Smoker Cleaning/Upkeep

[bestee]

I am wondering how often and how clean you guys keep your smokers?
I have the attached a picture of my model. I place aluminum tins in the bottom of the smoking chamber to collect the drippings, as then it is easier to clean. This is a solid iron smoker...do I need to be worried about the drippings? Do I need to clean it each time after use, or do you let it go for a while? I am mainly curious, cuz I had a simple gas grill, I didnt clean well, and it ended with a short life, and I want to take care of my new baby as best I can. Would be very interested to hear how often you guys cleam em and how intensely.

 

[epace55]

Bestee , I got the same brand u got , by the way the pic looks. I keep mine cleaned up after each time i use it an spray the grill down with pam or cooking oil here.

 

[pacman]

I've got a similar smoker from CharBroil and have had it for two years. It hasn't seen much rest in that two years (for me, bbq season is year round).

It's very important to get the ash out of the firebox... ash promotes rust. I clean the cooking grates before every smoke or grilling, usually just brushing the grates with a bbq brush and scouring pad when the grates are hot. As for the interior, if you clean it, you need to season it again. Aluminum pans certainly help keep the grease out of the bottom, but if you don't use em, there's usually a grease trap at one end of a smoker like ours where you can hang a soup can to catch it. Gotta keep checking it to make sure it's not overflowing and ruining your deck or patio slab. Sometimes the brush isn't enough though. You can get a lot of buildup near the outside edges of the cooking grates. For that, you can buy just about any bbq cleaning product (too numerous to list). Spray it on, let it soak, and brush with a wire bristle brush and/or scouring pad. There's also an abrasive stone made of pumice that is available but I have yet to try that.

If your smoker is exposed to the elements as often as mine is, you may find that the finish will begin to rust. Instead of trashing what was otherwise a great smoker, I opted to refinish it in March of this year. Got my power drill with a wire paint stripper attachment and stripped off the old paint and rust. Took about a day to get all the nooks and crannies. Then about 3-4 cans of Rustoleum high-temp black paint and it looked as good as when I bought it two years ago.

I really need to build an awning for my Q to sit under, this California sun is murder on painted metal.

 

[dirty ole phil]

I have a pellet burner and no longer use my charcoal or wood burners. I was wondering if there are othe pellet burners out there. I have not been able to start a thread on this subject as I can't find out where a blank thread get started. Also I need details on the group of cooks that belong to the Thin Blue Smoke group.

 

[bigarm's smokin]

On the top left of the main page, click forums, scroll down till you find the subject that you wish to start a thread on, say, General discussion, click on it, then click on "new thread" , its on the top left of the page, hope this helps, Dutch has a thread on the order of the thin blue smoke, its HUGE, hope this helps, Terry

 

[dirty ole phil]

Thanks, I'll check it out, I just couldn't get started Thanks again.

 

[dirty ole phil]

When I clicked on "Forums" I got list of "Articles by Jeff" but NO GENERAL DISCUSSION. I them picked WOOD BURNERS but then could find NO "NEW FORUMS" I was always looking on the top Left or left side.

Confusion Factor is starting to build. I'm not even gonna start on the Blue Smoke yet.

 

[stringcheese paul]

To clean I just scrape the grates when done and when i dump the ash the next time I smoke. Everything else is stainless so I dont have to worry about rust.

 

[bigarm's smokin]

just keep scrolling down, its there, I just did it. when you get to the right spot, beef, seafood, whatever,click on it, there is a box at the top left, it says "New Thread", click that, I hope I am not overlooking the obvious here, but it sure comes up every time here?

Terry

 

[adb551]

All I do is empty the ashes, so as not to hold moisture, and scrape the grille after it is hot.

The way I figure, the interior is now well seasoned and rust proofed, why mess with it? It never comes in contact with the food.

As for the exterior, once a year I hit it with a stiff wire brush, expecially the fire box, and give it a new coat of high-temp paint.