British BBQ Society Forums

Hi everyone. I've been reading the forums for a while now, and have spent hours going through old threads to find answers to my questions. It's been a great help and after purchasing a 47cm WSM, a mixed box of wood from Paul Goulden and a Maverick ET732, I was ready to go. I'm still very new to it all and having fun learning, but my latest cook was a brisket that tasted as good as any from a barbecue restaurant I've had, so I'm getting the hang of things slowly!

One thing I haven't really found the answer to though is what everyone does with their smoker once the cook has finished. So far I've only done three cooks on it, but each time I've cleaned the whole thing out (washed inside and out) so that's it's pretty much still as new. However if seasoning smokers is a done thing among many, is it nessecary for me to go to all that effort? Am I okay to just clean the grates and empty out the bottom? Maybe hose down the inside and give it a good wipe over after every three/four/five cooks?

How does everyone else go about cleaning out their smokers?

Don't do it. They don't need that much cleaning. The grates are basically it and if you are using a water pan (i.e. not just foiling it) then that needs a clean too.

I have had my WSM for around 18 months now and aside from the grates I only had to clean it once and that was just a quick brush down to clean off some of the residue that was so built up it was starting to flake off. I foil the water pan and just replace that every one or two cooks depending on the build up.

One tip for cleaning is I rest the used grate over the chimney starter when starting the next cook to burn the residue and then wire brush it clean.

The only thing, other than grates, I "clean" is checking nothing is going to flake off the lid onto the food. Otherwise I don't do much more, there is a lovely smoky smell when lifting the lid which gets the gastric juices working in readiness for the scrummy deliciousness to come.

Same as Connor and Keith, except I dont foil the water pan. This does need a scrub, but Fairy Power spray does an excellant job.

quick tip, when cleaning the grills, just scrunch up some foil and rub em with that, stuff comes straight off unless its seriously baked on and been left for days/weeks

Great, thanks for the tips guys.