Less Mess Grilling

If you'd rather replace your old grill rack than clean it, try these hassle-free tips for less-mess grilling.

Before grilling

• Spray the cold grill rack with a nonstick vegetable spray coating.
• Line the inside of the firebox with heavy foil. When you're finished grilling and the ashes have cooled, you can bundle up the foil and throw it all away. Heavy foil is stronger and less likely to tear.

After grilling

• Remove the rack after you're done cooking as soon as it cools down. Fill a large tub with hot, sudsy water and put in the rack to soak. An alternative is to cover both sides of the rack with wet paper towels or newspapers and let stand while you eat. Later, the burned-on food should wash right off.
• To remove stubborn burned-on food, sprinkle dry baking soda on a damp sponge and lightly scour the grill rack. You can also scrub with an abrasive-type cleaning pad, crumpled foil or a stiff grill brush. Read your grill's cleaning and care instructions before using any cleaning products or abrasives.

For gas grills

• Clean the inside of your gas grill by turning on the gas burners to the high setting. Close the hood and let the grill self-clean about 15 minutes. Let the grill cool, then wipe off burned food particles.
• Once a year, remove the grill rack, briquettes and rack from the gas grill so you can brush out the bottom.

Make sure to check out these other great tips below to make your house a perfect home. Whether you love grilling, gardening or are health conscious and environmentally saavy you'll find all the information needed to help around your house.

• Great Grilling Gadgets
• Grilling Pizza
• Less Mess Grilling

For more tips, click here.