You know, I have always wondered about stuff like that.
What we do in our own back yards is one thing, but what commercial operations do for retail and sale to the public is another.
Is there an actual FDA or USDA or set of state health codes that state that not cleaning the smoker is acceptable? Or is it just sort of overlooked because of tradition, or because those old pits were grandfathered in?
And what do they do about cold smokers that are used for cured meats and cheeses and stuff? (accepting that the meat itself is okay because of the cure, what about the actual cook surfaces that only get to like 120 degrees or less?)
NSF equipment, like Ovens, are designed with surfaces and joints that will not harbor or grow bacteria. The outside of the oven can contact food, so they get cleaned. The interior is at 300 to 500 degrees for 12+ hours a day, 6-7 days a week. Nothing in there can make you sick. Additionally, Bacteria needs Water to live and multiply...How much Water is found in food residue inside an Oven or Smoker run daily?
FDA 2013 Food Code...From Chapter 4 section 6, Cleaning Equipment and Utensils
4-601.11 Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, NonfoodContact Surfaces, and Utensils.
(C) NonFOOD-CONTACT SURFACES of EQUIPMENT shall be kept free of an accumulation of dust, dirt, FOOD residue, and other debris.
4-602.12 Cooking and Baking Equipment.
(A) The FOOD-CONTACT SURFACES of cooking and baking EQUIPMENT shall be cleaned at least every 24 hours. This section does not apply to hot oil cooking and filtering EQUIPMENT if it is cleaned as specified in Subparagraph
4-602.11(D)(6).
(B) The cavities and door seals of microwave ovens shall be cleaned at least every 24 hours by using the manufacturer's recommended cleaning procedure. 4-602.13 Nonfood-Contact Surfaces.
Subparagraph 4-602.11 (D) (6),,,
(6) The cleaning schedule is APPROVED based on consideration of: (a) Characteristics of the EQUIPMENT and its use, (b) The type of FOOD involved, (c) The amount of FOOD residue accumulation, and (d) The temperature at which the FOOD is maintained during the operation and the potential for the rapid and progressive multiplication of pathogenic or toxigenic microorganisms that are capable of causing foodborne disease;
4-602.13 Nonfood-Contact Surfaces.
NonFOOD-CONTACT SURFACES of EQUIPMENT shall be cleaned at a frequency necessary to preclude accumulation of soil residues.
Note: These requirements are broad and often open to interpretation. One Inspector's Filthy is anothers Acceptable...What a Chicago Inspector might write up a Smoked Meat Restaurant for...A Missippi Inspector has seen all his life and totally ignores...All Inspectors know that Bacteria is killed with heat and the inside of a Smoker or Oven is sterile, so they are lax at enforcing debris removal. So YES they frequently Overlook a dirty Smoker or Oven.
I have been through Many Health Inspections. The interior of Stoves, Ovens, Smokers, Steamers? The inspector has rarely even opened them up. The most Critical Warning I have
ever heard?...
" Chef, you might want to get somebody to scrape the ceiling of that Oven. We don't want stuff falling on the food..."
They go over the Dish Washer, prep tables, reach-in and walk-in refrigerator interiors with a fine tooth comb. Cold Smoke equipment and Curing rooms, fall under the same requirements as the process rarely Heats to the point of sterilizing the surfaces...JJ