The cast iron plates are seasoned rather than coated, so a degreaser that cleans them also strips the protection. Burn off, scrape warm, and re-oil while hot. The grease tray on a compact barbecue fills far faster than people expect.
Ziegler & Brown is a Barbeques Galore house brand, and its Twin Grill and Triple Grill portables are the main Australian competitor to the Weber Q.
Seasoned cast iron, not coated
The plates and grills on a Ziegler & Brown are generally bare cast iron, protected by polymerised oil built up through use rather than by a factory coating.
That is the opposite of a Weber Q, whose grates are porcelain-enamelled cast iron where the coating is the protection. A degreaser that is entirely appropriate on an enamelled Weber grate will strip a Ziegler & Brown plate of the seasoning that is keeping it non-stick and rust-free, and the plate comes up clean, grey and considerably worse off.
The routine is burn off on high with the lid down, scrape while warm, wipe with a paper towel held in tongs, then wipe a thin film of high smoke-point oil across the plate while it is still warm. Grapeseed, canola or rice bran rather than olive oil, which polymerises poorly and goes sticky.
Thin is the whole trick when re-seasoning. A thick coat does not polymerise, it becomes a varnish that flakes.
The grease tray fills fast
This is the failure specific to a compact barbecue rather than to this brand's engineering.
A Ziegler & Brown Twin Grill has a cooking area large enough to feed a family and a grease collection system sized to fit inside a portable footprint. The tray is small, and on a barbecue used weekly it fills far sooner than anyone expects, then overflows into the cart, onto a deck or onto whatever the barbecue is standing on.
Check it every few cooks rather than every season. It takes ten seconds and it prevents the mess that people usually discover only when it has already happened.
Portability, and where it gets cleaned
Being portable is a genuine advantage here. Unlike a built-in head such as a Bull, a Ziegler & Brown can be taken somewhere the run-off does not matter, which makes a thorough clean considerably easier. Use that rather than working on a deck.
Our BBQ cleaning guide covers burner ports, the spider problem and the general grease path.
What actually goes wrong
A stripped Ziegler & Brown plate, from a degreaser used because it worked on a Weber.
A gummy surface, from oil applied too thickly when re-seasoning.
An overflowed grease tray, discovered after the fact.
Rust, from a plate washed and then left to air dry.
Should you do it yourself?
Do it yourself. The routine is burn off, scrape warm, oil warm, and it keeps one of these in good order indefinitely.
Get someone in if a plate has already been stripped and you want it brought back properly, or if it has not been touched in a couple of seasons.