Thanks, Bear. I still don't see a need for it. As I've written, I wipe the inside of my smoker down. I wash the racks and the water bowl (since the outside gets covered with oily smoke residue where it wasn't foiled) after every smoke. Cooking at over 200°F will kill all nasties except perhaps for some hiding in contaminated shellfish. I've never sterilized my Weber OTS either. But then I eat an all-natural diet of dirt, rocks and grass so what do I know?:D
I agree: you can definitely taste the difference. For anyone who might think otherwise, try tasting anything smoked with mesquite, probably the most pungent of all the "mainstream" wood options. It totally "takes over" the taste profile of anything you smoke with it.
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John, a couple of years ago my daughter bought me an all-day BBQ class in Seattle for Father's Day. It was an amazing and treasured day, but the instructor (who owns the business) was the one who said you can't tell the difference in tastes between wood pellets in a blind tasting of smoked food. I also disagree with that. He also said that once the pellicle forms after about 4 hours on the outside of meats no more smoke can be absorbed. I disagreed with him about that as well.
Our weather is at the mercy of the two bratty young Spanish siblings: El Niño and La Niña. The latter is in the process of fading away and we don't yet know if her brother is going to take her place later this year.
I almost always agree with that.
