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When I first light up my smoker/grill and all 4 are gassers I get the fire going really good and then clean the grate with a wire brush cleaner thingy and then I'm good to go.
Wash your racks after each use. Otherwise, little corners will start to accumulate black stuff. I like soaking in hot soapy water with a shot of bleach overnight, than the dishwasher. Loosens up the grime.
.... you can wash if you have SS racks, but if you have cast iron like mine you don't want to remove the seasoning. But for stainless or ceramic coated washing is fine.
I have a BGE, so the odds are that I'll have the grill good and hot at least once between smokes, so a wire brush is what I use.
I'm going to clean my oven in the near future, so I'll try putting them in there for the self clean cycle.
I've also heard a pressure cleaner is the simplest way, but as one has yet to be added to my collection of things I want but don't really use that much, I'll have to wait to find out.
If you have cast iron grates and no way to get the temp up to 500º+ and you are leaving those grates uncleaned. If you don't use those grates frequently, then you will have rusted grates. Food bits have moisture, that food will continue to collect moisture and will eventually create a rust spot. If you have a gas grill and your smoker grates fit, crank up the gasser and put the smoker grates in the gasser to burn & char the food and grease then return to you smoker and give em a good wire brushing.
I give mine a good brushing after each smoke and before I lay the meat on the grill on the next one. I live in an APT. and use the community propane grills on occasion to clean my grills. They will heat to 700*, good enough to get the build up off.
That makes sense. The manual says to never scrub off the seasoning so it's hard to see where to draw the line. I think knockng the food off with the brush is good. Maybe once a year burn it all off and reseaso .