True confession: I deep cleaned my Cookshack!

Looks like a great job! I haven't gotten to that point yet with my 066, but it was made clear to me from the start (2013) that I had to at least keep the cooking grates clean. So I do that semi-religiously (so much so that I just had to replace two of the original grates with stainless ones since I pretty much scrubbed off the chrome on the old ones). For the rest, so far I've gotten away with tossing the floor, heat shield, and drip pan foil liners each cook, and wiping the inside down with a damp rag. So far, so good. Good thing these CS electrics are built like tanks.

BTW, you have the same setup I do with the storage box below. Pricey but a fantastic convenience - worth every penny to me. Did you get bigger casters for it?

When I use oven cleaner on my smokers, I rinse with a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water a couple times with soaked rags.  Then a final gentle plain water rinse with garden hose.

@jay1924 No - but I was just starting to look into where to find bigger casters. Part of my rehab for this unit is to make it easier to roll in and out my dirt-floor garage, and the little stock wheels are a major challenge.  Do you have a recommendation? 

@LonzinomakerCS Thanks for the tip - doing that after each cook sounds a lot easier than the deep clean I just endured!

I got 3 inch solid rubber casters from Home Depot. I believe the threaded stems were  5/16 x 18, 1 1/2 inch long, but you should check that. Depending on how packed your dirt floor is, you might want to go bigger. I got two with brakes just for safety.

I only deep clean once in a great while when things get too thick to scrape off or when I buy a used smoker.

The vinegar neutralizes and removes the oven cleaner residue that may be left.

Chemistry in action!

Thx for the clarification ^.  I smoked some ribs in my oven-cleaned smoker, and no trace of the chemicals -- just the best ribs I've made in years!  The box is nicely cured again, easy to wipe out ... and I'll save the vinegar for the occasional deep clean ...

I used to think that way, but not anymore. While I don't clean it so it's sparkling, I do use a credit card/scraper to scrape down all the crud. If it's really bad, I'll put some additional elbow grease into it.  Here's a great article from Texas Monthly.

Your Filthy Barbecue Pit Is Not "Seasoned" – Texas Monthly

I have had to do the deep clean before because of a rodent problem.  Crawled up through the drip hole. After the oven cleaner, I wiped it down with vinegar, then loaded up the wood box and reasoned.  I got a bolt that was pretty close to the diameter of the drip hole, and a washer which I bent slightly to match the contour of the smoker floor.  JB Weld to hold bolt and washer together. When the smoker is not in use, the bolt plugs the hole.  No more uninvited guests.

I broke down and cleaned up my SMO66.  I didn't get it as clean as ralphie did but it is a lot cleaner than what it was before I started.  I used Dawn Platinum dish soap.  I did discover that the drip pan is what is called a 1/2 chaffing dish size.  I found some disposable aluminum pans that fit it perfectly.  I just need to see if the smoker will draft correctly with the pans in place.

I would say your 066 needed a cleaning; the gray looks really ashy..  Mine is coated in a nice brown color; smells great.  I just brush off all the scaling/alligator stuff when it needs it.  Stripped it to bare metal once; rodent issue.  Otherwise, I let the patina go with the flow.  Nicely done.  As for the drip pan, if you have problems, put dents into the rim in several areas to improve air flow.