Four Steps To Cleaning Up In One Hour After A Big Barbeque

Hosting barbecues is one of the best parts of summer. Having your family and friends come over to eat, laugh, and reconnect makes dealing with the hot weather worth it. It is also fun to have the grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, and sides that happen mostly during barbecues. The least enjoyable part of a barbecue is the cleanup that happens afterward. There are ways to make cleanup less strenuous and take less time. Here is how you can clean up after a barbecue within one hour. 

Load/soak the dishes

If you have a dishwasher, you should give the dishes a good wipe down and start to load them into the dishwasher. If you do not have a dishwasher, load the sink with dish soap and hot water and place the dishes inside of the sink. Barbeque sauce can stain if left on a surface too long, so dishes need to get into the sink to soak as soon as possible. 

Grab a trash bag and do a sweep

If there is any trash such as paper plates and cups or other waste that needs to be thrown away, do a sweep around the perimeter of the barbecue party and throw any trash away. Getting the trash out of the way will help you to identify anything that needs to be wrapped and placed inside of the refrigerator. Last, stop the trash bag next to the grill and throw away any debris from the barbecue grill. Do not dispose of anything hot or warm, such as ashes. 

Toss food in aluminum

Almost all food can be tossed into aluminum foil and placed in the fridge. Wrap all foods, such as hot dog wieners, hamburger patties, and corn on the cob inside of aluminum foil. Keep all of the same foods together and write what it is with a permanent marker on the outside of the foil. This process will save the time of looking for bowls and plastic food storage that fit the foods that you need to refrigerate. If necessary, you can also use plastic baggies in the same way for this process. 

Wipe down all surfaces

In order to remove any food, sauce stains, or other debris, you should wipe down all surfaces. Grab a hand towel or a kitchen towel, soak it in water, then wipe down all surfaces. This includes the kitchen counters, the tables and chairs used for eating, and even the barbeque. Use barbecue cleaning tools for the inside of the grill in order to keep it looking nice. This will necessitate that you remove anything unnecessary from the surfaces and it will make sure that everything returns to perfect condition shortly after the barbecue.