It looks like a bit of summer has arrived and that can only mean one thing – time to dig out the old barbecue. Until, of course, you lift the cover off your current BBQ only to discover it’s in a poor state of disrepair, mostly because you purchased a very cheap no-name brand model and all the screws have rusted away, there’s a big jagged rust hole in the bottom and two of the legs are about to fall off.
This is an all-too-common situation brought about by the misguided money-saving notion that all barbecues are created equal and that any barbecue will continue to provide good service for at least three years. Sadly, that is often not the case because cheap barbecues are invariably built using cheap, flimsy materials that have no chance of survival once winter sets in. Rain is obviously the biggest culprit, especially during winter when there isn’t as much sun and warmth to help dry out a barbecue before oxidation sets in. And once rust gets a foothold, there’s no going back.
