Clean up driving me nuts!!


 
M

Mel

TVWBB Member
Hi all. I haven't posted in EONS, although I often come on and read. I'm posting today to say that while I LOVE my Weber smoker, the clean up is enough to keep me from using it at times!!

Any advice on making things quicker? Like should I just nix the water pan? I've read that other people don't even bother with it. It's driving me to drink anyhow. The gooey gunky oily stuff left in it the next day turns my stomach. I tried wrapping it in foil, but that's a pain too and you still have to get rid of the gooey gunky stuff. How about the grates? On a high-temp grill I never clean my grates. I just put them over the high heat and then use a steel brush to get the gunk off. But with the smoker, I don't feel the temp is high enough and it doesn't cook off the old gunk. So what should I do? Is there some sort of disposable foil holey thingie I could use on top of the racks and then just toss afterward?

Sorry to gripe! This is a great site and I have gotten so much out of it! I just want to get a lot out of my smoker too without having to go through two hours of cleaning **** before having my fun.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer!!
 
Oops. I wrote the word "h-e-double hockey sticks" and it came up like this in my post above: ****. I'm so bad.
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Mel,for the water pan,get a clay saucer,put it in the water and foil the top and bottom of both. It will keep your temp down,and when the WSM cools,just take the foil off the top and throw away. For the grates,chuck 'em on your gasser and clean them that way. Get them hot,scrape with your grill brush and put them away when cool. It's pretty easy actually. I used to do the cleaner and brush and scrub everything. Now,I've got the cleaning down to about a ten minute thing. HTH
 
meh, such is life.

Nix the water but not the water pan unless you have a clay saucer or such to replace it.

I just do a quick brush of the grates right after the cook and again at the start of the next cook and that's it.

How high do you want the temp's to be?

Yes, there are "disposable foil holey thingies" but ... uh ... foil is foil. If you don't like wrapping up the other foil, you won't like wrapping up these things either.
 
I just throw the grate on my gasser for ten minutes at high heat and brush.

For the pan, I foil. Still some clean up, but it's a heck of a lot easier than not foiling. My first smoke (no foil) took over an hour for clean up afterward.
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This is what happens when you smoke real meat over a real fire. The benefits far outweigh the negatives of cleaning. Wrap the pan with foil and for the grates just put them on your gasser and crank up the heat and scrape.
 
Thanks. I guess I'll try foiling again. Maybe I need larger foil. As for the grates, I only use a charcoal grill. I suppose I could put them on there, though. Scraping them immediately after a cook might help too. My romantic interest uses a gas grill, but I refuse to go near it.
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I just spray of my waterpan with the garden hose if i use water in it.

Done a few smokes with just a foiled water pan to try it out and i havent changed the foil yet.

I think its more work to empty the ashes then to spray my pan down(dont care if it doesent look shiny new so no scrubbing needed)

And if the grate feels to messy with this low heat scraping doesent it fit in the otg?(at work atm so cant test it but should be the same right?)

Bless
 
Originally posted by Mel:
As for the grates, I only use a charcoal grill. I suppose I could put them on there, though. Scraping them immediately after a cook might help too.
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I used to clean the grates on my kettle grill by filling the thing with balled up sheets of newspaper and lighting them to burn off all the grease. I don't see why you couldn't put your WSM grate on your grill and do the same.
 
I will try what you all have suggested. Anything beats having to break out the brillo pads and scrub like a maniac, messing up the whole kitchen in the process.
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You folks are making this WAY more complicated than it should be ! IMHO

I just cleaned up from yesterdays smoke I brushed the grate wipe it down and lit off my weed burner and in 5 to 8 minutes grill done perfect ! I use water all there is to cleaning the pan is buy a metal garbage can some steel saks dump water in steel sak tie up put in trash can squirt a little Dawn in water pan wipe it with a rag and hose it out wipe dry replace and cover grill . all the above if Iam going slow might take 10 to 15 minutes tops I did this in my pj's this morning .

I don't get it if it got any easier someone would have to do it for you . And if your using a clay saucer you can knock 5 minutes off my time .Yesterday was a turkey cook so I used the clay saucer so clean uop was like 10 minutes only because I WAS PUTZING AROUND .

Maybe Iam missing somthing
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Its a cooker NOT ROCKET SCIENCE !
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Originally posted by Mel:
Anything beats having to break out the brillo pads and scrub like a maniac, messing up the whole kitchen in the process.
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Oh I do hope you're joking.

Martha might be pleased but Bubba ain't gonna do it.
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Spray the grates with oven cleaner, put them in a trash bag, and let them sit. Gunk comes right off. With water pan as long as you use double wide foil and leave air space you shouldn't have a problem cleaning up.
 
OK. Now I'm confused. Maybe I don't understand BBQ language. Guy Wallace, what is a weed burner? What are steel saks? Your way sounds easy, but I just need to know what you're talking about. I'm willing to learn, so please educate me!

TravisH, I am not kidding. Like I said, I don't clean the grill grates because they burn off, but the smoker doesn't get hot enough. If I just leave the stuff, eventually I'll have a solid rack with every hole in between filled with cement-hard garbage.

Gerry D., I bought the double wide foil yesterday. What do you mean by "air space"?

Alright. I'm feeling like an idiot here. Maybe I've made too much of this all along.
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Originally posted by Mel:
OK. Now I'm confused. Maybe I don't understand BBQ language. Guy Wallace, what is a weed burner? What are steel saks? Your way sounds easy, but I just need to know what you're talking about. I'm willing to learn, so please educate me!
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A weed burner is a propane torch. Steel Saks are heavy-duty trash bags.
 
Mel.
After every cook I brush off as much gunk as possible, while the grate is still warm. Remove mid-section and place the grate directly on the charcoal ring, shut down all vents and leave it till the next day.
I also use the empty pan with a single layer of foil placed over the top with a depression in the middle which creates an air space between the bottom of the bowl and the foil.
Next day I pour off any grease into a coffee can which I keep in my garage freezer. When that gits filled I toss it into the trash. The foil gets tossed and replaced with a new sheet.
The grate gets a quick brush on both sides and were good to go.
On the occasion I forget to do this, I'll soak the grate overnite in some simple green or greased lightning in my metal wash tub. I have extra spare grates which are already cleaned so I don't miss a beat.

Tim
 
using foil on the water pan makes that clean up not too bad (except for that time I forgot to do it for a week...yuck) but i don't like all the gunk on the grate from the butts'...butt. i need to try that oven cleaner technique; bryan's been talking about that for years now.
 
Originally posted by Larry D.:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mel:
OK. Now I'm confused. Maybe I don't understand BBQ language. Guy Wallace, what is a weed burner? What are steel saks? Your way sounds easy, but I just need to know what you're talking about. I'm willing to learn, so please educate me!

The weed burner is like be able to burn off the gunk like you do on a gas BBQ fast simple and easy. The other up side to owning a weed burner is you can also use it to start your charcoal in about a minute or 2 if your litghting off a lot .

My way works for me there are MANY ways to hassle free skin this cat PM me and I will give you my ph # and give you a couple more little tips that are easier to explain than for me to type it . and keep you from getting frustrated a
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A weed burner is a propane torch. Steel Saks are heavy-duty trash bags. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Steel saks and the weed burner do make it simple . You can use any kind a trsh can but I just prefer a steel can . thou since the platic ones are cheper one a those a do fine with a steel sak in it . It really is as simple as it sounds and your grates are always nicwe and clean . But remember to just wipem down with vegetable oil after burning them off or spray cooking spray on them to avoid rust .

Iam assuming you have already or can get a propane tank like for a gas BBQ the weed burner a hook right to it outa the box . You could also use one a those small torches like plumbers use not as fast but almost and its hand held easier to get around ! But the weed burnner costs you like $17.00 at Harbor Freight.

Also any good garbage bag will do I just prefer the steel saks for this there a MUCH stronger bag don't wana dump that water from a leak me
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Hmmm, maybe I'm missing something or just too new to this all. I've used my WSM 4 times now (2xs Salmon, meatloaf, and pulled chicken). I have the water pan foiled and have only used water once. Yeah, theres some oily residue, but that' s just normal smoke buildup. I don't have any intention of ever removing that. It adds flavor.

For the grates, I just wipe them off and everything comes right off. If you need high temps, remove the middle section, put the grate right over the coals after the food is done and voila.

Am I missing something here?
 
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