Bronco Clean Up

[jdsegra]

Welp, first cook is in the books, and I've made an attempt to clean up with limited success.

The grates, deflector plate, and ash were easy peasy. No issues there.

There is; however, really gross grease sludge in the bottom that seems to be impossible to get all of. I took a spatula and pushed as much as I could toward the drain, but that wasn't really effective.

I've also tried using a steam cleaner. That moved stuff around, but i had trouble getting it to the drain.

OKJ recommends hosing the barrel out on occasion; however, mine is on an elevated wood deck and I don't have easy access to a hose. Even if I did I'm concerned that it would overflow any kind of pan or trap that I could put under the smoker to catch the runoff.

At the moment, I just lit the remains of the charcoal basket hopping that it will get hot enough to dry up the grease on the bottom to "season" it further.

Any tips or best practices?

[Reds Fan 5]

I’m also interested in this topic. A lot of fat from the beef ribs yesterday. Fortunately, mine is on a stone patio so I can wheel it in the yard and hose it out.

[jdsegra]

Have you found that hosing it out works pretty well? Do you need to get in there and scrub, or just hose it out and make sure it dries?

I'm thinking about pulling the Bronco off the back patio and up to our garage due to outdoor facet access on our driveway. We'd just cook on the driveway and roll it to the garage for storage.

[Reds Fan 5]

Have only used it twice, once for spare ribs and once for beef ribs. It started raining right after the beef ribs finished on Sunday and it’s now dark when I get home from work so I haven’t checked to see how much grease is in it. I’ll let you know when I clean it the first time

[Uncle Bob]

You can put a layer of "grease sweep" down on the bottom. It's absorbent clay (same as kitty litter without the clumping agent and perfumes), available at auto supply stores. Just don't put down so much that it clogs the intake port.

[jdsegra]

Good idea. I'll check that out.

[bbqLuv]

How about first squeegee out the sludge, then using a good grill cleaner to break up the sludge, and lastly wiping it clean?
I have been using Traeger Grill Cleaner, and it really works, but there are others, I am sure.
Just my suggestion.

[Steve R.]

I don't have any advice for cleaning it up, but I try not to let it get down there in the first place. I almost always put some kind of drip pan under the grate to catch grease and whatnot (a Weber 22" grate placed below the main cooking grate is ideal for this). The exception is when I am cooking a chicken or turkey at a high enough temperature that anything that drips on the heat diffuser gets vaporized immediately.

[jdsegra]

Quick update, I lit up the remainder of the charcoal from the last cook, opened the vents, and let the big dog eat. It burned for another 3-4 hours at 400ish, and the remaining sludge either evaporated, became seasoning, or ran out the drain.