Cleaning WSM 18"


 
T

TraeLivingston

New member
Hello All,

I have owned my 18” WSM for about 4 years now. Up until recently, I never really did much cleaning other than the water pan and grates after each cook. I noticed last time I cooked I was getting some flakes from the lid on my meat. I got a nylon brush, a scraper and some Citrus Safe BBQ Grill Cleaner and went to work. I used the grill cleaner on the grates, water pan and basically the full interior of the grill.

Upon doing further research, I found a lot of people saying not to use any products on the interior as the buildup is good for the grill. Did I mess up? Will the grill still work correctly? Any safety concerns with using it on the interior?
 
I use a stainless brush when it starts to flake - no reason to use cleaner inside IMO. I also use a plastic putty knife like Karl uses.
 
I have one of these, I don't recall paying that much at the time, reminds of brass knuckles, lol!

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TraeLivingston said:
Did I mess up? Will the grill still work correctly? Any safety concerns with using it on the interior?
Click to expand...
The lid situation is explained here. I use plain water, but a citrus-based cleaner would be fine. I don't bother cleaning the middle cooking section or charcoal bowl, just brush them out.


And more general cleaning information from yours truly:

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I use a puddy knife that scrapes drywall mud out of a 5 gallon bucket for ash removal.
It’s about the same size and radius as the plastic ones posted it’s just that I had it in stock.
For flaking I use a straw handheld whisk broom and or a small puddy knife.
The wisk broom gets it pretty good and is very fast.
It works great in tight areas like vent ports for wsm’s and kettles.
I keep one in my bbq area.
 
Occasionally water gets in mind because it rains..... And if it stays there you get mold all over the inside grease. Then I break out the pressure washer.... It removes most stuff without using cleaners..... In fact I had to pressure wash mine just yesterday due to this.... I had been putting it off for months because I haven't smoked anything in a while
 
MartinB said:
Occasionally water gets in mind because it rains..... And if it stays there you get mold all over the inside grease. Then I break out the pressure washer.... It removes most stuff without using cleaners..... In fact I had to pressure wash mine just yesterday due to this.... I had been putting it off for months because I haven't smoked anything in a while
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I used to have that problem at least once each year. I’d remove the thermometer from the lid, open the vents, load the charcoal ring with coals, and let smoker roll.
I now keep the smokers in the garage.
 
Jeff Boudman said:
I used to have that problem at least once each year. I’d remove the thermometer from the lid, open the vents, load the charcoal ring with coals, and let smoker roll.
I now keep the smokers in the garage.
Click to expand...
Yeah it happens to every now and then when it rains before I get a chance to put it away. I keep it on covered porch... But I curse that Webber design that lets the water in every time it happens.
 
MartinB said:
Yeah it happens to every now and then when it rains before I get a chance to put it away. I keep it on covered porch... But I curse that Webber design that lets the water in every time it happens.
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Yep, I had issues with it in winter / snow and the melted snow runs right in the cooker and couldn't keep heat in it. One reason I know own a WSK in addition to the WSM.
 
I just gave my 18 a good deep cleaning yesterday....... It was at that point where there was so much grease build up in the lip for the lid that it would 'glue' itself together when smoking - the last pork butts I did it was really bad - lid sticking and when I could break it free there was a 'web' of goo between the barrel and the lid almost all the way around ---- eeeewwwww..... Plus the fact that the last cook I did was the first time I didn't use a drip pan/deflector and there was a copious amount of chicken juices and fat that coated the bottom bowl that was starting to smell really bad while the WSM is stored in the garage --- usually the smell is calling to you to 'use me again' - this time it was a smell of 'clean me'..... the WSM sits in a perfect little corner where when I leave the garage door open on these hot days the sun shines right on it --- the temp gauge will actually hit 150+ just from the sun --- and that heat just glues the lid to the barrel something aweful......

Needless to say that the lid/barrel lip was cleaned and scraped as well as I could - scraped out the inside of the barrel with a putty knife just because and scrubbed with soapy water - and the lower bowl completely cleaned. It doesn't happen often, but now she's ready for more work --- altho its nice knowing its sitting there nice and clean..... The Performa kettle also got a nice deep clean because it was sitting there right next to where I was cleaning the WSM so it only made sense since I was all wet and greasy...... I'm still trying to get all the grease out from under my fingernails.
 
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