your best method to clean the sticky gunge off barbecue?

[nongnangning]

The barbecue at the sports club where I am a member is clean-ish, but sticky with post-cooking gunge. I have said my volunteer job will be to de-stick-ify it. But what can I use? It's more than a hot soapy water job - I think it needs something, maybe a chemical?, to kind of dissolve the gunge. Your tried and tested anti-gunge methods gratefully requested

I've used Oven Pride on a barbeque grille before and it worked very well although you do need to let it soak for hours. A wire brush can also help but don't use the brush when it's covered in Oven Pride as it'll get flicked all over the place and it's very corrosive.

I have a gas grill so may be slightly different but I just heat it so it’s hot so the gunk all burns off then use a bbq brush to clean it off.

Soak it in warm water with biological washing powder dissolved in it. Leave it overnight. A large plastic box or tray is perfect for this.

Fairy Platinum and a Spontex metal scourer.

Soda Crystals

It's described as being good for:

Cleaning - Dissolves grease from pans, extractor hoods, BBQs etc.

costs about £2 for a big bag

Oven pride sorts it with little scrubbing required. You can buy kits with special bags you put the grills in with the liquid and all the crap comes straight off.

Wow thanks everyone, this is really helpful. I have time to find some of these items this week and can then do the job next weekend, Brilliant. Much appreciated 😍

If it’s a stainless steel hotplate, crack on with all the suggestions.

If it’s a cast iron hotplate, then heat and hot water only, really. Either before or after, pull it out and wash the rest of the bbq with whatever you have decided to use.

If you do decide to use detergent on cast iron, you will need to season it with high heat and vegetable oil afterwards. www.bbqsandoutdoor.com.au/how-to-season-a-new-bbq-plate-the-essential-guide/

Scrubdaddy

Please don't use ovenpride - it contains horrifically damaging chemicals. It should not be released into our water supply. I'm surprised some of these severely toxic household chemicals aren't banned yet.

Borrow a food blowtorch and burn off the gunk then brush with wire brush.

My husband is v into his BBQing and uses the method described above - heat up the bbq and then scrub the gunk off with a BBQ brush. Takes minutes and no chemicals

Thank you for all the good advice - you are talking to a barbecue newbie here.
Believe it or not (I can't quite believe it myself) I have never cooked on or cleaned a BBQ in my life before. Probably something to do with whenever there is a BBQ a man seems to put on a big apron and make fire and meat 😁
Once I get rid of DS back to school tomorrow I will have a chance to have a look and see what I need to get hold of to do the heating up method as a Stage 1 attempt (eg it's a gas BBQ, I think its gas has run out, I don't know if it has a brush in which case I will need to get one) and I will see how it goes when I try it at the weekend

This is what I do as well. Very little elbow grease required.

A metal scourer.

I must admit I've always used Oven Pride for cleaning my oven and bbq. I'm happy to stop using it but can you recommend a alternative product/process for cleaning an oven?

I burn it for 20 mins, let it cool down and give it a rub down to remove all the ash with a brush.

I have a gas BBQ and the bottom gets sticky and the best thing I've found is Elbow Grease, amazing stuff!

Cut an onion in half and stick one end on a long fork. Heat up the grid. Rub over hot grid with the half onion. If there are still some bits on, just rub with a wire brush.

Use a brass brush. You don't want remnants of a cheap wire brush stuck anywhere.

Leave on the grass overnight

Elbow grease spray. It’s a yellow spray the lifts sticky grease. I use it all over the kitchen for this. Used it on the bbq, anything where there is greasy/sticky residue.

Or this. The ants, dew and other grass dwellers will soon get rid of what the Labrador wasn't able to.

Yup, this is the tried and tested best method. Heat the grill up, and before you start cooking again, use one of those wire barbecue brushes. The gunge comes right off.

leave it on high after the bbq, brush hard, then do the same before the next one.

I take the grill off and power wash it. Comes up good as new without scratching the chrome.

Just Googling brass bbq brushes! Who knew!!

A scouring pad, while wearing your oldest/crappiest t-shirt and a shower cap.