Silly silly man...

[SodiumPentathol]

Well, my fiance "rescued" a bbq from the neighbours who were trying to throw it our because the element inside was burnt out. He's decided we can just fill it with briquets, and has invited a bunch of friends over for a BBQ TONIGHT then left for work and asked me to "pretty pretty please" give the thing a good scrub and pick up some briquets and matches. Anyone have any thoughts on how well a repurposed BBQ will work? And how to get the thing CLEAN.

 

[Andy M.]

Use a wire brush to brush off the worst stuff and hose it out with a garden hose.

Get some Kingford charcoal.

 

[Rocklobster]

Hmmmm. There are some holes in the bottom that should be dealt with before you have fire in it. you may need some sort of grill at the bottome to let some air cirulation under the coals. It can be done. I would get it out in the middle of the lawn with a hose, good pair of rubber gloves, steel scrubby pads, good degreaser, and a paint scraper or two. Start with a good spray down of degreaser and maybe even a pail of very hot soapy water. Depending on the shape it is in, it may be a lot more work than you want.

 

[Hoot]

Well I am certain that there will be other opinions, but if it were me, I would remove the piping ( I am assuming this is a gas grill), then I would plug any of the holes(if any) that the piping travels through. The fire box will likely be ok without cleaning. The grate can be cleaned with a wire brush and, if necessary, some water and mild detergent. Be sure to oil the grate after it has heated up. Good Luck!!

 

[Hoot]

See...told you there would be other opinions...good advice from all!!

 

[SodiumPentathol]

There's no rust damage, it's mostly just dirty from sitting under a bush. Thanks for the tip about the holes, I hadn't considered burning bits of coals tumbling out of it (luckily we would've been using it over a patch of rocks, so less fire risk. But hot stuff flying out of the bbq is no fun.)

 

[jennyema]

Charcoal grills need holes on the bottom for air to circulate. They are about 1/2 inch across.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, I wouldn't plug the holes due to the charcoal needing air, but I would set something under them to catch the ash. Heck, the only hole you might have on the actual bottom might be the one for the grease to drip into a drip tray.
I had a dual purpose grill once. It came with a SS pan that set on top of the burners and the charcoal went in that pan. Then the grate went back on over that. It neither grilled well with charcoal or with gas.

Paint scrapers, or a spackling knife, will help you scrape it down, too.

 

[Rocklobster]

There is also that ignitor hole on the one side that will help let air into. I was just warning about the possible fire hazard with burning coals falling to the ground. It will need some attention, either way.

 

[Timothy]

I don't see any need to clean it. Place a rack on the bottom that sits above the holes, so that air can get in, and burn it in.

Load it with a pretty good load of charcoal and fire it up. The fire will sanitize it better than any scrubbing you can do.

Put the rack that you intend to place your food on, into the grill while you're burning it in. It will get sanitized also that way.

Just keep an eye on the ground beneath the lit grill. I've grilled over an open camp fire hundreds of times and never had a fire spread. You shouldn't have any problems as long as you keep an eye on it and don't walk off while it's lit.

If you're going to spend $30 to clean and prep it, you'd be better off just buying a new one.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Well, my fiance "rescued" a bbq from the neighbours who were trying to throw it our because the element inside was burnt out.

Element burnt out? This screams ELECTRIC GRILL to me, and I don't think I would build a fire in it and cook food for human consumption unless all the electrical components have been removed.

To clean it, I would go buy a can of oven cleaner, spray it thoroughly inside and out, let it sit for a few hours, then wipe it clean.

That said, you can buy a charcoal burning grill brand spanking new for less than the cost of your labor, at minimum wage, to clean this one up. Run over to K-Mart or Wally World and buy a servicable unit for under 45 bucks American.

 

[Snip 13]

My gas BBQ also broke and I just removed the burners and piping and used charcoal in it. Still works fine, my mom is using it now that I have a new one. If you've cleaned of most of the dirt make a charcoal fire in it with the grill on and brush the grill clean while hot, it works better than trying to do it when it's cold.

 

[roadfix]

Chuck it and just get a Weber. )