5 Ways to Clean (and Avoid) Dirty Smokers

What do frequently-used and forgotten home smokers have in common? They both need a good cleaning! Not only will it improve the overall quality of your dishes, avoiding dirty grills and having to deep clean your smoker everytime you clean it will make your outdoor cooking experience much smoother and more inviting for you to cook again.

So, let’s learn how to clean a smoker!

Why Keep Your Smoker Clean?

Everytime you use your smoker, your food and fuel leave behind leftover juices, spices, residue which eventually turns into charr, tar, creosote, and soot after burning for long enough, over and over again every time you cook without cleaning it off. After long enough, these impurities stick to the meats and veggies you cook, ruining the flavor of your well-earned cuts of meat. And getting that smoky flavor on your favorite cut of meat can be a delicate art – you wouldn’t want to so easily ruin that for simply a lack of cleaning, would you?

Also worth mentioning is the ash leftover from your wood chips. Unless you plan to flavor your food with some of your leftover ash, you should consider clearing out anything that might disrupt the flavor you intended with your oak or maple wood chips, for instance. 

Leftover grease can also be a fire hazard if not taken care of properly and regularly. Considering how flammable your grease can be, especially with more fatty cuts of meat, if you have a brimming drip pan regularly full of grease, you’ve got a disaster in the making!

Not only for the sake of protecting your flavors, but also for your property and health, it’s best to stay on top of cleaning your smoker.

5 Ways to Clean and Avoid a Dirty Smoker or Grill

Maintaining a clean grill on the regular is the best way to clean a smoker grill and avoid dealing with frequent deep cleaning projects getting in the way of your grilling. There are a few different ways to clean, depending on your type of outdoor smoker, but they all generally follow similar routines despite their differences.

Offset Barrel Smokers

1. Immediately after you finish smoking, use your grill brush to clean the rack.
2. After your smoker cools to barely warm (touchable), scrape out grease in the bottom of your smoke chamber, empty your drip pan, and wipe off the gasket surrounding your lid with a damp rag.
3. After your grill has completely cooled, remove all the ash into a metal can (ash can).
4. Scrape off any build-up on the inside of your lid.
5. Every now and then, re-oil your smoker.

Pellet Smokers

1. Run your smoker on high for 10 minutes.
2. Then, brush your grate with your bristle grill brush.
3. Cool down and turn off your smoker according to manufacturer instructions. 
4. Remove your grease bucket and place it somewhere safe.
5. Using a damp rag, wipe clean all dripping outside of your smoker.
6. Once it’s completely cooled down (later in the day or the next morning), replace your drip pan if it’s close to filling up. Fatty cuts from the likes of bacon and pork shoulder increase grease fire hazard, so be cautious about your grease pan.
7. Treat any sign of peeling paint immediately to avoid rust on your smoker.

Electric Cabinet Smokers

1. After cooking, let your smoker cool down completely.
2. With hot soapy water (or the dishwasher, if you’d prefer), clean your racks, drip pan, and water bowl. 
3. Dry them completely.
4. Empty your smoker box and wipe it down with a damp cloth.
5. With a soft bristle brush, scrape off any leftover food or ash to the bottom of your smoker. 
6. Sweep all of it out.
7. With a damp sponge, wipe down the interior metallic walling of your smoker.
8. Clean off the temperature probe, interior thermometer, and gasket.
9. If the front of your smoker is made of glass, clean it up with a damp sponge. Likewise on the outside.

Vinegar or Lemon Juice (Electric Smokers)

An innovative tip on how to clean the inside of a smoker grill is utilizing two of the best smoker cleaning products available – vinegar or lemon juice! Fill your water pan with a mixture of vinegar or lemon juice and water, then run your smoker for an hour until the interior steams up. After you let it cool down, wipe the interior walling of your smoker and glass window (if applicable). Then, let it dry completely. Finally, put your racks, drip pans, and water pan (cleaned) back into your smoker.

Deep Cleaning

There will be times when you’re faced with that dreaded deep clean, but it’s not so bad if you know what you’re doing. This is good whether you’ve been using your smoker frequently, or not very much at all.

1. Clean burn your smoker! It’ll burn off and weaken any leftover soot and residue, making it easier to remove later. Load and light your coal, and let it burn high with all your vents wide open. Be watchful of your smoker during this process, and make sure it isn’t near any combustible material.
2. Let your smoker completely cool down.
3. With warm water, wash your smoker, rinse, and let air dry.
4. Immediately treat any signs of rusting. For interior rusting, remove any spots with a wire brush or steel wool until it’s removed. For the exterior, simply spray paint over spots with high-temp paint.
5. Re-season your smoker by wiping down all its interior and exterior surfaces with beef tallow, lard, or another high-temp cooking oil. Run the smoker at 350 degrees for a few hours.