# Cleaning...



## brnhornt (Sep 5, 2017)

Hey gang....I just finished building my first offset stick burner.  Had my first cook on her this past weekend and everything was great.  My question to yall is how you go about cleaning larger smokers.  My WSM was of course easy...I'd just empty/dry the water pan, and then burn off the cooking grates on my gas grill.  Well...that's not so simple on two 5 foot long grates :)

So I'm curious...what do you guys do after each of your smokes?


----------



## comer4tide (Sep 5, 2017)

i usually heat mine back up after the food comes off, take a grill brush and clean the grates and scrape off the reverse flow plate and get it out of the cooker. Let it roll itself back down for the night


----------



## phatbac (Sep 5, 2017)

scrub it out with a wire brush and then wipe out with paper towels really good (i used those greasy paper towels to lit the charcoal chimney), then fire it up and heat up to 350-375 degrees and then open the cook chamber and spray with garden hose on jet setting and steam clean the cook chamber. the excess grease and water flows out of the drain pipe. there are YouTube videos of this method for Lang smokers.

I do it before i cook every time i cook with her. I simply close the dampers mostly and let her cool down (the water mostly cools her down) and start cooking with her.

Happy Smoking,

phatbac (Aaron)


----------



## pit 4 brains (Sep 22, 2017)

phatbac said:


> scrub it out with a wire brush and then wipe out with paper towels really good (i used those greasy paper towels to lit the charcoal chimney), then fire it up and heat up to 350-375 degrees and then open the cook chamber and spray with garden hose on jet setting and steam clean the cook chamber. the excess grease and water flows out of the drain pipe. there are YouTube videos of this method for Lang smokers.
> 
> I do it before i cook every time i cook with her. I simply close the dampers mostly and let her cool down (the water mostly cools her down) and start cooking with her.
> 
> ...


Just what I was looking for.

I just happened to see that video while I was tube surfing bbq videos and I thought the idea was nuts! 

Prior to having my RF, I never cleaned out a horizontal with water. But then again, I often burned mesquite for rotisserie coals in them so that pretty much took care of anything I didn't catch with a pan.

I went out and looked at my RF plate and it's pretty grungy from my first couple of cooks so I think I'm going to get it good and hot, scrape it off, then hit it with the hose. I have a cook planned for Sunday and I don't want anything rancid heating up on my plate..


----------



## joe black (Sep 24, 2017)

^^^^ Aaron.   :yeahthat:


----------



## scott m (Dec 12, 2017)

a wire brush to scrape off large chunks.  remove the grates and remove what is necessary to expose the bottom of the smoking chamber.  Open the grease port(s) and pour in a little bit of water with a small amount of dish soap.  use a brush and scrub off the grease and food; top bottom sides.  do the same for the grates.   allow all the soapy water to drain out the bottom.  Then rinse with clean water until there is not more soapy residue visible.  Using a pressure washer at this stage with just water is also OK for rinsing.  Dry with food-safe towel.   Add a light coat of olive oil with a dry food-safe towel.  Then use a weed burner torch with propane to get everything hot and remove the water  -or- just start your fire box and let it evaporate the water.  You want all of that water out of there.   Don't get crazy with the soapy water...just enough to lift out the grill dirt and grease.

For stubborn greasy spots use the weed burner torch to get it hot and scrape it with a flat spatula.  make sure you cool with water before handling.   

Cleaning is the worst part but once you get started it's not so bad.  A power washer to rinse is much easier.  You won't hurt anything because it's metal.


----------



## JckDanls 07 (Dec 12, 2017)

I just scrap the RF plate when it get's pretty nasty (not every cook) with a putty knife ...  Then fire her up at or above 350 ..  spray with water hose (lightly) and close to let it steam clean... then scrub grates with wire brush... good to go ...


----------



## keithu (Dec 13, 2017)

I use a wad of aluminum foil instead of a wire brush to clean the grid. I've seen enough brass wires come out of the brushes that I'm a little paranoid about them getting into food.


----------

