TL;DR How do you clean your smoker? Do you only do grates/drip pan, or do you steam clean every part inside and out? Somewhere in between? Looking for guidance...
Long Story:
Ok, I'll start off by admitting that cleaning is not my favorite thing in the world to do. Of all the things to do, it is on my list somewhere between root canal and elective surgery. I clean my grates and drip pan (foil covered but 'stuff' still ends up under the foil somehow) between cooks. For the most part, I leave the internal crust that has built up and call it "seasoned". I do scrape out, usually with a piece of cardboard , some of the accumulated gunk / grease / other that gathers at the bottom of the barrel when it becomes noticeable.
Backstory:
Anyway, I have had my RT-680 for close to 5 years now, and it has a 6 year warranty, and I had an issue where the pellets blocked things up a bit and needed some cleaning out. During this pellet dam, the igniter was ruined. I called in, and yes, RT has held up their end of the bargain in an amazing fashion. They sent a replacement ceramic pot. In the interim, I still had the replacement igniter they shipped to use. So, as long as I was working inside the smoker, I decided to get things a little more clean that normal. I found that where all this gunk collects, the high temp paint had peeled up and this greasy concoction was just sitting directly on metal. (another call in and they sent me a can of high temp paint, but that's because they are awesome) Anyway, I have heard that as stuff sticks/accumulates on the inside of the smoker, it helps with things like 'flavor profile' and 'efficiency' because there is more mass so there is better heat retention. I do not have 3" of protein carbon on the inside of my smoker, so I am not sure how much heat is really being retained... The smoker is rolled outside of my garage to cook, then once cooled, rolled back in for storage. It does not live 'outside'.
I have heard: "Only clean the parts that touch food" and "if it is movable, it is cleanable" and "If you can see layers, it is time to scrape a few off."
So, my question boils down simply to: How do you clean your smoker?
Long Story:
Ok, I'll start off by admitting that cleaning is not my favorite thing in the world to do. Of all the things to do, it is on my list somewhere between root canal and elective surgery. I clean my grates and drip pan (foil covered but 'stuff' still ends up under the foil somehow) between cooks. For the most part, I leave the internal crust that has built up and call it "seasoned". I do scrape out, usually with a piece of cardboard , some of the accumulated gunk / grease / other that gathers at the bottom of the barrel when it becomes noticeable.
Backstory:
Anyway, I have had my RT-680 for close to 5 years now, and it has a 6 year warranty, and I had an issue where the pellets blocked things up a bit and needed some cleaning out. During this pellet dam, the igniter was ruined. I called in, and yes, RT has held up their end of the bargain in an amazing fashion. They sent a replacement ceramic pot. In the interim, I still had the replacement igniter they shipped to use. So, as long as I was working inside the smoker, I decided to get things a little more clean that normal. I found that where all this gunk collects, the high temp paint had peeled up and this greasy concoction was just sitting directly on metal. (another call in and they sent me a can of high temp paint, but that's because they are awesome) Anyway, I have heard that as stuff sticks/accumulates on the inside of the smoker, it helps with things like 'flavor profile' and 'efficiency' because there is more mass so there is better heat retention. I do not have 3" of protein carbon on the inside of my smoker, so I am not sure how much heat is really being retained... The smoker is rolled outside of my garage to cook, then once cooled, rolled back in for storage. It does not live 'outside'.
I have heard: "Only clean the parts that touch food" and "if it is movable, it is cleanable" and "If you can see layers, it is time to scrape a few off."
So, my question boils down simply to: How do you clean your smoker?
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