To clean or not to clean
 

Was at the barber's recently and met a local pro who sells his 'Q for
a living. So, my cookers got a skin of smoke residue from a few
years os use and asked what is easy to use for cleaning. He thought I
should leave it be, that it's "seasoning".

What say you old dogs? I don't feel that much of a need to clean.

As an aside, he mentioned thinking of starting up a competitive BBQ
team, He and the friends of his I know of are allright, am considering
asking if I could help out.

Yo Reg, you ever want to be on a weekend Q team?

To clean or not to clean
 

"Tutall" > wrote in message
...
>
> Was at the barber's recently and met a local pro who sells his
> 'Q for
> a living. So, my cookers got a skin of smoke residue from a
> few
> years os use and asked what is easy to use for cleaning. He
> thought I
> should leave it be, that it's "seasoning".
>
> What say you old dogs? I don't feel that much of a need to
> clean.
>
> As an aside, he mentioned thinking of starting up a competitive
> BBQ
> team, He and the friends of his I know of are allright, am
> considering
> asking if I could help out.
>
> Yo Reg, you ever want to be on a weekend Q team?
>

Unless the crust interferes with closing the lid, I'd leave well
enough alone. If the build-up is so much that the lid won't seat
well, or if the crust touches the meat, then it's time for a
cleaning. IMHO, all you need is a steam Jenny and 1500psi to get
back to bare metal. I'd avoid chemicals like lye. If you don't
have tires or flammable parts to worry about, consider a gallon of
kerosene and a match to get back to bare metall

--
Nonny

You cannot make a stupid kid smart by
handing him a diploma. Schools need standards
to measure the amount of education actually
absorbed by children. Don't sacrifice the smart
kids to make the dumb ones feel good about themselves.

To clean or not to clean
 

I have never, ever cleaned a pit back down to clean or worse, to bare
metal inside.

I only knock off any loose scale or flakes that might come off during
cooking. That's all the way from my old brick pits, my barrel pits,
all the way to my offset cooker and WSM.

As a thought to add to this, when I called Weber for a new grate for
the WSM, I remarked at how stingy the smoker was with fuel. They were
delighted, and the lady on the phone told me Weber didn't consider the
WSM seasoned properly until it had a good coating of "stuff" from
cooking in it. She promised me that the cooker would perform better
in all aspects of heat retention, temp management and fuel
consumption.

Damn if she wasn't right!

If you have loose stuff, just flake if off with a hard bristle scrub
brush and call it a day.

Just my 0.02.

Robert

To clean or not to clean
 

"Tutall" > wrote in message
...
>
> Was at the barber's recently and met a local pro who sells his 'Q for
> a living. So, my cookers got a skin of smoke residue from a few
> years os use and asked what is easy to use for cleaning. He thought I
> should leave it be, that it's "seasoning".
>
> What say you old dogs? I don't feel that much of a need to clean.

I just scrape the easy stuff one every year or two. Never to really bare
metal.

To clean or not to clean
 

On 8-Nov-2009, "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote:

> "Tutall" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > Was at the barber's recently and met a local pro who sells his 'Q for
> > a living. So, my cookers got a skin of smoke residue from a few
> > years os use and asked what is easy to use for cleaning. He thought I
> > should leave it be, that it's "seasoning".
> >
> > What say you old dogs? I don't feel that much of a need to clean.
>
> I just scrape the easy stuff one every year or two. Never to really bare
>
> metal.

I'm not exposed to the food gestapo, so I don't have to abide by any
obscure laws. My pit drains into a gallon bucket which I empty as it
gets full (3 or 4 times a year) and take to the recycle dock. I knock
any loose stuff off the inner top of the pit whenever I start a new cook.
I shovel out the bottom of the cook chamber perhaps twice a year.
--
Brick (Youth is wasted on young people)

To clean or not to clean
 

On Nov 8, 12:17*am, " >
wrote:

> If you have loose stuff, just flake if off with a hard bristle scrub
> brush and call it a day.
>

Thanks all for the replies, this makes sense.

To clean or not to clean
 

> wrote in message
...
>I have never, ever cleaned a pit back down to clean or worse, to bare
> metal inside.
>
> I only knock off any loose scale or flakes that might come off during
> cooking. That's all the way from my old brick pits, my barrel pits,
> all the way to my offset cooker and WSM.
>
> As a thought to add to this, when I called Weber for a new grate for
> the WSM, I remarked at how stingy the smoker was with fuel. They were
> delighted, and the lady on the phone told me Weber didn't consider the
> WSM seasoned properly until it had a good coating of "stuff" from
> cooking in it. She promised me that the cooker would perform better
> in all aspects of heat retention, temp management and fuel
> consumption.
>
> Damn if she wasn't right!
>
> If you have loose stuff, just flake if off with a hard bristle scrub
> brush and call it a day.
>
> Just my 0.02.
>
> Robert
>
>
My WSM leaked air around the joints when I first got it. As it get "flavor
crunched" in the lead is less, and the temp. is easier to control. The fuel
usage is slightly less. Everything works better.

Kent

..

To clean or not to clean
 

On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 13:57:40 GMT, "Brick" >
wrote:

>
>On 8-Nov-2009, "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote:
>
>> "Tutall" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >
>> > Was at the barber's recently and met a local pro who sells his 'Q for
>> > a living. So, my cookers got a skin of smoke residue from a few
>> > years os use and asked what is easy to use for cleaning. He thought I
>> > should leave it be, that it's "seasoning".
>> >
>> > What say you old dogs? I don't feel that much of a need to clean.
>>
>> I just scrape the easy stuff one every year or two. Never to really bare
>>
>> metal.
>
>I'm not exposed to the food gestapo, so I don't have to abide by any
>obscure laws. My pit drains into a gallon bucket which I empty as it
>gets full (3 or 4 times a year) and take to the recycle dock. I knock
>any loose stuff off the inner top of the pit whenever I start a new cook.
>I shovel out the bottom of the cook chamber perhaps twice a year.

The stuff that drains off into the bucket. I dump it in my "sit
around" fire pit. Let me tell you, starting a fire in tat pit is a
snap!

LOL



Gene


http://www.nowyourcooking.net/

"If people let government decide
what foods they eat and what medicines
they take, their bodies will soon be
in as sorry a state as are the souls of
those who live under tyranny"

"Thomas Jefferson"

To clean or not to clean
 

On 8-Nov-2009, Gene > wrote:

> On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 13:57:40 GMT, "Brick" >
> wrote:
>
> >
> >On 8-Nov-2009, "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote:
> >
> >> "Tutall" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> >
> >> > Was at the barber's recently and met a local pro who sells his 'Q
> >> > for
> >> > a living. So, my cookers got a skin of smoke residue from a few
> >> > years os use and asked what is easy to use for cleaning. He thought
> >> > I
> >> > should leave it be, that it's "seasoning".
> >> >
> >> > What say you old dogs? I don't feel that much of a need to clean.
> >>
> >> I just scrape the easy stuff one every year or two. Never to really
> >> bare
> >>
> >> metal.
> >
> >I'm not exposed to the food gestapo, so I don't have to abide by any
> >obscure laws. My pit drains into a gallon bucket which I empty as it
> >gets full (3 or 4 times a year) and take to the recycle dock. I knock
> >any loose stuff off the inner top of the pit whenever I start a new
> >cook.
> >I shovel out the bottom of the cook chamber perhaps twice a year.
>
> The stuff that drains off into the bucket. I dump it in my "sit
> around" fire pit. Let me tell you, starting a fire in tat pit is a
> snap!
>
> LOL
>
>
>
> Gene

Probably smells good too if you don't stand directly downwind
from it when it starts up.

--
Brick (Youth is wasted on young people)

To clean or not to clean
 

Tutall wrote:

> Was at the barber's recently and met a local pro who sells his 'Q for
> a living. So, my cookers got a skin of smoke residue from a few
> years os use and asked what is easy to use for cleaning. He thought I
> should leave it be, that it's "seasoning".
>
> What say you old dogs? I don't feel that much of a need to clean.
>
> As an aside, he mentioned thinking of starting up a competitive BBQ
> team, He and the friends of his I know of are allright, am considering
> asking if I could help out.
>
> Yo Reg, you ever want to be on a weekend Q team?
>

Dale I wish I had the time. I'd love to hear about any of
your experiences though.

--
Reg