Anne Agostino has had her grill for five years. And although she cleans the cooking surface after every use she thinks she's going to need a new one soon.
If I would've taken care of it, I wouldn't need to be buying a new one now," she worries.
But maybe, it doesn't need to be replaced; just fixed up
We went to barbecue expert Gary Johnstone of Johnstone's Barbecues to ask about cleaning up
and fixing up old barbecues
He had an old grill on hand that looked like a bio-hazard.
"We could make it function like a brand new barbecue with very little cost in parts," he explains.
To demonstrate, Gary starts tearing the old one apart. He finds a burner full of rust and debris
"That's a burner that hasn't been taken care of," he notes.
Burners should last five or six years. When they stop working people often make the mistake of replacing the whole barbecue -- instead of just buying new parts.
Inside the lid, what looks like peeling paint is really grease and carbon build up from cooking.
"This is a very common thing for all barbecues to do. In fact if this isn't having a lot of grease up here then you aren't cooking enough," Gary says.
You should completely clean out the inside of your barbecue once a year, and also check the hose and connections for leaks with a solution of soapy water.
Once the old barbecue is cleaned out -.in goes a new burner. A wire mesh needs to cover the holes -- it keeps spiders from building nests in your burner.
The new burner is so efficient the flame is virtually invisible. No more lava rocks. You now use a stainless steel flare plate -- built to fit old barbecues -- which allows it to heat up faster and protects the burners from food so they last longer.
"This is now an upgrade to an old barbecue that makes this barbecue as good as a brand new barbecue today with very little money spent," concludes Gary.
He says for a little under $150 you can have the equivalent of a $400 barbecue.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
