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We all love a barbeque, and now with summer coming up, there’s a lot coming our way! With outdoor grilling preparations needed, one of the tastiest and most popular items on the menu is a great kebab skewer, and with this How To Clean Skewers read, you’re well on your way to a good barbeque!
Not only do we have a selection of meats, chickens and vegetables to add to our skewer, there are different types of skewers for different occasions to choose from.
Ready For A Good Grilling?
Caring for a skewer keeps them clean, ready and easy to use for the next barbecue, and last a lot longer! More than just one season!
How to clean skewers doesn’t have to be the hardest task, and just knowing how to clean them properly, creates the best outcome, saving you both time and money.
Different Types Of Skewers
Grilling skewers are a must with summer just round the corner! The sharp sticks are used to pierce through cubes of meat, chicken, vegetables, seafood and even fruits!
You have two main options to go for, either a quick pick up of disposable wooden skewers at the store or choose to invest in your own set of reusable skewers.
Wooden Skewers
Wooden skewers are most commonly known as bamboo skewers, and depending on how much meat, chicken or vegetables you want to thread onto them, they vary in different lengths to choose from.
Because they’re wooden, they do burn easy on a barbecue but a good way around that is to soak them well in warm water for about 20 minutes, before using them to thread your kebabs.
Metal Skewers
Alternatively, you can use metal skewers to put together your selection of meats and vegetables. They do save a little time on prep, because they don’t need to be soaked before hand, and a lot of time on cooking. The metal skewers heat up quicker as the skewers start to cook, cooking the food from the inside.
Metal skewers are more expensive than wooden skewers, but, they can be re-used, making them more of a long term investment and more of a budget-friendly choice.
Skewers To The Rescue
Cleaning Your Skewer
With wooden skewers, you just need to consider preparation time. A good soak in water gives the skewers more time to give up their moisture, and will last much longer on the grill without burning up. Once cooked, dispose of the skewers and get ready for a new set of wooden skewers for round two.
With metal skewers, these are re-usable and can be used multiple times from barbecue to barbecue, season to season.
With metal skewers, to clean them well, use aluminium foil to remove any rust that might start to appear. Rust is inevitable with anything metal but can easily be removed.
Soak the skewers in a little bit of vegetable oil and use the oil to clean them well. The skewers you choose should be stainless steel, and i have a few tips on what not to use when cleaning stainless steel.
What Not To Use When Cleaning Metal Skewers
There are a few products we can find, made for cleaning, but not all of them apply to stainless steel. Especially if you want your metal skewers to last longer!
Harsh abrasives, bleech and other chlorine products damage your metal skewers really quickly because of what they are made up off! Even scourers used for your regular dishes, not all of them can be used on skewers because of potential scratches.
Tap water also causes damage to metal skewers, especially if it tends to be hard water. It’s always better to use clean distilled or filtered H2O instead.
Prep And Enjoy, Quick And Easy
Top Tips On Your Barbecue Skewers
Store your metal skewers vertically hanging whenever possible, and store away in an area that doesn’t collect dust.
You can use vegetable oil to not only clean your skewers, but it also helps the food come off smoothly once its finished cooking! Just add some oil to the metal skewers before adding the meat, chicken and vegetable pieces.
When choosing your metal skewers, a flat shape is always the choice to go for, as it keeps the food in place and doesn’t spin on the barbecue. Also, with metal skewers, you’ll want a decently sharp tip to be able to pierce through some of the chunky meat pieces, without bending or breaking.
Skewers that come with a ring at the top come in a handy, and make it easy to handle the skewers on the barbecue!
Finally, enjoy every last bite!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Use aluminium foil to remove the layer of rust off the skewers, then clean them with vegetable oil.
Wooden skewers burn easily on a barbecue, so it is best to soak them in warm water for a good 20 to 30 minutes.
Wooden skewers are usually disposible, but if they aren’t too charred, we may be able to reuse them. With metal skewers, you can definitely reuse them!
By adding some oil on the skewer before the food, it makes it so much easier for the food to come off once cooked.
The easiest and cleanest way is to soak the skewers in a bowl of hot water mixed with grease-cutting dish soap.
