I was cleaning my WSM after my last cook and got a wild hair up my butt and decided to clean my Genesis Silver. Thinking back, I don’t know if I have ever cleaned it since I got it about six years ago. I wiped down the inside of the top to remove the burnt grease flakes (the ones that look like paint). Before each grilling, I burn off the last cook’s grease and food by cranking it up to max, then turn it down to cooking temp as I wire brush the grate. I pulled the grates and there was a ton of cooked on grease on the bottom of the grate, enough to start closing the slots between the metal. I scraped the big chunks into the base of the gasser, brought them in and soaked them in hot soapy water. I removed the “Flavorizer bars” and scraped them, also coated with burnt on food and drippings. I then scrapped down the sides of the base and shoved the gunk down the hole into a gallon bucket, which I almost filled! I was amazed that over a half inch of gunk had built up on the sides and a few inches on the bottom. I can see where you could get a grease fire if you don’t burn everything off to ashes on a regular basis. I wiped the loose scrapings down as good as I could with paper towels and made sure the holes in the gas bars wernt cloged. When I returned the “Flavorizer bars”, I swapped them front to back and end for end to even out the wear. I then cranked her up for a bit to burn off any grease I may have exposed. With all the crud cleaned out of it, it heated up to 600º in just a few minutes. I ended up scraping and scrubbing the grates just to get the crust off, then put them into the dishwasher on the “pots and pans” cycle. I wasn’t going to grill tonight but I’m going down to get a few chickens for tonight, just to dirty up my nice clean grill. Can’t do it tomorrow, I’m smoking rip tips on the WSM.
