WSM 22.5" used with water in pan, what a mess! Does this look normal to you?

This is not your pork! · Jun 12, 2012

So I had the water pan completely filled with water for my first cook, which where ribs using the 3-2-1 method (another thread with pr0n to follow), and this is how my shiny new WSM looked the day after:

Water Pan

Bowl

Center Section

Lid

Cooking Grates

Does this look normal to you?

My wife has already cleaned the water pan. Should I leave the rest as shown, or do I want to hose each part, or even brush it (I don't have a grill brush, but the manual mentions crumbled aluminum foil?)?

Is a grill brush better for cleaning the grates than crumbled aluminum foil?

I have read about the buildup on the inside, which is supposed to be seasoning, but I have no idea how this should look like, and how it is supposed to look to justify cleaning.

cameraman · Jun 12, 2012

Foil your water pan, get a 16" terra cotta saucer from Lowes and foil it, put it in your pan and cover the top with foil that you'll replace before each cook. Clean, simple and effective.

You can brush your grates, I think most do it hot before putting on meat, but be sure to rub tthem down with an oiled paper towel afterwards to protect against the dreaded ingestion of a metal bristle. I believe I've read that brass brushes are more prone to shedding than stainless steel.

Bludawg · Jun 12, 2012

Hell that aint even broke in yet what ya think it has a self cleaning mode.

bigabyte · Jun 12, 2012

Looks great! Just needs a cleaning and it will look good as new.

geo · Jun 12, 2012

I use water in the pan on slow cooks and I don't always foil it and don't find it much of a bother to clean it up either way. It kind of looks like yours boiled over for some reason.

Meat Meets Meat · Jun 12, 2012

A little grease it good. Seasons your smoker and gives you a nice seal. Maybe just wipe up the globs of grease and clean the grates. We also wrap our water pan for easier clean up.

MarleyMan · Jun 12, 2012

That brownish color looks odd to me, usually the "seasoning" coating inside is blackish/very dark brown. I see the line where the fat is on your H20 pan, and I agree that more than likely your water pan was too full and it boiled over or spilled into the fire. I am not an expert but that brown residue may be creosote and not "normal" seasoning (my new 22.5 lid does not look like that after 3 cooks, nor after the first cook although I DID spray mine down with PAM before my first cook and burned it in at 350 for an hour or so)

I use a saucer now as mentioned above. I hated cleaning the dirty water even with foiling the whole pan on my 18.5"

caseydog · Jun 12, 2012

I line my water pan with foil, and it is pretty easy to clean out the next day.

As for the inside of the smoker, it's going to get grungy as you use it. Just knock the big stuff off, and don't sweat the rest. You are cooking meat with fire -- The inside of the smoker is going to get grungy.

CD

firefighter4634 · Jun 12, 2012

I don't have a WSM, but that looks very clean compared to the inside of my BGE, just a nice seasoning.

mtbchip · Jun 12, 2012

Water pan.... what water pan? <snicker snicker>

stephan · Jun 12, 2012

Thats normal. like what has already been said, if your going to use water foil first [ makes life easier when its time to clean up ].

swamprb · Jun 12, 2012

You should have gotten the upgraded model with the auto-kleen feature.

Jaskew82 · Jun 12, 2012

looks perfectly normal to me.

smokemonster · Jun 12, 2012

I used water in my pan for the first 6 months or so, then switched to sand and a couple layers of foil. Temp control wasn't affected and clean up is a breeze. I would never go back to water in the pan. Let the rest of the cooker get a good grease build up for seasoning. Every now and then you'll need to knock of the big flakes of creosote, but that's about it.

boogiesnap · Jun 12, 2012

normal. now keep cookin and turn all that stuff black. then, when you even walk by your cooker in the summer heat, it'll smell great.

retired trucker · Jun 12, 2012

Did you season the smoker before your first cook? Looks like it may have not been seasoned. If not spray it down with some Pam or such and fire it up for about an hour at 300-400 degrees and a nice black covering will protect it from rust.

glh17 · Jun 12, 2012

I just foil the pan now. When I used water AND closed the cooker down to save coals I got some real messes. I'd leave the lid off, open all vents, and let her burn down if I were using water. I waste some coals that way.

j20832 · Jun 12, 2012

boogiesnap said:
normal. now keep cookin and turn all that stuff black. then, when you even walk by your cooker in the summer heat, it'll smell great.

+1 on that. Makes me hungry everytime I do yardwork out back.

missin44 · Jun 13, 2012

Looks ok, but foil pan, no water get a terra cotta clay saucer foil that and sit on top of water pan. Just not that I use a 16" saucer for my 18.5" WSM, so I'm not sure of the size you'll need for a 22.5".

landarc · Jun 13, 2012

Looks normal to me, I prefer aluminum foil to a brush, I rarely clean my smoker beyond a quick brushing before the next cook. The grease will keep rust down.

WSM 22.5" used with water in pan, what a mess! Does this look normal to you?

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