What's the best method to clean a weber kettle

[fire in the hole]

I have the large weber kettle and over the years it has developed a build-up of thick residue inside the bowl, especially in the lid. Is there a perfered or best way to clean????
Thanks.........gary

 

[gooose53]

I have to do the same thing. I was thinking of getting it hot to where the gunk is soft, then using the power washer on it. Maybe someone else will have a better idea.

 

[oneshot]

Use a plastic scraper when it's warm to scrape off the heavy stuff. But what ever you do, NO type of cleaners.

 

[harrylips]

I use one of those steam cleaner things to clean mine. Cleans the grates really nice too. The steamer even came with a grill cleaning attachment.

 

[ron herbowy]

harrylips what type of stemmer do you use

 

[lucc]

Cleveland

 

[the dude abides]

I clean mine with a wooden shim. Like the kind you'd get at a hardware store. I think they're like 12 to a pack for a couple of bucks. They're great for cleaning the grates too. Hard enough to scrape the gunk but soft enough to not do any damage.

 

[fire in the hole]

It kinda sounds like a good scraper/scraping is the method to use. That's what I did before, I guess I was on the right track. I shore do wish there was an easier way.
I'm going to smoke 3 racks of ribs this sunday for the neighbors.............so wish me luck.
Thanks all.
gary

 

[sammysound]

so if i clean the kettle (and wsm) and looks shiny and new, am i not cleaning away all the seasoning?

i thought a build up was a good thing 

thanks

 

[woundedyak]

power washer son!

 

[grillmonkey]

Sammysound,

The goal of seasoning a grill is to remove manufacturing residue, and maybe bake the paint. Once that's done you can pressure wash it, steam clean it, scrape with wood shims, all with no ill effects.