Cleaning the grates...

[mofo]

I tend to do this after each and every smoke on my woodwind. I will scrub them with soap and hot water. I see many videos where people are demonstrating their smokers and it does not look like that is a common practice. How often do you all clean your grates, other than just with a wire brush, or do you? On my Weber propane grill, I will just hit it with a wire brush both after and before a cook, but my temps are typically around 400 - 450.

 

[retiredbadge]

I probably am in the majority here, but I do not do anything other than a brush.

 

[bregent]

Just a wire brush.

 

[browneyesvictim]

I think- Best practice is they need to be cleaned off all the bits and pieces left behind that could make you sick after every cook that would hang around for days or weeks at room temperature. Still others say its just "seasoning". I used to be in this latter camp. But like you, I was used to cranking up the heat to sterilize them like on a hot grill. Now I have a grate cleaning method that works for me and is not too time consuming so that's what I do. Also, what the grates are made of can make a difference- for example for cast Iron grates, I would never use soap, and treat them as I would a CI pan.

 

[tropics]

I use a flat board,instead of a wire brush.Their have been articles written of people getting a wire bristle lodged in their,Throat or Intestines requiring surgery

I am also using a dowel rod for the deeper areas


Richie

 

[crazymoon]

MF, I'm with you on the hot water and soap for my grates. The walls of my smoker never get cleaned though.:)

 

[motocrash]

You're supposed to clean'em ? :eek:
My ex wife had a Scunci.It was a handheld pressure steam gun,worked like a champ.I'd only hit them every now and then.

 

[PerazziMx14]

My chromed racks in the 30 electric get a quick soak in 15 to 25% Purple Powerto water prior to cold smoking cheese. 15 to 25%PP to water eats all the junk off the racks in minutes making them looking like new so there are no carbon deposits on the cheese.

Anything else a quick hit with a wire brush and move on.

For the BGE's the grates are cooked off periodically.

 

[gmc2003]

I have a grate reserved just for my cheese smokes that I will wash before each use. All other grates I wire brush, wipe down and toss into my kettle when it's fired up.

Chris

 

[bluewhisper]

I usually cook on foil so my grates don't often get very gummed up. But once in a while I'll make a hot fire under them and burn them off, then brush. These are cast iron.

My Lodge Sportsman also has an iron grate, and rust is a constant problem. For that, I put a wire wheel on the drill.

 

[Moose364]

I've gotten in the habit of spraying mine with Butter flavored Pam after the smoker get's up to Temp and right before the meat goes on, then when pulling the meat off I give them a bushing with the wire brush while everything is still hot and not set up yet and they stay pretty clean.

 

[mofo]

Thanks for all the input. Maybe I've been spending to much time/effort trying to keep mine real clean... I've been using my GOSM Big Block for smoking and the grates would fit in the sink but have now purchased the Camp Chef Woodwind and the grates are larger and won't fit IN the sink...

 

[Rings Я Us]

Wire wheel on the end of a drill.

 

[browneyesvictim]

I picked up a commercial "bus-boy" tub. Man has that come in handy for a lot of things! I grind meat into it directly from the grinder, mix spices into ground meat in it, and able to transport multiple stacks of smoker, cooling and drying racks in it. Since I found out my grates fit perfectly into it, they get soaked and cleaned in it instead of the kitchen.

 

[coffee_junkie]

I heard a story on here once about a guy who would take his cooking grates out and throw them on the lawn, in the morning they where clean as a whistle. He figured it was just the dew point and a little magic.
Well it turns out he figured out after a while that the neighborhood dogs where licking them clean every time. Either way I thought that was a "grate" way to keep em clean, just remember to burn them off every time, lol.
I rarely clean my grates, sometimes I just brush them off when they are hot. I just use a wad of tin foil, and maybe a paper towel if I am feeling like it.
On my gas smoker I burn them off on the gas grill and wire brush them, before I do anything in there. I am usually making sausage so I don't want any black grill marks if possible.

 

[johnmeyer]

I use my ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[sandyut]

great discussion! Glad I searched before posting. Im gonna buy a new wood scrap and call it good.

I used to clean my WSM grates because they would turn black every cook. the Rec Tec doesn't seem to do that near as much.

 

[schlotz]

Since the gas grill is on the same deck, I throw the smoker grates on the gill set to high and burn them off. A quick brush off afterwards and back into the smoker.