RichPB (richlife)
TVWBB Wizard
I couldn't find any posts on this, but maybe just because it's too obvious. I'm not sure whether this would even apply to a "normal" WSM, but I saw it on mine which had the door inverted to add bolts so that it could be easily propped open to speed temp increases.
I'm on my second WSM. My first was an 18" I sold to a friend. I found on that particular door that I couldn't clean off the dark stains from moisture that dripped down the inside and caught the inverted door lip to direct the drip stream down the external face of the door. It's been years, but I can't remember ever being able to clean off those streaks and I actually sold the 18" that way. It sure didn't affect the cooks, just the appearance.
Now with my recently purchased second-hand 14.5", after inverting the door, I found that the same streaks were starting down the face. But this time after 3 relatively short (3-6 hours), I wondered could I get the streaks off. Well, yes. I just took it in and easily washed the streaks off with a plastic scrubbing pad, hot water and dish detergent. The door looks new, though the inside is baked on and didn't come off. The inside is "seasoning" so I don't care. (Every once in a long while, I clean the inside with a pressure washer and water only, no detergent. Loose stuff comes off, seasoning, well, I don't care.)
So my point is simply that it may be that all I ever had to do was wash the 18 door often rather than letting the streaks bake on. 12-14 hours of heating over several cooks isn't the same as long brisket or butt cooks, but my door will definitely be getting frequent washes now. Gee, I think it took all of 3 minutes to scrub it clean! (It's always possible that the aluminum of 15 years ago used on the 18 is chemically different than the aluminum used on this newer 14.5, but probably not.)
I'm on my second WSM. My first was an 18" I sold to a friend. I found on that particular door that I couldn't clean off the dark stains from moisture that dripped down the inside and caught the inverted door lip to direct the drip stream down the external face of the door. It's been years, but I can't remember ever being able to clean off those streaks and I actually sold the 18" that way. It sure didn't affect the cooks, just the appearance.
Now with my recently purchased second-hand 14.5", after inverting the door, I found that the same streaks were starting down the face. But this time after 3 relatively short (3-6 hours), I wondered could I get the streaks off. Well, yes. I just took it in and easily washed the streaks off with a plastic scrubbing pad, hot water and dish detergent. The door looks new, though the inside is baked on and didn't come off. The inside is "seasoning" so I don't care. (Every once in a long while, I clean the inside with a pressure washer and water only, no detergent. Loose stuff comes off, seasoning, well, I don't care.)
So my point is simply that it may be that all I ever had to do was wash the 18 door often rather than letting the streaks bake on. 12-14 hours of heating over several cooks isn't the same as long brisket or butt cooks, but my door will definitely be getting frequent washes now. Gee, I think it took all of 3 minutes to scrub it clean! (It's always possible that the aluminum of 15 years ago used on the 18 is chemically different than the aluminum used on this newer 14.5, but probably not.)