When the smoke is over....

[Mike76266]

If this is covered in a FAQ somewhere, please just point me in the right direction and mumble something about folks too dumb to search.

Well, the smoke is over, the food is resting, waiting for it's moments of glory, and now what. The fire is probably still too hot to start leaning the smoker, but that's the topic.

When do you clean your smoker, and how?

And if you forget and discover that you haven't cleaned it since Thanksgiving, how do you dislodge the crud from your grills and smoker body?

Thanks,
Mike

[fzxdoc]

To make sure the coals are completely dead, I wait at least 24 hours before cleaning my PBC and 48 hours before cleaning my WSCGC, since it keeps coals going for such a long time. My gasser gets cleaned right after the meal.

PBC cleaning is so simple. Scrape and wash the grate if used, toss the hooks in the dishwasher, dump the coal basket contents into a garbage bag and fold up and toss the doubled aluminum foil placed under the coal basket to catch the ash. Takes 5 minutes or less if I haven't used the grate.

WSCGC cleaning each time takes about 45 minutes or more, depending on how messy I was during the cook. I scrape the grates and then put them on my gasser to burn off any residual residue, then scrub them down while sizzling hot with a wad of aluminum foil until they're nice and clean. Then I scrape the insides of the smoker with a plastic scraper used for cleaning pots and pans, empty the ash, wipe the outside surfaces down with a damp cloth, followed by a smooth polishing cloth to keep it nice and shiny.

Gasser gets 10 minutes of full bore all-six-burners heat, then the hot grates or Grill Grates are scrubbed down well with a wad of aluminum foil. Then I wipe down the outside of the grill and give it a rubdown with a clean cloth to make it shine. The whole thing gets cleaned, top to bottom, inside and out, every Spring. I use it year-round.

Kathryn

[CaptainMike]

Do you do windows too?

[HouseHomey]

I have not taken my car to the car wash since March 2010.

[HawkerXP]

I would crank it up and burn off anything you can then go to town with either a brush or blade. Is it a Weber kettle? try looking here http://weberkettleclub.com/weber-gri...ttle-cleaning/

[Mike76266]

Is it a Weber kettle?]

Nope, it's an Okie Joe reverse flow offset Highlander, which means more stuff to clean. *sigh*