Cleaning the WSM

[Dale Groetsema]

Ok, here in the midwest, the temptation is to put the WSM under wraps for the season--although I am keeping one of two ready for any spur of the moment cooks.

Other than ensuring that old water pan is clean and most of the food is off the grates, does anyone do anything more to clean up for the season?

As it is getting colder here each week, I doubt if I will do much other than wiping off any of the more obvious food debris.

Dale

 

[Chris Allingham]

Dale,

My recommended routine can be found on the Cleanup, Maintenance & Storage page. I'm probably a lot more finicky than most, so just do what makes sense to you.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Guest]

Dale,

My advice would be, don't put the WSM away for the season. I'm from upstate NY, and am quite familiar with snow (although we haven't seen any yet this season). I can't wait to see the look on my neighbors faces when I start up the WSM in the dead of winter. I just cooked some ribs yesterday in 30ish degree weather and found my temps pretty consistant with what they were a couple months ago. I may have to erect some sort of wind screen though, but haven't had a need for one yet. Well have fun cleaning.

Matt /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

 

[Guest]

I have to agree with Matt! I plan on Qing through the winter myself, here in Central NJ. This will be the first winter with my WSM, but I have grilled throughout the winter for years with my Weber kettle. The only problem I tend to have is that towards the end of winter I can't find any charcoal. I usually stockpile several hundred pounds, but I have a feeling I could go through that quickly with the WSM.

Good luck.

Ken

 

[Dale Groetsema]

Chris, Matt, and Ken
Thanks for the link. And, I agree, smoking year-round is the way to go. That is why only one of two WSM is going into storage. The other is ready to pull out of the garage at a moments notice.

I did use some aluminum foil to scrub the inside of the smoker--mostly cause a little something started growing there from the last cook. Will follow Chris's tip to clean up right away from now on. Don't think that adds anything good to the flavor.

Dale