Replacing the burners on your gas grill is one of the easiest ways to extend the life of your barbecue.
Over time, the burners in your gas grill can accumulate grease and food particles, which cause them to deteriorate. Signs of deterioration include rusting or flaking metal, inconsistent temperatures and uneven flames. You can try cleaning the burners first to see if that solves your performance problems, but if it doesn’t, it’s probably time to replace them.
What Is A Gas Grill Burner?
The burner is the central source of heat for cooking food on your barbecue. Without a burner, there is no gas grill! Most grills have multiple burners, allowing you more control over your heat and enabling things like direct and indirect grilling.
Gas grill burners are typically made of stainless steel, aluminized steel, or cast iron. They may also be porcelain-coated for easier cleaning.
Burners come in many shapes and sizes. H-shape and U-shape burners are the most common in gas grills, but oval-shaped burners and long, thin bars are also available.
When To Replace Your Gas Grill Burner
The heat plates above your burners will help collect drippings and protect your burners from deterioration, but your burners will still accumulate grease and particles and will degrade over time. It’s possible to keep grilling with one or two poorly functioning burners, but you’ll always get the best results from a fully functioning grill with undamaged burners.
If your burners are rusting or flaking or you’re noticing inconsistent heat or uneven flames, it’s time to replace your burners. Replacing the burners in your gas grill is one of the easiest ways to solve these problems and breath new life into your grill.
If you have never replaced the burners on your grill, or are looking for a refresher, we’ve created a short video that shows you how to do it step by step. We promise, it’s easier than it sounds and shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes to complete, including clean up.
How To Replace Your Gas Grill Burner
Replacing your burners is easier than you might think. Follow these steps:
- Ensure the propane tank or gas line is turned off.
- Lift out the cooking grates and remove the heat plates if your grill has them and set them both aside. This is a great time to give the cooking grates and your heat plates a deep clean!
- If you have an older grill that uses lava rock or ceramic briquettes, remove them along with the rock grate to access the burners.
- Remove the burners. Depending on the type of burner and how it is secured to the burner box, you may need to remove one or two screws with a screwdriver, or pull out the cotter pin before you can remove the burner.
- Once the burners are removed, give the burner box a thorough cleaning. This will help prevent flare ups and grease fires.
- When you’re ready, line up the new burner air intake, slip the burner onto the gas nozzle, and position the burner in the burner box. Resecure the burner by screwing it onto the burner box or reattaching the cotter pin.
- Replace the heat plates and burner grates and get grilling!
Find burners to fit your grill on GrillSpot.com or GrillSpot.ca.
Watch more grill maintenance videos by Grill Spot on our YouTube channel.
