15 Grilling Safety Tips

From family cookouts to the occasional grilled dinner, cooking food on our grills is a huge part of our lives in the summer. But, if you don’t follow important grilling safety tips, your summer grilling fun can quickly turn into a dangerous event. Don’t burn down your house, your deck, or hurt a loved one. Be responsible and cautious with your grill. Not sure how to properly use a grill in a safe way? Breakaway has you covered in this blog post. To make it easy for you, we have compiled a list of the best grilling safety tips.

Our List Of The Top 15 Grilling Safety Tips:

1. Gas And Charcoal Grills Are Only Meant For Outside Use

We think this goes without saying, but just in case you were wondering, you should only use a gas or charcoal grill outside. Never use an outdoor grill inside. Both outdoor gas and charcoal grills give off a tremendous amount of smoke and carbon monoxide. If you bring an outdoor grill into your home, you are risking your life. It’s as simple as that.

If the weather is bad outside and you are hell bent on grilling, you need to use a grill that is meant for indoor grilling. For example, you could invest in an electric grill. So please, do yourself and your family (and anyone else inside your house) a favor and do not grill inside unless you have the appropriate equipment.

2. Keep Grill Away From The Home

Grills should be placed well away from the home or deck, so that they don’t catch on fire. Most homes are made of flammable materials. You don’t want to have a big flare-up on your grill that turns into a house fire. In addition, don’t place your grill beneath closely overhanging branches. Again, flare-ups. If the branches are too close, you don’t want that grill flare-up to reach the branches.

You also want to keep decorations or potted plants away from the grill too. Really, anything that could potentially light on fire.

3. Keep Children And Pets Away From The Grill

Grills should be operated by adults only. You should keep your children and pets away from the grill area. You probably understand the potential harm that could come from a grill mishap, but chances are that your kids and pets don’t understand as well.

To avoid any burns or other problems, you can handle the grilling and hopefully your kids and pets can entertain themselves somewhere else.

4. Know What Causes Flare-Ups

A lot of grilling safety tips involve minimizing grill flare-ups. These big bursts of fire are not good for your food or safety. If you leave charred food on the grill grates from a previous grilling session, it will cause your next meal to taste less than ideal. In addition, those chunks of food can fall down through the grill and cause flare-ups. And, if you have enough buildup, it could create some really big flare-ups.

Some novice grillers have this idea that it is a good idea to use a lot of lighter fluid when grilling. We talked about this in our blog post about the top grilling mistakes. Not only will lighter fluid impact how your food tastes, but it will also create huge flare-ups. As with a lot of these grilling safety tips, the goal is to avoid huge mushroom clouds of fire.

So, you have all these guests over and tons of food to grill? We know that the urge will be to put all that food on the grill at once. But, doing so can cause lots of grease to fall into the flames, thus causing flare-ups.

5. Never Leave Grill Unattended

You should always be monitoring your grill when it is cooking food. If there is a problem, you want to be able to address it immediately before it gets worse.

6. Before Using Gas Grill, Check for Leaks

For gas grills, it is important to check for leaks prior to use. This is especially crucial when replacing your propane tank or natural gas hose. You don’t want to lose propane or gas. This is wasteful and dangerous. To test your grill for a leak, rub soapy water on the connections. If it starts to bubble, you know you have a problem.

7. Call Professional Grill Repair Company

If you have a problem with your grill, we don’t recommend that you play around with it yourself unless you are qualified to do so. Remember, you are dealing with a device that produces fire. If you are not qualified to repair a grill, contact a grill repair professional, like Breakaway. A grill repair professional is experienced in fixing all kinds of grill problems. As with a lot of these grilling safety tips, be careful. Don’t risk your life if you don’t know what you are doing.

8. If Leaks Don’t Stop, Call Fire Department

If you suspect you have a gas or propane leak and turning your propane tank off does not solve the problem, call the fire department immediately.

9. Smell Gas? Turn Off Gas Tank & Burners

You should not smell gas when your grill is on. Not only will the gas affect the taste of your food, but this situation is dangerous. If this happens, turn off the gas or propane tank and burners right away. Wait a few minutes before turning on again. If the problem persists, you should seek the help of a grill repair professional.

10. Don’t Turn On Grill With Lid Closed

That is, unless, you want to open your grill to a ball of fire. If you turn your grill on with the lid closed, gas or propane can build up inside your grill.

So, when you open the lid, there is the potential for a big flare-up. Don’t lose your facial hair or eyebrows – turn your grill on with the lid open!

11. Keep Grill On Stable Ground

It goes without saying, but you want your grill to stay upright when it is in use. You don’t want a grill to fall over mid-use. Obviously, this will ruin your food, but in addition, it could cause a fire. If you are using a grill on grass, consider using patio blocks to keep your grill stable.

12. Be Prepared If A Fire Breaks Out

You should be ready if the worst-case scenario happens. Have a fire extinguisher ready, know where it is located, and understand how to use it. Another great thing to have in case of a grill fire is baking powder.

13. Read Your Owner’s Manual

Want easy BBQ safety tips and tricks? Read your grill’s owner’s manual that comes with the grill. Don’t be proud. Every grill brand and grill type can be different. Make sure that you know how to properly use your grill by reading the owner’s manual. This should have a grill safety checklist or precautions related to your model.

14. Protect Yourself

Don’t burn yourself when grilling. There are many grill accessories and grill tools to help with your comfort and safety. Get yourself grill gloves and other popular grill tools to make it easy and safe for you to make your family and friends’ next meal.

15. Shut Down Grill Correctly

So, you’ve just grilled up food for your entire cookout? Now, don’t forget to shut down your grill correctly once you are finished. Shut off both the grill burners and the power source – gas or propane. You don’t want to leave those on. At best, you waste gas or propane. At worst, you could create a fire.

Breakaway – Cape Cod’s #1 Grill & Patio Superstore

Breakaway is Cape Cod’s premier destination for all things related to grills and patio products. If you have any grill repair concerns, we have technicians that can safely and effectively solve your problem. If your grill repair issue cannot be solved and you prefer to buy a new grill, browse our many grill types. This includes gas grills, charcoal grills, and electric grills. We carry all of the major grill brands, like Weber, Big Green Egg, Napoleon, and MHP.

If you are need of any advice or questions about any of these summer grilling safety tips, please do not hesitate to ask one of Breakaway’s “grillologists”. Visit us in South Dennis or Mashpee, call us at 508-398-3831, or contact us below to learn how our products can help you dominate grilling, safely.