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Smoker Maintenance

Tomhusker

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Do this of you who smoke a lot of meats and such, how do you treat your wire racks? Do you remove them and wash them, or treat them like you do on the grill with just bringing the smoker up to temperature them scraping with a wire brush?
 

PnkPanther

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I just scrape and oil grates each use.

I occasionally need to take putty knife to interior to clear out gunk
 

fknhippie

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I used to clean them after each use, then i saw ones that the pros use and it doesn't look like they ever clean them, so.....
 

Sexual Chocolate

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I used to clean them after each use, then i saw ones that the pros use and it doesn't look like they ever clean them, so.....
Once my brisket beat Johnny Triggs. Once.

But never his ribs
 

fear and loathing

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My wife was dissatisfied with how well I cleaned the racks. Now, she cleans the racks up.
 

Mofo

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Do this of you who smoke a lot of meats and such, how do you treat your wire racks? Do you remove them and wash them, or treat them like you do on the grill with just bringing the smoker up to temperature them scraping with a wire brush?
I do bit of both. I scrape them each use, but remove and wash periodically. If they're just basic steel wire, oiling them doesn't do much.
 

Fog

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I do bit of both. I scrape them each use, but remove and wash periodically. If they're just basic steel wire, oiling them doesn't do much.


I do what Mofo does....no need to wash every time.

I get the smoker up to temp and then scrape. Then I use a wet towel to wipe and clean. Then a paper towel.

Good to go...

I'll pull the grates from my smoker every few months to clean them.
 

IrishBlooded

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I have never 'washed' mine. I will a couple times a season burn out my smoker to get clear out soot. As far as the racks I just run a wire brush over them. I have 2 layered rack so I do wire brush the top and bottom of the top rack. Just so nothing falls onto food cooking on the bottom rack. But that's it. Like others said. There is a ton of flavor in there. You don't want to lose it.
 

ATL96Steeler

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Never wash the grates...I do use my grill brush after the cook while the grill is still hot to knock off remnants.

FWIW, the Kona works great for that job. No bristles to break off, nice length to the handle.
 

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