# Cleaning smoker



## Bosko (Mar 23, 2014)

AHoy!!
This is prolly a stupid question, but does anyone clean out their smoker after a period of time?

Or do you keep the sludge of smoky goopiness build up until it oozes onto the driveway and creates a river of rendered goodness


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## bbquzz (Mar 23, 2014)

I leave most of the "goop" but do clean up the drips and mess on the outside, clean out the bottom section of my WSM and always use a whiskbroom on the inside of the lid to get an flakes that may fall on the food.


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## Bob In Fla. (Mar 23, 2014)

I clean out the ashes and that part every time I fire up. I regularly clean and wax the outside (it's automotive paint). The inside, if it gets too bad and starts smelling like it's going rancid, I'll fire it up to about 400ish and burn it off.

PLEASE don't use any soaps or chemical cleaners on the insides or the grates. You'll be sorry if you do.


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## Bosko (Mar 23, 2014)

I think I'll scrape goop and leave the rest for flavor:supz:


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## boozer (Mar 24, 2014)

Every tuesday morning I spray mine down inside and out with a power washer, and then heat it up and steam it out.


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## bbquzz (Mar 24, 2014)

boozer said:


> Every tuesday morning I spray mine down inside and out with a power washer, and then heat it up and steam it out.



Does it ever freeze Boozer ?


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## boozer (Mar 24, 2014)

bbquzz said:


> Does it ever freeze Boozer ?


Pretty much every time with the weather we been having lately. But it thaws out pretty quick with 6 big logs of mulberry wood burning in there!


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## bigwheel (Mar 28, 2014)

Back in the good old days..I tried to leave the grates crudded up then burned off with the propane flame thrower when it was time too cook again. If the bottom was looking gloppy I would hit it too..to see iif it would catch fire..and occasionally cleaned out the bottom with a garden hoe. I dont like grease fires. If you will put the goop in a black garbage bag along with regular trash the garbage man will take it. If you sack it up in a white bag they think its toxic waste.


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## boozer (Mar 30, 2014)

Disposable foil catering pans have changed my life!


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## Bosko (Mar 30, 2014)

boozer said:


> Disposable foil catering pans have changed my life!



For sure, this is what I'm going to from now on,cheap alternative to the cleaning headache


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## Max1 (Mar 30, 2014)

All I ever clean on my smokers are where the dripping collect, and drip threw. I have never cleaned out any of the built up seasoning on the inside. That would be sac-religious. That is what you have been trying to build up the entire time.


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## bigwheel (Mar 30, 2014)

Hear you on that Max. Old welder who built my pit is a dedicated bbq cook...loaned his offset smoker out to a guy who decided to turn the cook chamber into a giant grill and burned off all the accumulated essences.  He say, "I been building up them good flavors for 20 yrs and now they are gone." Thought he was gonna kill the guy for a while..lol.


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## Max1 (Mar 31, 2014)

Probably would have, then use the smoker that he ruined on him as a grill to get rid of the evidence.


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## boozer (Mar 31, 2014)

I dunno, I agree with having a nice patina of smoke and grease all over the inside of the pit. But to let years worth of black burnt crap build up in there and melting and dripping on the food, I just can't do it. I'm  not knocking anyone else's style, just my opinion, I'm a clean freak!


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## bigwheel (Mar 31, 2014)

Hmmm..sounds like you shoulda growed up to be a Nursie or something. Now even us nonchalant types try to knock off the Stalagmites and Stalagtites occasionally. Black goo dripping from the roof is not good..lol.


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## Max1 (Apr 1, 2014)

Lol, I dot have it like gunky full of crap. There has been times when a good wipe down is in order.


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## bigwheel (Apr 3, 2014)

Well one of the consistently top comp bbq cooks I ever met..heads direct to the car wash after each contest and gets it cleaner than a freshly washed baby's butt. This be before going home. He say.."I dont like the flavor of burnt grease." lol. May be something to say for the anal retentive clean approach.


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## boozer (Apr 4, 2014)

In my defense,  these days I got the smoker runnin' 60-70 hours a week.  That's a lot of damn grease. And ashes. And grease. And grease. I don't think the city garbage collectors like me much. I've noticed, however, an influx of rats and raccoons, which is making life a bit more exciting for my dogs.


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## bigwheel (Apr 4, 2014)

Restaurants with grease traps can come in handy. They also have folks who come around and buy grease used frying oil etc.


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## Max1 (Apr 4, 2014)

You can run a diesel car engine on used fry oil too, might make your car exhaust smell like eggrolls though.


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