Clean Dat grill


 
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EarlClick

New member
How do you clean your grill or smoker? My WSM is getting kind of greasy and I am wondering whats the best way to clean it. I notice Harry Soo seems to be saying, basically, he doesn't clean his with soap and water, but just scrapes it. Wouldn't that scratch up the porcelain? Also do you have grease drip down from the hood onto your Q when its not cleaned up? U wiped on mine some and also used a scraper/wire brush to clean off something stuck to the side but other than that I am still trying to figure out the best way to go and still keep it seasoned.
 
I don't really clean the inside of mine either. If I haven't used it in a while and I see that some of the gunk is starting to get flaky and look like it's going to fall off, then I'll use a stiff bristle brush (not a wire brush) to get some of that stuff off of there. The outside, I'll spray some Simple Green on and shine it up. But that's really about it.
 
If I scrape my kettle I use a plastic 3 inch putty knife, use this to clean the grease tray in the gasser as well.
 
I take the two grills (grates) out of my 18.5" and put them on my gasser (one at a time) get them hot, wire brush them and call it good. My lid sticks every-once-in-awhile, I've gotten away with simply scraping a screw drive along the lip on top my my smoker (where the lid sits) and that's taken care of the sticking, for the most part. I don't clean the inside, and now that I'm not putting water in the defuser, I just foil over the top of the defuser with two 12" clay saucers inside
 
With me not using water, I get a grease 'seasoning' on the inside of mine. I don't worry about it until it starts to flake off then I just scrub with a stiff bristled brush. For the grates, I spray them with oven cleaner and put in a garbage bag for 30 minutes then spray them off with the hose and use a wire brush to remove anything the oc didn't get on the grates.

Dave
 
I don't neccesarily "clean" my WSM,but there are certain steps I take to keep it food safe. I burn the grates off on my gasser the next day and then I dump the ashes after they have cooled. I actually run my hand through the ashes to make sure they are out! Any flaky stuff gets knocked off with a wad of crumples foil and I store it with the middle section upside down. If it rains before I can dump the ashes,I'll hose out the ash gunk . And if I get any science projects growing inside,I fire up a chimney of K and burn it out! That's all I do.
 
Plastic putty knife here as well for the grills and smoker bottom and lid, 10" drywall taping knife for the midsection. You might say that I neglect the outside of my grills and smokers by the looks of them. If they get looking too bad I'll put a cover on them. Lol.
 
I was forced to clean mine after a bit of rain water got into the bottom and created a mold situation, 2 1/2 yr old 18.5, I used a plastic knife to scrape the flakes off the center section, and sprayed the inside of the lid with easy off oven cleaner and put it in a black leaf bag under the hot sun, I was surprised how consistent the temps held after the cleaning.
 
My smoker (Cookshack) has NEVER been cleaned in 4 years of regular use. I only make sure that no grease flakes will fall on the food. Of course it has an SS interior so there is no worry of trashing coatings.
 
I've rubbed the top with crumpled aluminum foil to get the flakes off. I use soap & water on the grates after each cook. I hit the water pan with some soft scrub too. I wipe the spot where the lid sits on the middle section with a wet paper towel while it is still warm... This helps prevent sticking on the next cook.
 
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