Smoker Cleanup

Yep,its right handy.

Sam's carries it in gallon jugs,also.

Hi!...two products that I can't live without in my catering busines are Bar Keepers Friend (they have a website) and Sheila Shine. BKF is a powder that you use on a wet sponge, doesn't scratch, and removes the "gunk", splashes, drips, etc. without the chemical smell. Sheila Shine makes stainless steel or painted surfaces look like new and protects the surface with a micro film if your smoker is exposed to the elements. My stainless smoker looks like the day that it came out of the box and I am not anal about being able to see my reflection on the door. This stuff works, but you will have to go to a restaurant supply store to get it.
Bill

Ok! How often do you guys & gals clean your units? And, what are the indicatiors that cause you to do so? My unit is only a few months old and rarely gets any attention as far as "cleaning." Details please. Thanks!

For cleaning, I use a spatula to scrap off the gunk that collects on the walls.

Just keep an eye on it, you'll know.

Keep the smoker fire box clean by putting foil over it and replacing that often.

Keep the bottom clean with foil and replace often.

Keep the grills clean always.

The walls are all that's let. The scraping keep them from getting too much build-up.

Because mine gets pretty heavy use, I clean it once a year, but you don't have to. My heaviest use 150 gets it yearly. My other one hasn't been clean yet. I keep it scraped and cleaned up.

Basically you're cleaning off the seasoning and when you do, you have to reseason the smoker all over again.

I use foil on the bottom and on top of the woodbox and just wipe everything inside with a paper towel. I want to keep mine seasoned well. I put the grills and grill racks in the dishwasher and occasionally the woodbox also.

Bar Keepers Friend is also available from Ace Hardware stores.

As far as cleaning, I don't use anything metal for cleaning the walls of the smoker. What I use is a plastic putty knife which is available from Ace or HD. It is just rigid enough to get the extra build-up off but soft enough not to scrape the "seasoning" off.

Also, as mentioned before in the forums, remember to spray your racks with Pam before using. I actually spray (or wipe) just about everything in the oven, even before placing foil on the bottom and smoke box lid. Of course, don't spray the heating element! It really makes clean up much easier, including what liquid does get under the foil on the bottom.

Grumpster