy water with a paintbrush, basting brush or it can even be sponged on.
Bubbles will form if there is a gas leak and you may also smell the gas.
You need to test the entire assembly from the gas bottle valve all the way to where the gas hose attaches to the BBQ.
When done, rinse with clean water to remove the soap solution.
If bubbles form, immediately turn your gas bottle off and leave disconnected until the issue has been rectified; i.e. replacement gas bottle, replacement hose, and regulator.
TIP 5: CHECKING YOUR IGNITOR
The last step in spring cleaning your Weber Q is checking the ignitor functions properly. Now that we’ve cleaned and checked the rest of the barbecue, we can do this safely. The first step is to try lighting your barbecue as you normally would. If it lights and burns correctly, congratulations! You’re set for the warmer months. If not, turn the barbecue off, then turn your gas bottle off and disconnect it for added safety.
Piezo Ignitor
If your barbecue has a push button Piezo ignitor, these are the steps you need to take (If you don’t already have a replacement, call us!)
Look at the back of the ignitor from the side of your barbecue. From here, you’ll be able to see two connecting wires. Remove the white wire, then the black. Using a flat head screw driver, apply pressure to the upper and lower locking clips which hold the ignitor in place, then simply remove. Slide in your new ignitor, pushing until it locks in place. Then, reattach the two wires, black then white.
Reconnect your gas bottle, then light your Weber Q as you normally would. Your Q should ignite and now you’re all set for some incredible meals! If this isn’t the case, please speak to our customer service team and they’ll go out of their way to get you up and running.
Note: You can now place your cooking grills back into your Weber Q, preheat your barbecue for 10 minutes, then use your Weber grill brush to scrape them clean ready for your next barbecuing experience!
Original article published by Weber Australia - https://www.weber.com/AU/en/blog/news/spring-cleaning-dont-forget-your-trusty-weber-q/weber-418859.html
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