How Do You Clean A Smoker’s Interior?

Do you have a BBQ smoker that you use to cook food for family dinners and occasional lunch get-togethers? You may be asking how to clean the smoker and whether it is necessary to do so. Cleaning the smoker is just as vital as cleaning any other piece of cooking equipment, such as your stove, bake oven, and basic pans and pots, because you’ll be cooking food in it, and it has to be clean for the food to be sanitary.

Now it’s time to figure out how to clean your smoker. Cleaning the smoker and BBQ equipment from the interior and exterior may be done in a variety of ways. Fortunately, we have discovered the simplest method for cleaning smokers, which we will share with you in this post.

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Clean the cooking chamber of your smoker

If you’ve recently used your smoker, set it out for a while to allow it to cool down fully before cleaning it. Remove all the trays, racks, water pan, drip pan, smoker box, and other detachable pieces from the main body when it has cooled.

With a brush or a thick cloth, remove any food debris and tiny and large wood particles that remain inside the smoker chamber. Steel brushes or any form of cleaner with metal bristles should never be used on a smoker’s coating since they might cause corrosion.

To clean your smoker, only use non-abrasive cleansers. Dish detergents that are mild can be used.

Clean the inside surfaces of the smoker with warm, soapy water and a sponge or a plastic bristle brush. Using a towel, wipe it dry. Make sure there are no plastic bristles from a bristle brush left on any cooking surfaces.

Wash the cooking racks, water pan, and drip pan with warm, soapy water, then rinse and dry. Remove any wood or coal particles from the smoker chamber.

Inside the smoker chamber, replace the grills, water pan, and drip pan. For better-tasting food, a professional suggestion is to put vegetable oil on the cooking racks before each usage. Additionally, using vegetable oil keeps food from adhering to barbecues.

Wipe the outside of the equipment

If using a digital electric smoker, clean the control panel of the smoker that is mounted on top of the equipment with a moist cloth that has been damped with warm soapy water. Using a clean towel, wipe it dry.

If your smoker has a window, clean the inside and exterior, both sides of the window, with professional certified cleaners for ceramic glass cooktops.

After each usage, smoke residue accumulates in the smoker’s door seal. Clean the smoker residue with a wet cloth.

Clean the smoker’s exterior body with soapy water and moist cloth, then dry with a clean cloth and towel.

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Clean the thermostat

All smokers have thermostats installed on the back interior walls. When food splatters oil and liquid after cooking, these thermometers can become clogged. Clean the thermostat carefully with a dampened cloth piece dipped in warm soapy water, then wipe and dry it with a dry cloth.

Clean the temperature probe

Wipe off the meat probe with a wet cloth and warm soapy water. After that, dry with a dry cloth. Never soak or submerge the temperature probe in water or wash it in runny water.

Things not to do while cleaning a smoker: When cleaning a smoker, there are a few things that should be avoided for a variety of reasons. These items are enumerated below.

• Metal scrubs or brushes with metal bristles should not be used since they can remove the paint off the smoker.
• Scrubbing too hard will cause the internal paint to flake and the metal within the smoker’s body to rust.
• To clean your smoker, stay away from harsh chemicals like bleach. It will simply cause damage to your equipment’s inside.
• Washing the smoker with runny water can cause water to seep into the wires, causing damage to the equipment as well as posing a safety risk to you.
• While cleaning the electric smoker, be sure it is not connected to a power source. It can be harmful even if the switch is turned off. Water and electricity are never a healthy combination and can result in electric shocks.
• Temperature probes should not be washed in running water since they are not water-resistant inside and may cease working if water gets inside.

Why cleaning the smoker is important

If you like a healthy and tasty barbecue or grilled meal, you must take good care of your smoker. Even if individuals believe that they just clean their smokes from the outside and that the interior does not need to be cleaned, they are mistaken. When you grill or smoke food, it leaves behind strong odors, oil, and tiny debris that can harbor germs, which can be extremely dangerous to your health if the smoker is left unattended for an extended period of time. This is why you should never grill food in a dirty smoker; it may taste good, but it isn’t healthy at all.

Another reason to clean your smoker is that it might rust, and although a clean and well-maintained smoker can survive for many years, a filthy and unmaintained smoker will not. So it’s essential to look after your smoker so you can get the most bang for your buck.