Best way to clean a WSM?


 
C

ChadVKealey

TVWBB Pro
So, after about a year and probably 18-20 cooks, my 18.5" seems nicely seasoned inside. The lid and center section have a buildup sort of resembling spray-on undercoating or bedliner material. I scrape the grates down religiously and they are still looking good. However, the inside of the charcoal bowl and the outside of the entire unit could use a good cleaning, so I'm seeking advice on the best way to do that.

I was thinking of just hot water an a scrubby pad for the inside of the bowl. It's mostly drips of fat that have overrun the water pan or dripped straight down from open-barrel cooks that need to go, so I think hot water and elbow grease will do the job.

For the outside, is there some type of food-safe degreaser I can use? I know food isn't supposed to touch the outside of it, but there's a chance some of the stuff will get inside, so I don't want to use anything potentially unsafe. The one area that definitely needs a cleaning is the top vent. It's very sticky, so opening & closing it is quite difficult. The intake vents are a little sticky, but not terrible. I think cleaning the bowl will take care of them.
 
I found a spray can of Simple Green BBQ cleaner in Home Depot that worked pretty well. Set it out in the sun to get nice and warm then sprayed it down and let it sit for 10 or 15 min. Used a dobie scrub pad and it took off most of the baked on grease. Then i rinsed it off with a hose and dried it.
 
ChadVKealey said:
For the outside, is there some type of food-safe degreaser I can use?
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I just take a damp paper towel and wipe down the outside while it's cooking. Gets it real clean, usually when I do and post something, someone will say "look at the new shiny....."
 
^^

Same here as ChuckO. Get the outside nice and hot & rub it down with a damp cloth. Don't bother cleaning the inside. Just a quick brush of the charcoal bowl to get rid of any gunk that's dripped in there....that's it.
 
+1 on the spray while hot reccomendations above. Any tough stains or drips can be scraped with a razor blade, does wonders.
 
Myk McCormick said:
A razor blade? On the outside? Seems pretty risky on the finish....
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Myk,

I thought that too but trust me the enamel can take it. I just cleaned up a blue performer that i rescued off craigslist that had some grease stains. I bought to use or flip but its now being given as a gift so i am trying to restore to near new condition.

Use your head obviously, hold the blade parallel to scrape not slice, and go gentle on the pressure to start but it does wonders. If you're apprehensive, you can try a plastic putty knife, this will get rid of some of the big stuff.

here is a photo of a kettle mid cleaning. You can see the before and after:
00db80d2-cb50-4938-a4a3-2e8073bba978_zpsf6a3598d.jpg


This was the first kettle i ever scraped, not i have it down to a science:)
 
Once or twice a year, I will clean the outside of the WSM with soap and water. Basically the same way I wash a car - soapy bucket of water and a rag, spray clean with a hose. I keep an eye on the inside of the lid and if it looks like there are any flakes, I brush with a nylon brush (dry). I never touch the inside of the middle section and I spray out the charcoal bowl with the hose every now and then. I also scrape the charcoal bowl with a plastic putty knife/scraper if needed.

The main thing I keep up on is the lid and the ring that the lid sits in on the middle section. I keep the edge of the lid and the middle section where the lid sits clean so that it doesn't gunk up and stick. To do this I use a few paper towels wet with white vinegar when the WSM is warm. I'm not sure vinegar works any better than hot water, but it does work and vinegar is obviously food safe.
 
I'm confused...

"charcoal bowl"? I have a 18.5" WSM; no charcoal bowl. (Water bowl, sure, but 'charcoal bowl'?)

Is this something in the smaller or larger WSMs?
 
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