Spring is here and so is the grilling season. You remove the cover from your Weber gas grill and, guess what, it looks just like you left it after your last grilling session last fall. After the grill cooled you probably gave the grates a decent brushing and replaced the cover. Then the weather changed and you never got to that thorough cleaning and winterization you had planned. Oh well, maybe next year . . .

Odds are you made it through last year with the same grill grates you had the year before and maybe even the year(s) before that. A few of the bars are now loose. The whole apparatus is a little rusty and parts of it are coated with some baked on gunk. Never even look at the warming rack because it commonly rusts before any other part of the grill. Sound familiar?

Time for a change! Besides the elbow grease you already are already planning to apply giving the grill the best cleaning of it's life, you might desire to do 3 more things to bring your grill to a "like new" condition. Replace the cooking grates, the warming rack and the flavorizer bars. If you do this using genuine Weber gas grill replacement parts parts you will be able to bring your grill back to it's peak performance for a very reasonable price.

Replacing the cooking grates is an obvious move. They are right on top for everyone to see and they are abused every time you cook on them and then scour them with a wire brush. Often we don't properly prepare them for cooking as well. Grates were made to be replaced.

The best replacements are the Stainless Steel Replacement Cooking Grates, not the porcelain enameled cast iron grates. If you grill a lot you may want to replace them periodically. If you have one of the following models, Spirit 700, Genesis Silver B and C, Genesis Gold B and C, Genesis Platinum B and C (2005 model year) and Genesis 1000-3500 gas grills, your grates can be changed to stainless steel very easily - just remove the old grates and chunk them into the can and lay down the shiny new ones in their place.

Next up is the . Read the reviews and you will notice that this rack is prone to corrosion. Mine started rusting almost immediately even though I seasoned it with cooking oil and brushed it every time I cleaned the grill. Since it sits up high over the cooking grates you and your friends can see it quite clearly every time you open the grill. Not a pretty sight! The cost is minimal but the satisfaction you will feel is great.

Replacing the Flavorizer Bars is not as necessary unless your old bars are rusted. Rusted surfaces are the major complaint with the bars. They will retain even more of the gunk and truly look gross. My bars flare up more if I don't brush them periodically. This change will complete the redo bringing your cooking surfaces to like new condition.

If you decide to take the plunge and replace these parts you may be tempted to replace your Burner Tubes as well. Were money no object, I would say go ahead but consider that the tubes are protected by the Flavorizor Bars. They may not need to be changed as regularly.

All of these changes are quite easy to do but will make a real difference for your Weber grill, even extending it's functional lifetime several more years. Hope this helps you plan for spring and summer grilling!