Tune up your barbecue

There is nothing quite like the aroma of a thick steak, some marinated chicken or roasted veggies cooking on the grill to get your mouth watering and put you in the barbecuing mood. The mood quickly sours though, if your barbecue breaks down.

Whether you have a top of the line machine or a rinky-dink hand me down, maintaining your barbecue will keep you happily grilling. All you need is a quick tune-up and some care and maintenance tips to get your grill ready for another summer.

The tune-up
Spiders love barbecues, says Rob Proctor, owner of the Barbecue Doctor in Calgary. Over the winter they climb into the tube that connects the burner to the propane tank and block the flow of fuel with their webs. This can block the fuel completely, or cause the gas pressure to build before ignition, creating that small explosion of flame that's been known to claim many an eyebrow. A quick cure is to empty out your barbecue and put a vacuum cleaner on the end of the hose.Then dump out the old food and briquettes that are in the bottom of your grilling area to prevent rust and damage. Add in some new briquettes, not lava rocks. Proctor says lava rocks will only last for about 20 hours while briquettes will last for months. But don't dump the whole bag of briquettes in, you don't need them all and they will only prevent the heat from rising, causing uneven cold and warm spots on the grill.

To clean the grease and burned bits of food that have collected on your grill it's best to buy a gas grill degreaser. Take the grill off the barbecue, place it on some plastic and spray on the degreaser. Then spray the cleaner off with a hose. The chemical is toxic and can burn your hands so don't forget to use rubber gloves.

Click to continue for tips on how to keep your BBQ in top shape for the rest of the season...

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Regular care and maintenance
Keep these tips in mind to keep your barbecue in top shape all summer long. It will make your clean-up next year that much easier!

1. Don't preheat at a high heat or it will warp your grill, use a low heat.

2. When you finish cooking keep the heat on low for a minute to burn off bits of uncooked food. Let it cool and then run a brass cleaning brush over your grill, the brass won't scratch the porcelain on the grill. Then close the lid and you're finished.

3. You can store your barbecue outside all year as long as you cover it with a tarp. Buy a strong vinyl cover and it will last forever. Now that you know how to care for your barbecue it's time to fire up the grill!

Check out these menus to get started:
- Chicken on the grill in 6 easy ways
- A Mari usque ad Mare Grill
- Caribbean Grill

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