5 BBQ Safety Tips You Need to Know Before This Summer

Every year, approximately 10,600 fires occur from grills, hibachis, and other outdoor cooking equipment. While summer is the perfect time to invite your friends over for a party, a fire can ruin your fun.

As you begin making your summer plans, you might want to learn some BBQ safety tips that you can use this year and every year after.

When you follow the right tips, you can have more fun this year and keep your friends and family safe. You can avoid accidents and problems at your next get-together by following these five BBQ safety tips.

1. Move Your Grill to a Fire-Proof Surface

Learning how to grill safely is vital for your home and family's safety, and the first tip to follow involves the placement of your grill.

Many people place their grills on their wooden patios. Putting a grill on a wooden surface is not wise, as the wood could catch on fire, and setting a grill on an uneven surface is also not a smart move, as it could tip over.

One of the best BBQ tips you can follow is to place your grill on a fire-proof surface. If you have a concrete patio, put it on there. Concrete cannot start on fire.

If you don't have concrete, you could create a brick platform to hold your grill. You can use patio pavers to make this platform, bricks, or other fire-proof materials.

If you use other types of outdoor cooking equipment, follow this tip with those, too. Keeping your cooking equipment on hard surfaces helps them remain stable and protects you against fires that could occur.

2. Keep Your Grill Away From Your Home

Summer grilling is the highlight of this season for many people. When the weather's nice, you might want to be outside with your friends and family. However, a grill fire could ruin your entire day and summer.

Therefore, before you start cooking on your grill, you'll need to make sure you move it far enough away from your home.

If you place your grill next to your house, an accident could quickly occur, especially if you step away from it for even a minute. The grease from the food could light on fire, and flames could start rolling out of your grill.

Imagine if this happened while your grill was next to your home. The flames could spread to your house, which could lead to the fire engulfing your home.

Keeping your grill and other cooking equipment away from your house dramatically decreases the risk of a house fire occurring while you're cooking outside.

The same principle is true for other types of outdoor cooking equipment, including offset smokers. Any device that uses heat can be dangerous if you place it near your house.

3. Clean and Maintain Your Grill After Using It

The equipment you use also plays a role in its safety. Brand-new equipment has a lower risk of causing fires, while older equipment might have a greater chance of starting fires.

The primary thing you should know is that you must learn how to maintain your grill. Cleaning it and maintaining it helps you avoid fires and other problems.

Therefore, you should clean your grill after each use. You can clean it by purchasing a grill brush to use on the grates. Grill brushes are highly effective at removing food particles from the grates.

Next, you should check the propane tank before each use. When checking it, look for leaks. A propane leak is dangerous, yet it happens often. You can prevent a leak from causing a fire by detecting it before using the grill.

As you clean and maintain your equipment, you should also inspect all the parts and components to ensure they are in good working condition.

Additionally, if your device has a grease tray, empty it after each use. You may want to wait for it to cool before completing this step, but you should never skip this step.

Grease is a flammable product. By emptying it, you can reduce the risks of causing a fire.

4. Watch the Kids While the Grill Is Hot

Many accidents occur at BBQs that involve children. If you or your guests have children, you'll need to take some extra steps to protect them.

Kids, especially young kids, have a way of not seeing danger. Therefore, the kids at your party might not realize that your outdoor cooking equipment is hot. If they end up touching it, they could burn themselves.

One of the best BBQ tips for beginners is to watch the children while the grill is hot. This isn't hard to do while you're cooking, but many people forget that a grill stays hot for a long time after shutting it off.

To stay safe, make sure someone keeps the kids away from any hot device while cooking or afterward.

5. Have a Working Fire Extinguisher Nearby

Finally, it's also a good idea to have a working fire extinguisher nearby when using outdoor cooking equipment. You can purchase fire extinguishers online or from hardware stores.

When you buy one, place it somewhere handy. For example, you could set it next to your grill on a small table. You could also keep it in your kitchen or garage.

You might want to check the device each year or replace it every few years to ensure that it will work when you need it. If you have a fire extinguisher, you can quickly grab it and spray it if a fire erupts while you're grilling.

Use These BBQ Safety Tips to Keep Your Home and Family Safe

Hosting a cookout at your home is a great way to spend time with your friends and family, but following these BBQ safety tips is essential for safety purposes.

If you enjoyed reading this article, check out the rest of our blog for more exciting articles about cooking, food, and home safety.