How often do you clean your WSM?


 
Every now and then, after using my kettle, I'll still have lots of hot coals. I throw the grates from my WSM onto the kettle and the top on . In ten minutes, all the grease, etc., is charred and easily rubs off. Sometimes I'll then put the middle section and top of the WSM on the kettle for ten minute and give the inside a quick brush.

I often find splotches of mold/fungus growing on the inside of the WSM if I let it sit for a month or so between uses.

I do have a bad habit of not emptying the water pan after each use -- I can go back a few weeks later and find a pool of mold and fungus. that gets poured out, rinsed, and put into the dishwasher.
 
I scrape off the grates after every use, always get rid of any water (it rains a lot in Florida) if the wsm stays uncovered a day or two.

I'll only use water in the pan to string out an over night cook for timing purposes.

I dump the ashes after a few cooks (I use lump so there isn't much).

I'll deflake the lid once in a blue moon. Both my wsm's are 5-6 years old and show zero signs of rust.

(I do a lot of high heat cooks, so that eliminates a lot of the grime build up).
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mark Rosen:
Once or twice a year I bring mine to the self serve car wash and give it a good spraying with the high pressure water gun. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Had to that 3 years ago....lol.Only because I had some mold growing in it. I haven't cleaned it since then. The only thing I do regularly is wash out the ash bowl and water bowl (not the underside of it though) before every smoke. And of course the grates. I do that over the chimney while starting the coals.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by craig castille:


Both my wsm's are 5-6 years old and show zero signs of rust.

. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mine is starting to show some rust. Around the handle is one spot,....my dog has knocked off the lid a couple times which bent the handle pretty good and cracked the enamel, it's rusting around the welds a bit. And on the bowl it looks like my lawn mower must have nailed it pretty good with small stones in a few spots. One even knocked the enamel off on the inside of the bowl which is showing rust. That's the one I'm keeping an eye on, I could see that spot rusting through eventually. I tell myself it just adds character...lol.
 
I brush the grates when I go out to shut it down.

I dump the ash and foil the next day or so.

I wipe down the outside whenever it gets looking too "yucky".

At the start of Spring, I wipe down any lid flakes, rinse everything, and do a 375º burn. (I don't usually smoke from Thanksgiving to Easter.)
 
Sunds like I'm pretty average: dump the coals next day, remove the tin foil lining from the water pan, clean the grates in my gasser. As for the inside of the barrel - that's not dirt, it's seasoning. And that fuzzy white stuff just burns off.
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No way am I scrubbing it down, I worked hard to build up that grease and seal off all the air leaks! I brush the grates clean, wipe the grease out of the water pan with a paper towel, and dump the ashes. I usually cook on it at least every 2 weeks.
 
Give the cooking grate a soak and rinse within a day or two of cooking. Wipe around the edge of the lid and middle section with paper towel. Brush down the middle section if flaking. Clean out ash as needed. No more than that for me.
 
I clean the grates and thats about it. I dump out all the extra ash at the bottom of the bowl as well. I'm doing a cook in a day or so where I will finally use a clay saucer.

Hoping the clean up method will be minimal.
 
I clean the grates, usually by burning them off in my Genesis.

I dump the ashes out of the bowl a day or so after I cook once the fire is out and it's all cool.

Caution: I once shut all the vents on the WSM. A day or so later I dumped the ashes into a trash can, and there must have been a couple of warm coals with some life left in them. I ended up with a nasty trash can fire. So lesson learned. I open the vents all the way and let that fire burn all the way out. I bought a small Metal trash can and I don't put anything combustable in it. I keep it by the smoker and only ashes and old aluminum foil go in the can.

I clean the water pan sometime after I cook. I use foil to help with cleanup.

I rarely clean the rest of the smoker. I'll hose it off or scrape with wadded up foil when the flakes get too thick on it.
 
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