Cleaning


 
M

Mike Felt

TVWBB Member
Aside from cleaning the grates and water bowl, what other routine cleaning is everyone doing? I've run my WSM a total of 5 times now, and have a decent coating of grease, etc. forming on the inside. Do you scrape this off, or leave it there?
 
at about that stage in my WSM, I started to notice shiny metallic looking flaking going on in the lid. Take a look - if you see it, just brush it out. I notice it about every 5-7 cooks or so. Not sure the cause, just that a quick, but thorough brush out does the trick and prevents it from flaking onto whatever I'm cooking.

Unless I have gunk caked on the inside (which I've never had) I don't do any cleaning other than what you've described.
 
One simple solution to cleaning the WSM is to run it real hot. After a cook I'll remove the water pan, open all vents 100% and learn her burn hot until the fire goes out. A quick wire brushing of the grates and the lid and your ready to go for the next cook.
 
I've found that my Bullet seals itself much better now that it is seasoned. I cook with briquettes, so I scrape the brown, flaky schtuff from the top & sides. Otherwise, I just wipe down the exterior and blast my grates when I'm done with my kettle grill.

Saw a couple of posts for 'Greased Lightning' and thought it would be good for my grates.
 
Hi everyone. I've got a problem that maybe you guys can help with.
During a cook the lid seals shut(tight) and cannot be removed. Afterwards I find a thick, black tar like substance on the lid, & the top of the center section where the lid makes contact. I have cleaned the entire WSM with Oven Cleaner. Am I doing something wrong? What is causeing this TAR? Food comes out looking & tasteing great. The only way to get the food out is by useing a screwdriver & prying it off.
Now the area where the lid makes contact with the center section is bent. HAYULP!
-Dave K
 
Hey Dave. It's just moisture from the cook. Any chance you spritz with apple juice? That'll certainly give you a good lid glue. Just wash with a little hot water after (or before) each smoke.
 
As the charcoal/ wood burns with incomplete burning it creates creosote. This coats the inside of the cooker. This is not a bad thing as it is corrosive resistant.
As the creosote heats it becomes char ( the shiny flakes , mostly carbon.) These should be brushed off to keep from falling on your food.
 
I had that sticky, dripping tar like stuff not that long after I got my WSM. I don't remember how many cooks I did up to that point, but that stuff just dripped off the edge of the lid and was nasty. I did a burn out with the lid on top of the charcoal bowl with plenty of hot coals and let it go. A day later, I scraped the whole inside of the lid with a putty knife. What I had was a black layer, followed by a brown layer, then the real inside of the lid. I got the outer layer off, then the brown layer and it wasn't that much work, maybe an hour of scraping then rinsed. I don't know what caused this, but others a few years ago reported the same thing, but only a few. I've been fine since. FWIW, I never fully close the bottom vents and leave the top vent fully open all the time. I don't do anything differently now than I did then so who knows why this happens. Now, about once a year, I do a scrape job on the lid.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Ford:
As the charcoal/ wood burns with incomplete burning it creates creosote. This coats the inside of the cooker. This is not a bad thing as it is corrosive resistant.
As the creosote heats it becomes char ( the shiny flakes , mostly carbon.) These should be brushed off to keep from falling on your food. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Heavy creosote build up is caused by using the top vent to control temperatures. Leave the top vent open while cooking and it's not that much of a problem.
 
WOW Dave, that was a long post. Good thing I am at work.

I have never had to deep clean mine in 5 years. I get some grease built up on the sides during the cook, but it just cooks off.

Every once in awhile I get a few flakes in the lid, which I knock off with something, paper towel if it's cool, alum foil if the smoker is hot.

Throw the grates and bowl on the top of hot charcoal in the performer, and then hit them with the grill brush.
 
I'm not sure you need to "burn off " the inside.
You are going to get a slow buildup of aerosolized hydro-carbons on the inside of any outdoor cooker. ( even gassers from the burning meat drippings) this actually protects the metal. As the coating is heated the the coating changes becoming almost pure carbon ( the flakes) this is the same process as what happens when seasoning a cast iron skillet. The coating will burn off if gotten very hot but you lose the the corrosion protection.
 
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