Ribeye Republic
is one Smokin' Farker
How big of a mess do these cookers make inside? How big of a chore is it to clean them out after every cook? Anything to do to help minimize the mess.
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Cleaning the insulated cabinets
- Thread starter Ribeye Republic
- Start date
hogs122
Full Fledged Farker
Cooking in pans and over pans makes cleaning up my cabinet a breeze.
Every few cooks, I'll also hit the racks and the interior walls with a weed burner to burn off some of the splatter.
Every few cooks, I'll also hit the racks and the interior walls with a weed burner to burn off some of the splatter.
Stumps cabs are gravity feeds so there's basically just this angled diffuser plate at the bottom and well... the actual bottom. I just wrap a piece of tinfoil around the plate and line the bottom with some. I change it every couple of times. It's not very messy at all. I put a foil pan in the drip tray and that's pretty much it.
I'm sort of a neat-nic so I definitely clean my grates. If I'm only doing a couple of butts or a few ribs, I just take out the racks beneath that I'm not using. No sense in letting stuff drip and cake up where there's no food even sitting. Other than that... no big deal at all.
Regarding the grates though... I get a bit anal about it. I just hate nasty grates. I never use a wire brush, but before each cook I blast the grates and the inside with my weed burner to help heat up quicker. I use a wide putty knife across the top and then underneath to scrape off the easy stuff. It's surprising just how good a job that does with such minimal effort and time. Every few cooks I pull all my grates and soak them overnight in a big storage bin. I dump a bunch of Dawn... a bunch... and just let them soak. I then use one of the green scrubby pads to get a good final dose of cleaning. I wash them all down very well... spray them with canola and back in they go. A smoker should smell like smoke not smoke/rancid meat. I don't feel good when I see any significant amount of caked on crusty bits of anything. I don't want my hands sticky or gunky when I grab my grates. I just like them really clean.
I'm sort of a neat-nic so I definitely clean my grates. If I'm only doing a couple of butts or a few ribs, I just take out the racks beneath that I'm not using. No sense in letting stuff drip and cake up where there's no food even sitting. Other than that... no big deal at all.
Regarding the grates though... I get a bit anal about it. I just hate nasty grates. I never use a wire brush, but before each cook I blast the grates and the inside with my weed burner to help heat up quicker. I use a wide putty knife across the top and then underneath to scrape off the easy stuff. It's surprising just how good a job that does with such minimal effort and time. Every few cooks I pull all my grates and soak them overnight in a big storage bin. I dump a bunch of Dawn... a bunch... and just let them soak. I then use one of the green scrubby pads to get a good final dose of cleaning. I wash them all down very well... spray them with canola and back in they go. A smoker should smell like smoke not smoke/rancid meat. I don't feel good when I see any significant amount of caked on crusty bits of anything. I don't want my hands sticky or gunky when I grab my grates. I just like them really clean.
Ol'Joe
is one Smokin' Farker
You didn't state which type of insulated cooker you want to clean, but, the only area I clean on my lectric Smokin-it cooker is the bottom and top of the wood box, grates are removed after each cook and cleaned in the kitchen, I use the alum. foil but some grease always gets under it, sides and top, don't clean em.
Untraceable
Babbling Farker
I try to clean as little as possible. foil the bottom and pans for most meats.
Ribeye Republic
is one Smokin' Farker
Sorry, Humphrey Pint
hogs122
Full Fledged Farker
If you have a slide in pan, I'd just line the bottom with foil and cook in or over pans. If you have the drop in pan, a full size foil pan will fit in the water pan and act as a liner. Either of those should make cleanup pretty easy.
luv2smoke
is one Smokin' Farker
My cooker has a grease pan at the bottom of the cook chamber the same dimension of the cook chamber it catches whatever my slide out water pan doesn't catch. I wait for the grease to set up at the end of a cook and scrape it out. 3 or 4 minutes of messing around maximum.
pjtexas1
somebody shut me the fark up.
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i run my cabinet dry and cook in pans or over pans on bigger cooks. if i line the water pan with foil the cleanup is just the foil in the water pan or maybe that plus the grates on bigger cooks where i don't use pans. don't forget dumping out the ash. an ash pan comes in real handy. every year i scrape the sides with a spatula to get rid of the build up that might flake off into the food and re-season.
if you use water and no pans that is a mess even with a drain. that last 1/4" of drippings and water have to be manually removed.
if you use water and no pans that is a mess even with a drain. that last 1/4" of drippings and water have to be manually removed.
AldenMiller
Knows what WELOCME spells.
I have a pan in the bottom of mine that I put sand in, that helps catch the grease and makes it easy to clean. I clean the grates in the sink with brillo and hot water. I will hit the whole interior of the cabinet with a pressure washer when needed.
-Alden
-Alden
GreenDrake
is Blowin Smoke!
I am pretty anal about keeping mine in pristine shape. After a comp, the cleanup is rather simple, shake the charcoal pan over the catch pan and empty both, vacuum out the bottom and pretty much all that is left is to clean the grates. I have the upgraded stainless steel round bar racks in mine, so I just take em out and use warm water, some Barkeepers Friend and clean them with a stainless scrubber. I am also checking to make sure my gaskets are dry and the rest of the cooker is cleaned off and slicked up, ready from impromptu action. I cook on a Humphreys Pint with four racks and a water pan. I also use pans for big meats, and a foil catch pan to get any drippings.
