One of the best parts of summer is getting family and friends together for a backyard cookout. There’s some charm about eating outside that makes everything taste better — food on the grill smells amazing, tastes amazing and creates amazing memories.
Use these tips to clean up after a cookout so you can get your home and yard in tip-top shape.
How to Clean Up Quickly After a Cookout
With the right approach, cleaning can be fast and fun, and it doesn’t have to take a long time. Here are three cookout cleaning tips to help you out:
Prep Beforehand
You can make barbeque cleanup easier if you put a few systems in place before your backyard event. Some of these steps will help you tidy up during the party, which will make cleaning afterward much faster. Then, when you’re tired after a busy night with family and friends, you can rest — instead of cleaning for hours!
Here are a few examples of small steps you can take to speed up your cleaning process:
- Make trash cans and recycling bins available.
- Use disposable plates, cups and silverware.
- Prep for any spills with paper towels.
- Have pre-moistened wipes handy for sticky fingers.
- Lay down tablecloths and plastic sheeting.
If trash cans are visible, your guests will be more likely to throw disposables away when they’re finished. To avoid excess waste, you could also set out a tray or basket for used dishes so they’re ready to be washed later.
Tablecloths can be shaken out and thrown into the washer, leaving your table clean. By making wipes available, you can reduce the amount of scrubbing you’ll have to do later — sticky chairs, doorknobs and games are harder to clean than sticky fingers.
Clean by Category
One of the best ways to speed up your cleaning is by dividing everything into categories. It’s amazing how much this can transform your cleaning process and reduce the amount of time it takes to get everything done.
The key is to focus on one category at a time instead of cleaning up multiple types of things at once. Here are five steps or “sweeps” you can complete to clean your backyard without taking a lot of time:
- Sweep 1: Remove all trash and recycling. Now you can focus on putting the things you want to keep away.
- Sweep 2: Take all your dishes to the sink and wash them. Put away all extra food or give some away to your guests.
- Sweep 3: Wipe down your outdoor furniture and put it away if necessary. This includes folding tables, camping chairs and picnic tables.
- Sweep 4: Put games and toys away. You can mobilize the kids to do this while you take care of larger items at the same time.
- Sweep 5: Do a final check of your yard. Is anything still out? Did you miss any trash? If anything’s out of place, put it back where it belongs.
Your guests may want to help clean up, especially if you’ve invited family over. If they offer to help, you can put them to work gathering trash, washing dishes and wiping down furniture. Since it’s your house, you can focus on putting everything away in the right place once it’s clean.
If you’ve planned something special or different, you can add that category to your list for cleaning. For example, an outdoor movie night means you’ll need to clean up picnic blankets, a projector, popcorn buckets and more. Follow the same steps, and your yard will be clean in no time!
Give Everything a Place
You might have heard this advice before — but it’s popular for a reason. When you already know where everything belongs, half of the decisions you make while cleaning become automatic. You decide what to pick up next, but you never have to think about where it goes.
Most cookout equipment will go either in your kitchen, your garage or your basement. If you’re not sure where to put something, leave it somewhere out in the open temporarily. That way, you’ll remember to find a place for it later.
Giving everything a place is also great advice when you’re prepping for a cookout. Here’s what that can look like:
- To keep food more organized, set everything out on trays. When it’s time to go inside, you can easily pick the trays up and move everything back without carrying individual items.
- Set up all toys and games in a central location so it’s easy for guests to find and enjoy them. At the end of the night, you can collect all items back to this location for easy cleanup.
- If you have a fire pit, set chairs around it before your cookout. You can set s’mores materials on a tray nearby, hang cozy blankets on each chair and make sure there’s plenty of fuel handy.
Choosing a place for every item will also help you keep track of your grilling tools, so you know where everything is when you need it. Without a plan, it can be challenging to keep track of seasonal items throughout the year.
Grill Cleaning Tips
You don’t need to thoroughly clean your grill after every use, but completing a small checklist after your cookout can go a long way to simplifying this job later on. Grills can benefit from a deep cleaning once to twice a year.
After your cookout is over and your grill has completely cooled, follow these steps to get your grill ready for your next event:
- Use a stiff brush to knock off any food stuck to the grill.
- Clean out the drip pan to remove excess grease.
- Pick any large pieces of food out of the cooking chamber.
If too much grease collects on your grill, it can become a fire hazard. Removing pieces of charred food and excess grease keeps you safe and looks tidier for guests the next time you grill. If you want to deep-clean your grill, use warm water and lots of soap to cut the grease.
Use Our Store Locator to Find Premio Sausage
If you’re looking for the perfect sausage for your next cookout, look no further than Premio Foods. We’ve been making delicious sausages for over 40 years and offer many options so you can find the best food for your family.
Our meat options include beef, pork and chicken, flavored with vegetables and spices that will make your mouth water. To help you make the most of your purchase, we also publish recipes online so you can try our products on and off the grill.
Use our store locator to find Premio sausages near you for your next cookout!