Cleaning inside of Masterbuilt smoker? Do or Don't?

[candurin]

Why isn't sarcasm highlighted? :)

 

[mummel]

One problem I do have is creosote paste like build-up on my vent.  When its smoking, I can open and close the vent.  I can see the black paste there, but it allows the vent to move.  However, once cooled, it locks down in place and cannot be moved.

I obviously need to clean my vent the next time right after a smoke.  But I tried once a twice a while back and that paste is extremely sticky.  It doesnt come off.  Paper towel just tears.  Dish scrubber sponge seems to just push the paste from one side to the other.  I need some sort of solvent to remove it from the metal.

What do you guys recommend?

 

[candurin]

Dawn dish soap should cut through the grease. If not, simple green spray would help.

 

[daricksta]

 
I take out the racks, water and grease pan and wash them later that night or the following day.  I learned a trick on this forum for cleaning the inside glass and seal with rubbing alcohol and paper towels.  Only takes about three passes.  I don't clean the walls except for any food remnants that touched.  So far so good.  Best burgers my family have ever ate.  3, 2, 1, St. Louis ribs were a hit too.  Chicken breasts were a little dry but I'm learning.

I wouldn't clean the door seals with rubbing alcohol unless I followed it up with applying a thin film of Vaseline or something to keep the seals from drying out and cracking. I just clean the door seals of my MES with a damp paper towel. I don't have a window on the door.

 

[ndwildbill]

If your racks get really nasty, and you have a self-cleaning oven, put them in the oven next time you run a clean cycle.  Does a great job.  Most of the time I put them in the dishwasher, and that shines them up, but, occasisionally, I have resorted to the oven.  I've also put the racks in my weber gas grill left on hi to burn some of the grease and crude off of them.  I normally don't wash the inside of the smoker, but do wipe things down after a particularly greasy smoke, when I'm cleaning the water and drip pans. 

Call me crazy, but I love the smell of the inside of my MES.!

 

[daricksta]

 
If your racks get really nasty, and you have a self-cleaning oven, put them in the oven next time you run a clean cycle.  Does a great job.  Most of the time I put them in the dishwasher, and that shines them up, but, occasisionally, I have resorted to the oven.  I've also put the racks in my weber gas grill left on hi to burn some of the grease and crude off of them.  I normally don't wash the inside of the smoker, but do wipe things down after a particularly greasy smoke, when I'm cleaning the water and drip pans. 

Call me crazy, but I love the smell of the inside of my MES.!

I agree. I think I love the inside smell of my MES almost as much as I like the food coming out of it.

 

[dr k]

 
I wouldn't clean the door seals with rubbing alcohol unless I followed it up with applying a thin film of Vaseline or something to keep the seals from drying out and cracking. I just clean the door seals of my MES with a damp paper towel. I don't have a window on the door.

Alcohol strips oil and has a drying effect on everything, leaving flexible things prone to cracking.  I just use water on a paper towel.  If the seal isn't leaking then the residue is on the inside of the seal ( in the smoker) anyway.

-Kurt 

 

[dr k]

 
One problem I do have is creosote paste like build-up on my vent.  When its smoking, I can open and close the vent.  I can see the black paste there, but it allows the vent to move.  However, once cooled, it locks down in place and cannot be moved.

I obviously need to clean my vent the next time right after a smoke.  But I tried once a twice a while back and that paste is extremely sticky.  It doesnt come off.  Paper towel just tears.  Dish scrubber sponge seems to just push the paste from one side to the other.  I need some sort of solvent to remove it from the metal.

What do you guys recommend?

Use anything oil based.  Aerosol spray Pam,  peanut butter (not chunky, LOL.)  Goo Gone is great for tar, sticky label residue, gum, crayons etc.

-Kurt 

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I agree. I think I love the inside smell of my MES almost as much as I like the food coming out of it.

LOL---Tell me about it !!

It was windy during the last smoke before My Smoking Porch got upgraded.

The wind was sucking the heat out of my top vent. 

I didn't have time to do anything fancy to block the wind.

Then I realized I had my oldest of all my Vietnam Vet hats on, with the whole back half of the hat being a nylon mesh.

So I put the old hat right over the top vent, which allowed the smoke to get through the mesh, but the hat was blocking the wind so it couldn't suck anything through the vent.

My hat was on that vent for about 2 hours, and it smells Wonderful

Mrs Bear says I gotta leave that hat in the garage, but I can sniff it anytime I want to.

Bear

 

[daricksta]

Why isn't sarcasm highlighted? :)

What sarcasm?

 

[daricksta]

 
Alcohol strips oil and has a drying effect on everything, leaving flexible things prone to cracking.  I just use water on a paper towel.  If the seal isn't leaking then the residue is on the inside of the seal ( in the smoker) anyway.

-Kurt 

See? I was right. And this man is a doctor...

 

[daricksta]

 
One problem I do have is creosote paste like build-up on my vent.  When its smoking, I can open and close the vent.  I can see the black paste there, but it allows the vent to move.  However, once cooled, it locks down in place and cannot be moved.

I obviously need to clean my vent the next time right after a smoke.  But I tried once a twice a while back and that paste is extremely sticky.  It doesnt come off.  Paper towel just tears.  Dish scrubber sponge seems to just push the paste from one side to the other.  I need some sort of solvent to remove it from the metal.

What do you guys recommend?

As I wrote elsewheres, a wet paper towel is exactly what I use to clean the inside of the top vent on my MES 30 Gen 1. Sure, I'm not going to get all of it but I'm just after the loose gritty, flaky deposits that might fall down onto the meat. I just don't want any buildup. But then it took me over 3 years to realize that I should be cleaning the inside of the vent so whatever's permanently baked on is staying on. Dr. K had some good suggestions, though. 

 

[daricksta]

 
LOL---Tell me about it !!

It was windy during the last smoke before My Smoking Porch got upgraded.

The wind was sucking the heat out of my top vent. 

I didn't have time to do anything fancy to block the wind.

Then I realized I had my oldest of all my Vietnam Vet hats on, with the whole back half of the hat being a nylon mesh.

So I put the old hat right over the top vent, which allowed the smoke to get through the mesh, but the hat was blocking the wind so it couldn't suck anything through the vent.

My hat was on that vent for about 2 hours, and it smells Wonderful

Mrs Bear says I gotta leave that hat in the garage, but I can sniff it anytime I want to.

Bear

Bear, I don't think you should ever invite me over to your place for a BBQ. I might want to take a few sniffs of that hat myself. I love the smell of wood pellet smoke in the morning. Smells like...BBQ dinner tonight.

 

[dr k]

 
If you look at the pros on TV, none of those guys have clean smokers. But they're not sloppy dirty either. With my smoker, it's got a greasy film throughout the interior and there's baked-on discolorations which will never come off. But you won't find food particles or black deposits. Some guys worry about creosote build up. I've read that creosote buildup is not a concern with electric smokers like ours, whether we're using wood pellets or chips. I forget why but I can link to an article where I read this from a reliable source. The same article also said that electric smokers, by and large, produce food that is better than that found in most BBQ restaurants. I can vouch for that. I've eaten at Tony Roma's (out of business in my area), Dickey's BBQ Pit, and several local BBQ joints which are now out of business--for a reason! I know that the stuff I produce is superior to any BBQ I've eaten in any restaurant. I haven't eaten at Famous Dave's and I don't plan to. I saw him on TV lose a BBQ competition. Combine that with the lousy reviews I've read of his restaurant food and I'll stick with my own BBQ. 

If you do your homework and practice your techniques and just try out stuff, you can cook BBQ in your MES that people rave about--even without the smoke ring.

I thought the Foodsavered brisket had a Myoglobin failure after almost three years in the freezer when I tried for a smoke ring in the MES I posted a few weeks ago.  This fresh rack of spares shows an acceptable smoke ring with two Kingsford blue bag briquettes.  They burn for 1.5hrs. but I put in two more to finish up the three hours in the 3-2-1- method.  The last two briquettes are optional.  I could see the smoke ring on the edge of the ribs around the bones.  The fatherest section of ribs in the pic shows the best ring with the light but the whole slab was ringed.  Now that I've done it I can sleep at night LOL. Success!

CAM00647.jpg

• dr k
• Aug 19, 2015

-Kurt

 

[daricksta]

 
I thought the Foodsavered brisket had a Myoglobin failure after almost three years in the freezer when I tried for a smoke ring in the MES I posted a few weeks ago.  This fresh rack of spares shows an acceptable smoke ring with two Kingsford blue bag briquettes.  They burn for 1.5hrs. but I put in two more to finish up the three hours in the 3-2-1- method.  The last two briquettes are optional.  I could see the smoke ring on the edge of the ribs around the bones.  The fatherest section of ribs in the pic shows the best ring with the light but the whole slab was ringed.  Now that I've done it I can sleep at night LOL. Success!

CAM00647.jpg

• dr k
• Aug 19, 2015

-Kurt

Great job on the smoke rings, Kurt. But let's pretend I know nothing about a brisket vacuumed sealed and stored in a freezer for almost 3 years causing a Myoglobin failure.OK, I don't anything about a brisket vacuumed sealed and stored in a freezer for almost 3 years causing a Myoglobin failure. Is this a real thing or is it an educated guess on your part? I'm really curious but I'm still not ready to grab the smoke ring in my MES carousel.

 

[brickguy221]

My hat was on that vent for about 2 hours, and it smells Wonderful

Mrs Bear says I gotta leave that hat in the garage, but I can sniff it anytime I want to.

Bear           

  ....   I can't stop laughing at that one. Not only is Bear an expert at smoking food, he is also a great comedian too....  

 

[pc farmer]

Well it looks like I have to clean mine, mold in it.

 

[dr k]

 
See? I was right. And this man is a doctor...

I'm no doctor! I just operate on food to make it taste great. 

 

 

Butcher's twine=sutures, cutlery= scalpels, brine/cure=saline drip, syringe to administer flavorful meds.  What illness did cured ham have?  I don't know but I'm sure SMF helped to cure it.  The doctor is in!

-Kurt  

 

[dr k]

 
As I wrote elsewheres, a wet paper towel is exactly what I use to clean the inside of the top vent on my MES 30 Gen 1. Sure, I'm not going to get all of it but I'm just after the loose gritty, flaky deposits that might fall down onto the meat. I just don't want any buildup. But then it took me over 3 years to realize that I should be cleaning the inside of the vent so whatever's permanently baked on is staying on. Dr. K had some good suggestions, though. 

I used to have those Sharper Image Ionic Breeze electronic air purifiers that were silent without a fan.  It charged the air with ions to move it through the unit and particles would stick to charged stainless steel plates  When you pull out the blade cartridge to clean the black film it was really sticky/waxy/oily from candles etc.  Spraying Pam on it cut the cleaning time to one tenth. 

-Kurt

 

[dr k]

 
Bear, I don't think you should ever invite me over to your place for a BBQ. I might want to take a few sniffs of that hat myself. I love the smell of wood pellet smoke in the morning. Smells like...BBQ dinner tonight.

Periodically I hand the AMNPS/AMNTS to my girlfriend and say, "doesn't that smell great?"  Ironically, she agrees.  I got a keeper!

-Keeper