Smoker cleaning and maintenance

Hi,

Can you advice on the best way to clean and look after your smoker?

I made a newbie mistake of letting the water pan run dry overnight which made cleaning difficult. I found a wooden spoon the best way to shift most of the contents without damaging the surface.
I've given the grill trays a quick scrub with a wire brush.
I gave the smoker a quick hose and wipe down. Currently sat outside, would it be better in the shed?


Thanks

Hi Rick

Cleaning your Pro Q

All you need to clean is the grills and the water pan.
and throw away the ash that might of collected in the base once it is cold.
or if you have a metal bucket pour the hot ash in that and leave to cool in a safe place.
away from any little children.  

Grills.

Soak the grills and then wash as soon as you can after you have finished BBQing,
Do not use a wire brush, a soft scourer will do.
Never leave any bits of food on the grills thinking it will add to the flavour next time you BBQ,
It doesn't it just bakes the food on more and makes it harder to clean.

Water Pan.

As soon you have finished using the water pan i tend to clean it out,  It save doing it later when the fat that may of dripped into pan starts to go hard.  So i clean while the water is still hot i give it a quick swirl round.
Pour the water away and a quick wash with soapy water and rinse. job done.

If you have left  the water pan to run dry and find you have baked the fat etc on,  Then it is best to leave the water pan in soak over night fill the pan up to the top with boiling water and add a bit of washing up liquid and leave. This will make it a lot easier to remove what you have baked on to the bottom of the water pan it may take a couple of soaks depending on how baked on it is.  

I don't clean the out side of the Pro Q but if you wish to you can just give it a wipe down with a damp cloth once the unit has cooled down. Heat will transfer more quickly through a damp or wet cloth. so let your unit cool down to save burning your hands.

Cleaning the inside.

This is something that i may do from time to time if i get to much of a build up inside the BBQ.  
I just make a small fire in the BBQ without the water pan. once the charcoal is lit i leave it while I go back indoors and get some food ready for grilling this is normally enough time for any excess build up to be burnt away. Now because the BBQ is lit it would be rude not to use it so after all that hard work of cleaning the inside of the BBQ
i grill some sausage, chicken wings, etc, so now i am rewarded for my efforts with some grilled food. lol

Happy Smoking

from Paul

Nice one. Thank you.