DO NOT clean your WSM!!!


 
Jim Lampe

Jim Lampe

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
...unless you want it to run extremely hot like it did the first time you ever used it.

I took my WSM to work and used the company's monster high pressure washer to clean off some of the caked on gunk.
Well, it took it all off very easily. Clean as a newborn baby's bottom.
At the time, I was quite impressed with how great it looked.
That was Friday.

Yesterday (Saturday), i cooked a rack of each baby backs and spares.
Used the same amount of Kingsford I always use...
Set the vents to the same i always do...
once fired and ready, I placed the meat on the CG, covered the WSM and walked away.

As i always do, I return about 30 minutes to check the dome temp of the usual 235 - 250ºF...
was SHOCKED to see the temp was pegged out well past 350ºF!
I took the entire CG of ribs off the WSM, set them in the 26"OTG, closed that up then completely close all vents on the WSM for 35 minutes until the dome temp dropped to 250º.

In an hour or so, I'll be using the WSM again, this time for yardbird... we'll see what the temps rise to today.
Think I'll use half the fuel i normally would.
 
Good advise Jim, my old UDS is built up pretty heavily and I thought about scraping it down....but I think the same thing will happen in the drum as your WSM did...thanks for giving us the heads up!!
 
Why do people want to clean their WSM or grills???? Wash down the outside leave the inside alone. The heat wiil take care of that.I have a friend who sayz she doesn"t use her grill because she doesn't like to wash the grills after each use. Turn on the heat, they will be clean and use a wire brush.

my .02 cents

Ben
 
Ben Setzer said:
I have a friend who sayz she doesn"t use her grill because she doesn't like to wash the grills after each use.
Click to expand...

It's funny, I do like to wash my WSM grates after each use, but I never do that for the grates on my kettles and of course would never think of doing it on my gas grill. That's just how I roll, I guess. :cool:

Regards,
Chris
 
You might have put your WSM out of round, which is easy to do. The gunk is good for closing the gaps and tightening her up. I only burn it out when it needs it, replace the grills if I can't get them clean with a brush.
 
Actually I have heard that some of the flaking will/can fall off on your food while cooking.

Wiping the inside with some paper towels would have been fine but I tend to go overboard when I start a project...
 
F.I.L. won't eat from the grills if they weren't washed before hand. His personal grill shines like a Cartier Diamond any time I've ever seen it.

I do clean the WSM grill because it never gets as hot as the genesis so it can't burn off. The genesis grill does get a brush every once in a while though as it's easier to get a high temp for that purpose.

I think it comes down to personal preference. In my case, it's less work to NOT clean it every time. And I'm all for less work ;)

BTW: I never clean the inside of either (other than the grease tray for the gasser).
 
I clean my grates, as I don't care to eat last weeks cook after it has cured in the hot sun, and God knows what creature has used it for a meal or worse. I clean my Genesis about twice a year, depending on use, as the last thing I need is a grill fire, and it happens. As for the WSM, I will take heed, and maybe a paper towel rub down ever so often might be enough to rid it of excess gunk. Over the last 20 years, I've only cleaned the inside of my charbroil a few times, once after a the lid started burning,:eek: but the grates each cook and seared before the food goes on.))))):::::::::::::::>> d
 
I've been pretty slack recently about cleaning my grills and WSM. But I did just throw my WSM grates on my Genesis to clean last nights gunk off. I'm going to go out in a bit and dump the ashes and cover it up. But my Genesis and OTS I always just wait till the next cook and scrape the grates after heating and before cooking.
 
Last edited:
this isn't about cleaning the COOKING GRATES....
it's about cleaning the INSIDE of the WSM. (the walls, the dome, EVERYTHING!)

Maybe i did not make that clear.

:confused: think i need a nap
 
Last edited:
When you think about it, you brush your grates with a brush that is all gunked up from the last several cooks. Wonder what's been snacking on that? That's why I don't think too much, cheaper and less to worry about. Like how much bug parts are allowed by law in cereal, just don't think about it...
 
Well now,that's different! I had to do a quick scrub on mine yesterday because of some mold on the inside. I didn't have time to do a burn off before I needed to put the ribs on. I haven't used the pressure washer on the inside. I guess I won't be doing that. Thanks for the heads up man!
 
Four years on and I haven't cleaned the smoker yet. I do burn off the grates on the performer after cooks on that unit, but the wsm is maintenance free for me. The performer is another matter; I do like to keep it clean, but mainly because I often need a ripping high heat on that unit, and I have cast iron grates on it. I guess it is a personal issue.
 
Thanks for the warning Jim... Looks like you need to do some cooks to get your smoker back up to Par.....only wipe down the outside and burn the grates after a cook, and things got a lot simpler since I stopped using water in the pan!
 
Chris Allingham said:
It's funny, I do like to wash my WSM grates after each use, but I never do that for the grates on my kettles and of course would never think of doing it on my gas grill. That's just how I roll, I guess. :cool:

Regards,
Chris
Click to expand...

I'm the same way - I usually just wipe down the loose stuff off the inside of the lid. I do wash the outside once in a while also. The grates I scrub down with S.O.S. pads everytime, as well as the inside of the water pan. On my 2 grills I just burn off the grate with high temps before use.
 
I wipe down the inside of the lid with a wadded up piece of aluminum foil to remove the flaky gunk when it builds up, but I have never cleaned the inside walls of the middle section. I do spray out the bottom (charcoal section) when it gets gunky and full of ash, but only every 3-4 cooks or so. I don't want to lose that wonderful built up smoky goodness smell that I get every time I open my WSM to start cooking in it.

I did clean out the entire thing when I first got it, only because the build up from the previous owner looked kinda moldy since this WSM had sat outside for several months with no use. I lit half a chimney of KBlue and spread it across the charcoal grate, and burned some hickory chunks while cooking some bacon and burgers on the top rack with no water pan just to start the reseasoning process again.

I do put the WSM grates on my Performer for a few minutes to loosen the gunk and scrape it off, then put the racks back into the WSM before covering it up. Not too much effort at all and so far it has stayed mold free with clean, non-rusty grates. Best thing to keep a WSM in good shape is to cook on it often.
 
Last edited:
I do wash the grates.

I smack the outside of the lid, with a thin piece of wood, before every cook. The loose stuff comes right off.

Gunk is good!

Bob
 
On average, I've been power-washing mine after every two contests. I don't really have any issues with temp spikes like that, but that's probably because I use a temp controller.
 
Hi Jim,

This is strange. I sent Jim a private message a week ago and asked him about his 26" OTG and in part of his response he mentioned that I should watch Craigs list. Well, I had been doing that, but was not very faithful about it and thought I would try harder.

Yesterday for the first time (I ever saw) up pops a WSM 18 for a hundred bucks and said it was in good condition. I emailed the seller, made a 130 mile round trip and now have the WSM. It's a 2002 and the only thing that needs replacement is the top two grill grates which I ordered this morning from Weber. I thought it was a great buy

I already have a 18" so I'm giving this one with the new grates to my son in law. That way he won't eat all of my ribs in the future.

I spoke to Weber this morning (before reading this) and asked about cleaning and they mentioned it was fine to power wash which I told my son in law to do when he got home from work tonight.

After reading this I think he should run a couple of cooks before doing the power wash thing.

Jim, thanks for the new (new to us) WSM and the advise on the power washing.

Brian M.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top