Has your BBQ’s performance reduced? Are you struggling to get it up to temperature whilst preheating? If so, your burner tubes may need to be cleaned.

This is a simple task which will help maintain your grill and keeping it working at optimum performance for the year. Overtime, your burner tubes can become clogged up with grease, moisture and carbon and oxidation which causes scaling. This scaling may cause the ports or holes on the burner tubes to become smaller, restricting the flame. An indication for this will not only be the appearance of the burner tubes but, the scaling will make the flames orange. This suggests uneven heat on the grill and uneven flame patterns.

To get your burner tubes nice and clean, you will need the following:

• A clean stainless-steel brush (Please ensure that this is not the same brush you use to clean debris from your cooking grate). You do not want to transfer grease and cooking residue from your surface you have cooked on to your burners.

Firstly, ensure your BBQ is off and completely cold. Remove all components to get to your burner tubes such as your cooking grates and flavourizer bars and set them aside.

Once the burner tubes are exposed, you will have to clean each one individually. It is at this stage you can identify whether your burner tubes do need a clean or in fact, may need replacing. If you notice that your burners are cracking or splitting or portholes are extremely clogged, they should be replaced. Do not let rust be your guide to burner replacement, food never will touch the burner tubes and they are exposed to high levels of heat and so this is to be expected.

If at this stage, you have recognized your burner tubes just need a good clean, take your stainless-steel grill brush and clean the burner tubes in and up and down motion. It is important that you do not brush lengthwise as this could cause further blockages.

If you require a replacement burner tube, please contact Weber or Riverside with your serial number (found on a white sticker on the BBQ) and we can assist further, providing you with part numbers.