Winter BBQ Preparation | BBQ Storage | BBQ Care

When its Autumn and Winter is on its way the majority of us will be thinking about staying indoors and keeping warm. Apart from the true barbecue enthusiasts who barbecue in any weather rain, shine or even snow!

For those that want to save the next barbecue until spring time here is a guide to help you prepare your barbecue for the autumn and winter months ahead. These tips have been compiled for Weber BBQ’s but can be applied to any brand/style of BBQ.

Leaving your barbecue outside will of course expose it to the harsh winter elements, wind, rain, freezing temperatures and snow. This should be avoided by ideally bringing your barbecue indoors for storage, a garage or shed is ideal. If this is not possible at least buy a substantial protective cover for it. Its worth spending the money on a good cover £15 – £60 depending on the size of your barbecue, rather than £300 or so on a new barbecue next season!

Weber barbecues are designed for an outdoor life. They are robust enough to handle all weather but a cover will help you keep your barbecue looking as good as new.

Before storing and wrapping your barbecue up for the winter you should thoroughly clean it. The best way to do this is to heat the bbq up high, and leave for 15mins. During this time all the baked on food is carbonised on the cooking grates. Begin cleaning your grill while it’s hot with a Weber brush and scraper, these are available in T shape or traditional flat brush head.

After you’ve thoroughly scraped and brushed the grill area you can remove the cooking grates and bring to the kitchen sink for a further scrubbing with a non-abrasive scouring pad and hot soapy water. Rinse the grates and ensure they are dried properly. Ideally you could just store the grates indoors if you don’t have storage space for the whole bbq.

While the grates are off clean inside the bbq. Remove any large deposits of burnt food / charcoal and of course if you’re cleaning a charcoal bbq remove all the ash first! Start cleaning using a sponge or tough cloth with hot soapy water, for the extra stubborn part take a look at the range of Weber cleaning sprays which will make your life easier. Don’t forget to clean inside the lid where smoke and general carbon builds up. It can look like black paint is peeling off. Ensure all parts are dry after cleaning.

Finally assemble your bbq again and begin cleaning the exterior surface of the bbq. Again just use hot soapy water and a sponge or rag. Remember to frequently rinse the sponge in the hot water. Be careful if you’re using any abrasive cleaners – if worried, test it on hidden section of your bbq first.

If you have a gas bbq you could turn it on and let it heat up for one last time for about 20 minutes, this will ensure that every component is dry and will help prevent rust. Remember to fully disconnect the gas bottle afterwards.

After its cool again try and get hold of some sprayable cooking oil and spray a thin coat over the grates and any other metal parts. This will help repel any moisture that might get through the cover during the driving rain that’s bound to come!