Refurbish a Gas Grill

Does your grill look like this? If so, follow the steps below to have it looking like new in no time.

After years of hamburgers on July 4th, hot dogs for family reunions, and the summer barbecues, the gas grill will start to wear under the use. Lynda Lyday shows how to paint, clean and fix your old grill up to shiny summer standards again. She also advises investing $20 in a gas grill cover.

Materials:

porcelain-coated grill trays
grill cleaner
large plastic tub half filled with soapy water
plastic spatula
nylon pads
plastic scouring pad
grill brushes, made with soft metal such as brass
new lava rocks
wet/dry shop vacuum cleaner
120-grit sandpaper
rust-destroying compound & primer
heat resistant black paint
grill cover
safety glasses

1. Before you start cleaning a gas grill, disconnect and remove the gas canister. This makes the cleaning job both easier and safer.
2. Remove the main grills, and place them in a large tub of soapy water. Allow them to soak for an hour or so. Remove the upper racks and soak them, too.
3. Remove and discard the lava rocks. They lose their effectiveness after a year or two as they're covered with grease drippings.
4. Take out the lava-rock rack and soak it with the grills. If the rack is rusty, you may need to replace it.
5. If the grill has a drip guard that prevents grease from getting onto the burners, it probably needs cleaning too. Lift it out and place it in the tub.
6. Use a spatula to scrape burnt-on grease from the inner walls of the grill.
7. Use a wet/dry shop vacuum cleaner to remove the rest of the rocks, food particles and other debris from inside the gas grill.
8. Now that you've removed everything from the grill cabinet, inspect the burner and the cabinet body. If the burner appears damaged, replace it. If you notice rust in the cabinet, don't paint it--spread vegetable oil over it. The heat from the grill will bake the oil into the rust and prevent it from spreading.
9. After the grills, rack and burner cover have soaked for an hour or so, remove them from the tub, and scrub them to remove baked-on grease. You can use a metal grill-cleaning brush on stainless-steel grills, but porcelain grills should be cleaned with plastic or nylon scouring pads: metal brushes could scratch the finish.

   If the grills are rusty, replace them. Consider a stainless steel or porcelain-finish grill, which won't rust and is easy to clean.

10. When you're done cleaning, reassemble the grill. Protect the grill from the elements with a grill cover.