Barbecue grills are subject to high temperatures, which can cause interior and exterior paint to peel. If you’re considering re-painting the inside of your grill, it’s best to use a traditional, liquid paint instead. If you notice peeling paint on the inside of your lid, it’s actually a buildup of carbonized grease. This smell is terrible and should be avoided.
Plastic tanks can be painted, but they should always be painted a lighter, reflective color. Whites, off-whites, and certain pastels are approved for this purpose. For a grease fire, shut the propane tank off first, keep the grill closed, let it burn out, or carefully smother it with baking soda if uncontrolled. Propane grills produce carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas that can be deadly if inhaled in high concentrations.
High heat paint is supposed to be safe once it has cured and burned off, but it should not be flaking off the inside of a grill. The residue from oil, grease, and smoke from your barbecue generates settles on the inside of your lid, creating a buildup called creosote. Most types of grills are made from cast aluminum and won’t rust, but most smokers are steel and will rust (badly) once the paint has worn off.
The safety tips provided are designed to guide you through the grilling process. It’s important to never paint the inside of a grill, as it can lead to serious health issues. A fun barbecue is a safe one, and the following safety tips are designed to guide you through the grilling process.
📹 The Most Common Mistake Made With Propane Gas Grills
In this video, I’ll talk about the most common issues and mistakes made with propane gas grills and how to avoid them.
How hot can BBQ paint get?
Stove Bright High Temp BBQ Paint is a high-temperature paint designed for use on smokers that operate at elevated temperatures, up to 1200°F. The paint is resistant to heat, corrosion, ultraviolet radiation, and grease, rendering it suitable for use on barbecues, grills, and smokers. This paint is preferred by manufacturers of barbecue grills due to its attractive appearance and resistance to animal fats and smoke.
Can I paint the inside of a firepit?
Step 8: It is inadvisable to apply paint to the interior of a fire pit that is in proximity to an open flame. Krylon High Heat reaches a point of dryness to the touch in approximately ten minutes and can be handled safely in approximately an hour. It is possible to achieve a transformation of metal objects in a relatively straightforward manner.
What not to do with propane grill?
Local fire officials advise against using a propane grill indoors, including garages and screened porches, as it can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, explosions, and fires. After placing the grill in a safe location, check the hose and connection for leaks and blockages, especially if not used in a while. Bees can build nests inside the grill, blocking the flow of propane, causing a combustible situation. Regular cleaning of the grill is also essential to prevent blockage from built-up grease from previous cookouts.
Can you paint the inside of a propane grill?
The text advises against painting the inside of a grill due to potential off-gas when heated. It suggests researching product precautions and job-specific safety hazards, such as heat, fumes, open flame, grease, oil, paint, propane, rust, and food. The text recommends leaving the inside as-is or cleaning it down to bare metal and seasoning with down type of oil to prevent rust. This method is easier than stripping the grill down all the way.
Can you close a propane grill while cooking?
Grilling with a closed lid is essential for achieving high levels of heat and reducing cooking temperatures. This method allows for indirect grilling, allowing for more efficient use of wood chips on gas grills. However, it’s not always necessary to leave the lid open when cooking, as it depends on the specific food and heat desired.
Opening the grill lid is best for searing or high heat needs, as it allows for better management of flare-ups and cooking one side at a time. Steaks, thinner chicken, and fish are common items that can be grilled with the lid open.
Closed lids trap hot air and create convection within the grill body, allowing for lower temperatures, indirect grilling, and the use of wood chips on gas grills. However, grilling with the lid down can also produce more moisture in the form of drippings that vaporize on flame tamers.
In conclusion, the choice between open or closed grilling depends on the specific food and heat requirements.
How do I keep the inside of my grill from rusting?
Regular cleaning with elbow grease is the best rust-preventative product. After cleaning, apply vegetable or canola oil to deter rust. Always check the owner’s manual or warranty before using commercially available products. To maintain a well-maintained grill, use vegetable oil for seasoning and rub on after cleaning, Traeger all-natural cleaner for tough grease spots and food splatters, and lemon or onion for cleaning grates or preventing food build-up.
Can you cook on a painted grill?
Fire-tolerant painted grills can be difficult to burn off due to their heat rating of 1, 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat-rated paint can be purchased at hardware stores for repainting. Stainless steel grills are less common for charcoal grilling due to their higher cost. However, they don’t have an exterior finish coating, so there’s no need to worry about burning off the exterior. However, intentionally training a torch on the grill skin can discolor it.
Grill grates are made of cast metal, powder coated wire, or chrome plated wire. A GrillGun can turn small diameter wire grills orange and burn off any finish. For light gauge wire grill tops, remove the grill grate and light the charcoal directly. If the wire coating is bad or non-existent, try lighting and sanitizing the grill at once.
Is it safe to paint inside of BBQ?
The application of high-heat paint can result in the release of toxic chemicals that may subsequently transfer onto food. The re-porcelain enamel finishing service is a costly undertaking that may not be appropriate for all grills. In the event that the grill is intended solely for aesthetic purposes, it may be utilized in accordance with the user’s preferences. For further information on the cleaning of enamel, please refer to the section on cleaning tips.
Why is paint peeling inside my Weber grill?
It is inadvisable to paint or otherwise finish the grill lids, as the vapors and grease produced during grilling can accumulate and form deposits. The high temperatures reached by the grill will cause the deposit to harden, which will result in it flaking or peeling off.
Is it better to grill with lid open or closed?
Open or closed barbecue lids provide precise control over heat distribution on food surfaces. Open lids allow for precise control over heat, while closed lids may result in mixed results. For instance, closing the lid may not provide the same quality sear on both sides of a steak. A list of cooking scenarios where either a closed or open lid is ideal includes grilling large pieces of meat like turkey, roast, or leg of lamb.
📹 *WARNING*WHAT NOT TO DO: GAS GRILL FIRE!!!
TODAYS EPISODE: When visitors get on the Grill. When grilling on a Gas Grill you must keep your eye on it. 2 mins on Low is …
I have a 4-burner propane Expert Grill from Walmart that I purchased about 4 years ago for about $185. It does not have any of the fancy bells and whistles like a viewing window or a rotisserie, but I work VERY hard to take good care of it, and it has been a great, solid grill. My point here is that you do not HAVE to spend an arm, a leg, and your first born to have a great cooking experience on a propane or natural gas grill. Good maintenance of, and care for, your grill are equally, if not more, important.
So I got the four burner version of the monument grill a couple years ago on Father’s Day. So far, I really really like this grill. It cooks extremely well. Your grill looks immaculate. I really wish you would do a article on how you go about cleaning it. I clean line however, it never looks as good as yours. Lol. Also, I have no idea how to clean the glass I had a grease fire and the temperature is so hot in there to the glass seem to be permanently blackened. I noticed that you took it apart. I’m going to try that, I didn’t realize that was an option. Thank you for sharing. I’m definitely gonna check out more of your articles.
Thank you, great tips. We grew up on Charcoal Weber grills. But for the last 10 years we’ve used nothing but propane about a year ago we purchased this exact same Monument Model (we used the crap out of our last grill) I love it, we grill year-round. It’s very easy to clean and season, as oppsed to dumping ashes i hated that mess. We still own a smoker my husband likes to spark it up occasionally. I just dont have the patience for it anymore.
Nice job. I have always baught lean hamburger and burn off the extra every time, lol i may use spray oils to help the burn off cycle. Never had a grill fire in 20+ years. Someone donated a 80/20 or less to my wife and I had issue right away. Appreciate the donation as I learned a ton. Appreciate your work. My pellet smoker is north of 1000 bucks but it takes hours really to cook anything. Once again great article!!!!!!
Great vid Tom. You should check out a Napoleon Grill. Napoleon Grills are the better bang for your buck compared to Weber Genesis or Summit. They have a lifetime warranty on all parts. The LED lights actually have purpose and show you which burners are hot by the LED turning red. I have the P665 and it is amazing.
I’ve had the same stainless propane grill for 20+ years. Just now replacing it with a Napoleon 625SE. Good, sharp angled heat shields reduce grease flare ups greatly. Occasional flare ups are a part of grilling, get used to it. Hotter and colder spots too. That’s what makes becoming a grillmaster an art and science. If you don’t want to keep an eye on your cook, go to Wendy’s. Drink a beer and sit contemplating the details of the cook. When a flareup happens, take a big sip and spit accurately to put it out. If it persists, move food away from it and repeat. A squirt bottle of water is ok for small flareups. If you’re having prarie fires, you should have run all burners on high for 10 minutes at the end of your last cook to burn off buildup.
I got a little weber gas grill from my parents as a christmas present the first year of my marriage. It still works at 100% and my husband and I are celebrating 10 years this fall. The only thing I’ve done to it is to get the hose attachment so I can hook it up to a larger propane tank instead of using the little 1 pounders that never seem to last long. Never had a grease fire with it either and I use it quite a lot. Maybe people are having grease fires with gas grills because of improper cleaning? I know a lot of people who swear by their charcoal grills but the lighter fluid and/or something in the charcoal itself actually makes me physically sick every single time I eat something from a charcoal grill, so I’m really not a fan.
Grease fires happens above 500 deg F so they happen when you are warming up to 500 deg F the grill after starting it up -if it hasn’t been clean a little while. It has never happened to me while cooking food in 25 years. Don’t panic (indeed the best advice here) and if there is nothing flammable above your grill open the lid, close the gas valve and step aside while the fat burned out.
Great article. I have a STOK Tower charcoal, I love it, even though it is 14 years old and more work. I have always used charcoal and never owned a propane grill, but I was thinking of getting one just for the convenience. It would just be for my wife and me to use maybe family when they are in town. I just had a new composite deck put in and thought the propane would be better suited, though the grease fire sounds a bit scary.
Here’s what I have done for decades to reduce (and almost eliminate) grease fires in my propane grill. I double line the big grease pan underneath with aluminum foil then after using it for a while grease will build up so I simply remove the dirty greasy aluminum foil and put in a new layer double layer. Takes about 10 mins so it’s easy and quite. By putting in new aluminum foil you remove the grease fire source of fuel! The other thing I do when I change the aluminum foil I scrap the burner covers which collect burned grease which also ignites during grilling. Lastly, I wipe down the grills with PAM Non-Stick Cooking Grilling Spray (High Heat Formula). I spray it on paper towels then wipe the grates. This wipes most of the grease from the previous grilling. A little maintenance goes a very long way!
What u think about infared grills. I got 1 because lowes didn’t have any regular grills left. They will get up to 600 in no time and plates keep grease fires to 0. Plus u get that steak house sear on ur steaks and literally cook a 2 inch steak in 7-8 minutes and juicy. It was a learning curve for me for sure. But I live mine.
I found the comments about being prone to grease fires odd and over blown.. I have a BK Regal and it is no more prone than my Weber Kettle (which one I use depends on time available and other factors). In fact, I am perfectly fine walking away from it. I trust it that much. Maybe it depends on good temps control and cleanliness? Also, the more prone to breaking and expensive to maintain bits seem off, except for cheapo grills like Charbroil. My Regal is ten plus years old. The only part I had to replace in year 10, is the flame tamers which bear the brunt of the heat, so no big deal. Based on the grill’s current condition, I expect another 5-10 years easily.
Always BBQ wood and charcoal my ignition source I like prong to heat up charcoal I never use lighter fluid learn from my dad but now my wife bought me now my wife bought me a gas grill the same one you’re using but a four burner monument that you have but a four burner😊 I like it but I keep it clean I’ve used it 2 times already it also comes with a LED light you can plug in for night barbecuing cool
Hi Tom!! Great article!! One other safety thing to mention, is keeping ALL grills away from the house, wooden deck railings, sheds, etc.. My Dad was a legitimate insurance claims adjuster and he would mention claims from people that didn’t keep their grill, while it was heated and in use for grilling, that caught structures on fire. It only takes a short amount of time to suddenly, even though totally unintentional, to have a HUGE problem. I know you weren’t showing your grill in use while it was against your house, but it’s a really good idea to remind people when the opportunity is there. Thanks again for all the tips!!!
I have had a Perfect Flame grill for 15 years. Almost threw it away a few years ago but decided to restore it and keep it. I dont use it much (about 10 times per year) and I keep it in my storage shed so Im sure that helps a lot. One thing that I recently found that helps a ton with grease fires are lava rocks. When grilling chicken or marinated meat I would get a lot of flare ups because of the grease, but the lava rocks have taken almost 100% care of that. I put a grill grate over the heat tents to set the lava rocks and then put the original grates over the lava rocks. Also have a smoke box that I throw mesquite wood chips into. I got a little carried away with the accessories but it works well.
Have a Weber Genesis (with the left side-burner) bought in the spring of 2007. I have had to replace the ‘flavorizer bars’ and the piezoelectric starter once (each). Still works great, looks almost new (a small bit of patina from sitting outdoors year round). My previous grill was a Weber kettle (ca 1982) that is still in good working condition. I use the gas grill only, because it is fast, does a great job cooking and has very usable ‘heat zones’ (direct. indirect). Cleaning is quick. I don’t use charcoal anymore (once my go-to for decades) because the conveniences of this gas grill far outweigh the PITA charcoal grill. (NOTE: there is a huge difference between REAL charcoal and those Kingsford-style manufactured briquets).
Solid article. I mostly use my gas grill for chicken breasts, carne asada and vegetables. Cooking burgers, sausages and any other grease dripping foods, I use offset heat and take me sweet time. I learned all this from having from amazing grease fires in the early days. I just got a pellet smoker/grill and I am looking to do some grilling of burgers and steak soon. The smoker part of it is easy. This article reminds me: I think I am going to give my gas grill a deep clean tomorrow!
I have a Broilmaster P3 gas grill I bought in 1997 and have replaced the burner 3 or four times and the grates once. It is extremely well made with some stainless but the actual grilling body is a thick aluminum which is still in good condition. It was expensive but I have definitely gotten my moneys worth. I also have a Traeger Lil Tex which is almost 17 years old and a Weber which is around 12 years old. Use them all for different things but really like cooking on the Weber the best. Going to be trying some of the Fogo briquettes as soon as I can get back to the Ace Hardware.
I like this article. Grease fires are a real deal. Baking soda is a good idea as well as a fire extinguisher designed for grease. Also, they can come on suddenly… You are cooking, week after week, no problems, you put something like a burger on there one day and boom, fire starts. Keep your grill cleaned out. There are a ton of YouTube articles to watch about cleaning the inside of the grill. Do it. The gunk builds up silently and quickly. As for a smoke box, you don’t need anything expensive. If you are just trying it out, you can use a small foil tray or a foil pouch with some soaked wood chips. Pay attention to what wood chips will give flavors that compliment what you are cooking, too. Again, YouTube is your friend here. I still have a Weber kettle along with a propane weber grill. Like them both. But, yeah, if I am passing anything down, it will be the kettle, not the propane Weber.
great article, and i didn’t know about a smoke box, i need to get one. i’m with ya on the grill and getting what you pay for, we seem to have been buying ones every 4-5 years, so i decided to invest in a weber, so far so good, there warranty is top notch, and seems to be made really well, and like you stated, keeping it clean is the best medicine. we bought a small plastic tote, and when things cool down, its nice the weber come apart so nice. the pcs fit in this tote, and we invested in stainless grates, and we soak everything with soapy hot water, and its like new again. love that everything, slides out or comes out super easy for cleaning.
I just found your website today. Now I’m not your typical gas grill owner. I’m from the mentality of buy it once & forget about it. Our “recent” purchase is our last gas grill. We bought a Solaire infra-red gas grill in 2006. It still works & looks new. It’s the best money can buy. We can cook fish or vegetables on it up to big steaks. We like our steaks “Pittsburgh blue”. Charred on the outside & blood rare to raw on the inside. To get it cooked that way we start with steaks cut 2″ thick. We set our grill to sear after we light it. It cooks evenly at 1100 degrees. At that heat we have to cook with the lid open otherwise we may damage the 304 stainless steel it’s made of. 12 minutes and 3 flips the steak is ready. We set it on a cold plate to rest for 5 minutes because it’s still cooking inside. Meat always comes out juicy & delicious. After we remove our food, we turn it on high & let it incinerate any crumbs & cooks off the grease. After 5 minutes all the grease turns to ash & it’s ready for the next time we use it. Thanks for explaining how to use a gas grill. Keep up the great content!
Gas grills are so lame. They have no way to evenly cook across the whole surface. Period. Lava rocks were the shit back in the day then one day poof, no more lava rocks and we were supposed to pretend we loved chasing the flame on these stupid gas grills. Raw burger in one side, burnt up burger on another part of the grill. Most frustrating cooking I’ve ever done is on these pieces of crap. I’ve been back to charcoal for a long time. Tastes great❤❤
The best advice was your first point. Too many people buy a grill and assemble then fire it up and cook on it. Gross. The totally toxic oils burning off must make the food taste like garbage, let alone probably not healthy. I hope people heed your advice. I got a pizza oven recently and the smells it produced were sick-making -took about 45 minutes at 800+ for it to clear up.
After years of using a Traeger+, I recently switched to Asmoke, and I can genuinely say it was the best decision I ever made about my grilling experience. The Asmoke’s precision temperature control is a real game-changer. It’s so much easier to get consistent results, and the flavor from the wood pellets is just phenomenal. I love how versatile it is – grilling, smoking, roasting, baking, it does it all! Plus, the battery powered feature is super convenient for outings and tailgating. No more struggling with propane gas grills and their common mistakes. I’ve found the Asmoke to be more efficient and easier to clean than my old Traeger+. The grilling experience has become so much more enjoyable and stress-free. I highly recommend giving Asmoke a try. #Asmoke
Lots of comments about keeping the BBQ away from your house. Good tip because even in THIS article, the BBQ is beside the house. Not good. One more item: chefs use s spritzer bottle with water to control flare ups and it will not ruin the food like baking soda. Baking soda is NOT the way to suppress a BBQ grease fire because you then have to hold the box over the flames whereas a spritzer can be deployed safely from the side and will cool the heat real fast and suppress the fire. Just don’t forget that some water will trickle down into to tray and enter the grease pot so keep your grease pot empty or else if it overflows it’ll make a real mess.
they have that grease in a new heat exchanger for a new heat exchanger so they will smoke initially in your house when u turn on ur heater so leave all ur doors and windows open and fans on and just let the smoke escape nothing you can do. also toaster ovens they do this so make sure you also do a burn on even your electric toaster oven or your food is going to be smoked in that oil from the toaster oven and will taste funky.
Good article. The only thing I would add, so as not to discourage people, is that in my experience you do not have to keep your grill spotless to avoid grease fires. I use my Weber Summit almost weekly, and I clean it two, maybe three times per year. The important thing is to scrape the interior, and not allow the grease to build up on the bottom of the firebox or in the drip pan, as that is what ignites and is the fuel for the fire. I have found that a little grease build-up is usually not a problem – at least with how I typically cook. Besides the presence of a fair amount of grease, the other necessary element required for grease fires is a very high temperature in your firebox – to ignite the grease. I rarely use the “high” setting on my six-burner Summit, but when I do – to sear meat, for example – I do so with the lid open, as you are trying to sear the surface, not expose the whole piece of meat to 600 degrees and over-cook it. Depending on the grill and your grate situation, turning all the burners to high and closing the lid for a period of time is an invitation to a fire, unless your grill is very clean, and it’s hard – at least for me – to always keep it that way.
I’m just going to drop some reality here and move on. The biggest problem with gass grills is buying big shiny cheap Chinese stuff. Every guy wants a shiny grill the size of a car to show off to his buddies, but they are made out of shoddy metals, such as stainless steel that magnets can stick to. The gas jets rust out quick and produce hot and cold spots, the igniter goes forcing you to use a match and then you suffer with two years of poor performance until you pick up a new one from WalMart bragging about how you didn’t waste the money on an expensive one. You can’t usually get parts past three years later anyway. 1. Buy a good gas grill from a BBQ dealer. 2. Get parts when you need them over a decade later. I did the crappy BBQ thing three times in a row for almost a decade and then I bought a Broil King in 2008. I’ve replaced the starter once and the gas burners once. It was way cheaper than buying 5 gas grills and I get better performance. If you live in a cold harsh climate like I do, stuff goes way faster. If you use a grill as much as I do, stuff wears out way faster.
Your advice for a grease flair up on a gas grill is just not correct. First your example was of a liquid grease fire on the stovetop which is completely different than surface grease flaring up in the basin of a gas grill. On a gas grill grease can build up on the drip pan over time and with high heat the surface grease can ignite. A splash of water will easily knock down the flames. If you keep getting those flair ups it’s definitely time for a thorough cleaning. Do not use baking soda on the metal components of your gas grill because it’s a corrosive and will damage them. Also with a stove top grease fire don’t throw any powdery material on the flames because they can flair up. Stay calm and place the lid on the pan or a sheet pan works too.