10% off sale
Now get 10% off all in-stock bbq accessories, sauces and spices (excludes green egg charcoal), if you mention that you saw the sale on our website!
All posts by: Chrissy Klaas
BBQ Maintenance
Many of us have been hibernating all winter, so with spring upon us it is time to wake up and get grilling! Before you can start grilling it is a good idea to clean the BBQ. We will be sharing a few tips below on how to get your grill summer ready!
You will require blue Dawn dish soap, a bucket, rag, grill brush, a Napoleon burner and jetfire maintenance kit (drill bit and very small bristle cleaner) and stainless steel cleaner.
Before you start cleaning the BBQ it is a good idea to remove any items that are not water friendly such as the thermometer, the igniter, rotisserie motor etc. Also remove the grills and seer plates as well. After all these items have been removed, vacuum the inside of the BBQ (including the inside of the lid!) and then wash the inside and the outside the BBQ with hot soapy water and rinse thoroughly with a garden hose (or buckets of water). Inspect the burners, if they are clogged take the drill bit from the maintenance kit and go through each hole of the burner and then brush off.
Soak your stainless steel grills and seer plates in hot soapy water for a while and then scrub. Reinstall the grills and seer plates back into the BBQ. Don’t worry if the grills are not spotless…we have another solution….read on!
Clean the outside lid, doors and side shelves with stainless steel cleaner (only if they are stainless steel!). Reinstall the thermometer and other items that were removed prior to cleaning.
If you notice your stainless grills are still not quite clean you can take tin foil and place it shiny side down on the grills. Light the main burners of the BBQ and turn to high. Close the lid and let the BBQ run for about 25 minutes on high. There will be smoke! This is normal. Once the time has passed take a grill brush and clean the grills.
When the grills are clean and cooled take some oil or lard and rub it on the stainless steel grills.
Now you are ready to start BBQ grilling season!
Happy Grilling!
Wood Stove vs Pellet Stove
What is the better option?
It is a question we often get, as people are considering what type of stove to pick for a basement, a garage or any other space for that matter. We will discuss below the benefits of both and why a certain choice might be better for you
Pellet stoves have been on the market for quite a while now, however, there are still plenty of people who associate burning logs with their childhood, or the task of splitting wood as a great way of working out. Simply looking at some burning logs or hearing the sound of crackling of the wood may bring back some warm memories. For those people, choosing a wood stove may be the best decision, as burning pellets simply doesn’t give you the same experience as burning wood. Wood stoves will still run if there is a power outage and therefore do not require a back-up generator (unless you would like to run the fan that may be on the stove). Pellet stoves do require electricity for the fans that supply air to the combustion chamber and move the hot air around and for the hopper (if it is not gravity-fed).
If you have easy access to scrap wood or cheap fire wood, a regular wood stove would be more desirable, as pellets will have to be bought from a supplier and can’t simply be sourced from your own back yard.
It sounds like the simple tested-and-true wood stove is not a bad choice at all; however, there are quite a few reasons that a pellet stove might be the choice for you. Pellets are a clean burning fuel and mess is minimal, so no dust or wood debris on the floor! The pellets are kept in bags that only need to be emptied in the hopper as required. A pellet stove is more efficient than a wood stove and can be controlled thermostatically. Also, there is less venting required for a pellet stove. The venting is typically installed directly out behind the stove and no chimney is required.
If you are still not sure what the best option would be for your situation, feel free to talk to one of the sales staff at Prestige Home Comfort for more advice. In the mean time, stay warm!