How often do you clean your smoker?

Mikhail

Mikhail

Babbling Farker
Joined
Jun 27, 2015
Messages
3,972
Reaction score
4...
Points
113
Location
Cincinna...
The inside of the body, I mean. DO you clean it?

I have found that if I didn't get all the moisture and fat out of my PK grill and left it sit it gets mold, so then I have to clean it. Luckily the PK comes apart so easily - the 'hinges' are molded into the top and bottom. I have hot and cold running water outside due to washing big Gordon Setters, so I just spray with hot water and most everything comes off the aluminum easily.

I don't find I have to clean my gasser, just the grates.

Is there anything unhealthy in the smoke residue? Sure makes food taste good.
 
I scrub my grates before every cook. I wash down the inside while hot after about every 3rd cook. I will scrub the whole inside and re-oil probably 3-4 times a year. This may seem too much for some folks and not enough for others, but it works for me.
 
The old Brinkmann offset, when the coke from the door comes loose and flaky or when the drain gets plugged with carbon. Bout twice a year if i was cooking everyday or so. Grates after every cook.

New WSM no idea as of yet but I can see the water pans being a problem.
 
Twice a year I power wash the smokers inside and out. Then I touch up the paint with Rustol ultra high heat paint.
 
I just scrub the grates with a brush after every cook and I scrape the big chunks off the reverse flow plate with a putty knife every 3rd cook is all I do on my smoker .
 
When Hell freezes over! I brush off the grates before each cook when hot and after when still hot. If I get a mass built up on the bottom I scrape it out with a flat shovel while still a little warm. But water will never touch my pit. And I never scrape the sides or top. It's fun to see what everyone's take on this is.
 
I use a ball of aluminum foil to scrap off the grates and use a large putty knife to scrape off stuff from my tuning plates and the bottom of my cooker after every cook. Well...almost after every cook. I do steam clean my cooker after about 4-5 cooks. I am sure a lot of what I do is overkill but it gives me something to do with my "toy".
 
I brush off the grates before each cook and if things start looking kinda gunky, I just open the top and bottom of the egg and let it get to 700 or so.
 
About once a year a have a big chicken grease fire that cleans it really good! Probes and all.
 
The WSM has close to 100 cooks on it, I clean the grates, remove the ash, replace the foil on the diffuser the day after every cook, cleaned the inside of the lid once, the main body I've never touched and never intend to.
 
Brush grates and a light water spray down after every cook. Allow to completely dry before putting it away.
 
Other than brush the grates when they are still hot/warm, I don't clean at all. Like most pits, the seasoning prevents air leaks and leaves a polymer like coating on the interior. Everything goes into the drip pan and the smoker itself has stayed remarkably clean with over 3 years of use.
 
After each cook as soon as the meat comes off I wire brush the top and bottom of the grates. After it cools off usually the next day I clean out the firebox and use a plastic scraper to scrape the tuning plates and the bottom of the cook chamber and wipe out with paper towels. At the next cook once the cook chamber comes up to temp I do a quick brush of the grates. So far that's it.
 
I do not understand folks who think that "cleaning" a stick burner is necessary...

Clean the grates after every cook and scrape the gunk from the bottom once or twice a year...
 
I clean mine by tilting it a little towards the grease drain end after each cook.
 
Cleaned mine yesterday, I have been cooking a lot since receiving it...anyways I lit a full chimney of lump, tossed it on the remaining lump....375 for 5-6 hours.

-D
 
I also only brush the grates, no gunk yet, but I'm still new to the game.
 
I only knock off anything that might be hanging down and fall on the food. Since I run pellet smokers, I'll clean off the drip pan after doing a shoulder if i'm going to do a high heat cook. Burning off that grease stinks and usually takes longer than I've got to do it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Buckboard ham
2
Replies
24
Views
759
stickman
S
D
Clean Fire in a Oklahoma Joess Bronco
Replies
9
Views
1K
mcyork28
mcyork28
H
Akorn grill - having a hard time getting over 350F
Replies
8
Views
623
Big George's BBQ
Big George's BBQ
T
New Backwoods Cabinet - How do I get more smoke flavor?
Replies
13
Views
803
snadamo
snadamo
B
Seasoning a griddle or, how bad did I screw up?
Replies
16
Views
751
bigb56
B
Back
Top