Having your BBQ smoker ready to go at any time requires you to take care of it in the same way you take care for your car or oven – by cleaning it. Although it’s not the same as cleaning a vehicle, it sure requires regular maintenance in order to keep it working at its best and have your meat taste as good as it did the first time you used your smoker. All that steam and oil mixing together makes grease build up as there’s is no actual burning in the chamber.
Cleaning Before and After
Use I know a lot of people may have told you that the leftover grease from your previous roasting sessions will give your meat a wonderful taste, but unfortunately, that is not true. Leaving BBQ smokers to build-up grease can actually be dangerous as it can catch on fire and leave a bitter taste in your mouth after eating.
If you want to have your meat to have an outstanding taste, make sure you clean the smoker before you put in the meat. You can use paper towels, a hose attachment vacuum cleaner, putty knife or even a power washer. Of course, this should be also done after you’re done smoking the meat, by using a grill brush to clean the rack from grease and empty the drip pan. After it cools down, make sure you scrape any scale and get rid of the ash.
Cleaning Rust
Rust is an inevitable reoccurring issue which, if not taken care of, can cause way bigger problems to the actual construction of the smoker. Make sure you always check for rust after every cleaning and if you happen to spot some, take a wire brush and scrub it away. To further protect your food from getting contaminated, try repainting the inside with high-quality heat-resistant paint.
Cleaning Mould
Mould can appear as a result of greese build-up, so the way to keep mould away from smokers is to get rid of grease as soon as you’re done with your meat. Scraping off the grease on a regular basis, leaving the vents open and heating the smoker to a very high temperature after every roasting session will surely help prevent mould from forming.
If you still have issues, try heating the smoker to an extremely high temperature. Then, let it cool down completely, wash it with soap and water and start it once again so you burn everything off afterward. Some manufacturers say that using soap and water is not a good idea but if you fire it up afterward and burn the chemical residue, you’re good to go.