Do you clean your smoker to reduce Creosote taste? I have MES and I wondering if I should?

[johnmeyer]

Only clean the racks and a real hot soak in Oxyclean is the shizzle. Actually, pretty much ANYTHING can be cleaned with that. $1 per tub at Dollar Tree. If you've never used it, you're gonna freak.

I need to try that in my ultrasonic cleaner when doing the MES racks. My wife raves about it for the laundry, but until you made this suggestion, it never occurred to me that I could use it for racks, etc.

 

[Bearcarver]

I need to try that in my ultrasonic cleaner when doing the MES racks. My wife raves about it for the laundry, but until you made this suggestion, it never occurred to me that I could use it for racks, etc.

Holy Shoot!!
Your Ultrasonic cleaner is big enough for an MES rack???
Must have cost an arm & a leg, John!!!

Bear

 

[johnmeyer]

Holy Shoot!!
Your Ultrasonic cleaner is big enough for an MES rack???
Must have cost an arm & a leg, John!!!

Bear

Bear,

You have obviously priced them out and you are absolutely correct: if the ultrasonic cleaner was big enough to fit an entire MES rack, it would have probably cost several thousand. Fortunately, while mine was definitely a splurge (almost $300) it isn't in that league.

Mine is 9 liters (about 2 gallons) and I can fit one end of a 30" MES rack into it if I place the rack diagonally across the cleaner's opening. I suspend it by hanging it from my garage cabinet handle. I do one side (about 30-60 seconds is all it takes), and then flip the rack 180 degrees and do the other side.

Unfortunately, even after doing this, there are about 3-4 sections in the middle that still need to be cleaned by hand. However, since the tough part of cleaning the racks is where all the rack wires connect on each end (all those little corners...), the cleaner does most of the tough work.

I can also fit my mailbox mod (made from a popcorn tin) into the cleaner. This lets me get ALL the creosote off after each smoke, and makes it more efficient at condensing the creosote out of the smoke before that smoke gets sucked into the MES. I have to rotate the popcorn can in the cleaner because it too won't fit all at once. The smoke gunk comes off almost instantly, so the entire cleaning procedure for the mod is only 2-3 minutes.

 

[Nutshell]

I just wipe down after each smoke with a clean damp rag to get any loose buildup off. That’s it. Keep the season!!

 

[Bearcarver]

Bear,

You have obviously priced them out and you are absolutely correct: if the ultrasonic cleaner was big enough to fit an entire MES rack, it would have probably cost several thousand. Fortunately, while mine was definitely a splurge (almost $300) it isn't in that league.

Mine is 9 liters (about 2 gallons) and I can fit one end of a 30" MES rack into it if I place the rack diagonally across the cleaner's opening. I suspend it by hanging it from my garage cabinet handle. I do one side (about 30-60 seconds is all it takes), and then flip the rack 180 degrees and do the other side.

Unfortunately, even after doing this, there are about 3-4 sections in the middle that still need to be cleaned by hand. However, since the tough part of cleaning the racks is where all the rack wires connect on each end (all those little corners...), the cleaner does most of the tough work.

I can also fit my mailbox mod (made from a popcorn tin) into the cleaner. This lets me get ALL the creosote off after each smoke, and makes it more efficient at condensing the creosote out of the smoke before that smoke gets sucked into the MES. I have to rotate the popcorn can in the cleaner because it too won't fit all at once. The smoke gunk comes off almost instantly, so the entire cleaning procedure for the mod is only 2-3 minutes.

The only time I ever used one was when I was 17.
I had already graduated, but wasn't old enough to work at Bethlehem Steel, so I got a job at a place that Machined technical ceramics, sapphire, glass and quartz. They had an ultrasonic cleaner, and I lowered my Crummy watch band into it. I couldn't believe how fast the crap came off of that sucker. It looked Brand new, and all I did was hold it in there!!
This was 52 years ago!!

Bear

 

[johnmeyer]

The only time I ever used one was when I was 17.
I had already graduated, but wasn't old enough to work at Bethlehem Steel, so I got a job at a place that Machined technical ceramics, sapphire, glass and quartz. They had an ultrasonic cleaner, and I lowered my Crummy watch band into it. I couldn't believe how fast the crap came off of that sucker. It looked Brand new, and all I did was hold it in there!!
This was 52 years ago!!

Bear

My late father had a little one that he used for mom's jewelry. He kept trying to get me to buy one, but my wife doesn't have any jewelry other than her wedding rings, so I never made the purchase. When dad died, I figured he would have wanted me to have it, so I took it home with me.

Once I put my watchband in there and had the exact same experience as you did, I was hooked.

Then, like any addict, I kept wanting bigger and stronger machines. Perhaps someday I'll get one of those really big units.

 

[tempnexus]

I need to try that in my ultrasonic cleaner when doing the MES racks. My wife raves about it for the laundry, but until you made this suggestion, it never occurred to me that I could use it for racks, etc.

Ultrasonic?! DAMN you guys are sick... I was thinking of some freaking water jets to wipe it down and maybe some vinegar before the water....sigh.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Ultrasonic?! DAMN you guys are sick... I was thinking of some freaking water jets to wipe it down and maybe some vinegar before the water....sigh.

They're all fancy. I just got a pressure washer for the first time ever in the house hold. It's been on the list of 'things we should get' for 15 years or so.

..And now I still have yet to use it.

 

[tempnexus]

They're all fancy. I just got a pressure washer for the first time ever in the house hold. It's been on the list of 'things we should get' for 15 years or so.

..And now I still have yet to use it.

Let me tell you this that once you start you can't stop. I got one 3 months ago....I have to hold myself back from pressure washing everything....I wash my car every week...I use the Chemical Brothers Pressure Washer Foam thingy....google it since I don't want to link the Amazon site (unless it's ok). I LOVE IT.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I've used them in the past for blasting houses off in the country with stuff to remove mold etc <Like 3 story country houses>. I'll probs get it out one of these days and just nail my two charcoal grills and the grates and re-oil like new..

 

[johnmeyer]

I have a love/hate relationship with power washers. I've rented or borrowed them a few times. For a pressure treated deck at a cottage in Wisconsin that is under dead leaves and snow all winter, it is fabulous. For our redwood deck here in California, it is "the great destroyer" because it takes out all the soft wood between the grain, leaving a deck with ridges that neither looks good or is comfortable in bare feet. I was fortunate because my next door neighbor ruined his deck before I had a chance to use one on mine, so I was spared the problem.

Also, I've tried them on BBQ grates and the like, and never thought they did much. Once stuff gets burned on, the only thing I've found that works is really long soaks in the proper solvent, or mechanical scraping.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I have a love/hate relationship with power washers. I've rented or borrowed them a few times. For a pressure treated deck at a cottage in Wisconsin that is under dead leaves and snow all winter, it is fabulous. For our redwood deck here in California, it is "the great destroyer" because it takes out all the soft wood between the grain, leaving a deck with ridges that neither looks good or is comfortable in bare feet. I was fortunate because my next door neighbor ruined his deck before I had a chance to use one on mine, so I was spared the problem.

Also, I've tried them on BBQ grates and the like, and never thought they did much. Once stuff gets burned on, the only thing I've found that works is really long soaks in the proper solvent, or mechanical scraping.

I was thinking more because I can just get all the sediment etc out with out disassembling...hrm. Well then. Also glad you didn't ruin your deck!

 

[banderson7474]

I pressure washed my joe last weekend for my smoking rebirth. It got all over me. It did ok but i still had to use the wed burner to get it all off

 

[cal1956]

wal-mart and i think auto zone sell something called "super clean " in a gallon bottle , its purple colored
i have a propane smoker and once in spring and once in fall i pour that stuff in a spray bottle and mist it on
heavy enough to keep it wet , set it set 15 minutes then hose it off , that stuff is great !! washes all the old grease right off

 

[zwiller]

Dead serious, try oxyclean. Same stuff is in the pro deck chems. No need for pressure washers, the chem does the work. https://www.deckstainhelp.com/efc-38-wood-deck-cleaner-review/ Sodium percarbonate. Follow up with citric acid to neutralize and no real need for pressure washer. Environmentally safe too. For smoker grates, throw them in the utility sink, add a scoop of oxyclean, add hot water, next day run some bristles over them and rinse off. As good as new. I still use a pressure washer for the deck but it is only to speed things up. Also, a common approach to ruined deck boards is to pull screws etc and flip them over since other side is fine. A few boards will need to be replaced due to cuts but the vast majority do not.