Food hygiene is a crucial aspect in day to day living. Cooking food in a dirty smoker feels awful.
Imagine cooking meat cuts in a smoker clogged with grease buildup and left-over foods from previous cooking sessions. In this case, you wouldn't even want anyone to come and see how you are smoking your food.
Table of Contents
Cleaning Tools
Here are the materials you will need for cleaning your digital electric smoker, gas grill, or charcoal smoker:
● Hot water or warm soapy water
● Soft bristle brush
● A soft cloth and a paper towel
● A spray bottle
● Plastic sheet or newspaper
Have you assembled all the above items? If so, let's get started!
Remove Smoker Components
Now that you have put together the cleaning tools for the master built smoker grill, you can unplug the smoker from the power source.
Then, open the door of your smoker and remove the following parts from the cooker:
● Smoker racks
● Racks holder
● Water pan
● Smoker box
● Drip pan
● Drip tray
● And any other detachable part
Clean the Removable Components
As a rule of the thumb, make sure you don't clean the smoker immediately after cooking. Allow it to cool down. We don't want those irritating burn wounds on your skin.
If you are cleaning the smoker after a long period of use, you can heat it a bit with every part intact and allow it to cool. This will help loosen the built-up grease.
Using the masterbuilt smoker cleaning instructions herein, it's time to begin cleaning. Start by emptying the ashes from the wood chip tray. Clean the wood chip loader with a soft cloth.
Now pick your handy scraper and scrape out all the grease stuck on the racks and any other component of your smoker. After removing all the grease from these parts, it's time to wash them thoroughly.
Get your bucket of hot soapy water, scouring sponge or grill brush, and begin to wash the removable parts. Ensure that you have your hand gloves on to keep your hands safe.
After cleaning the parts in soapy water, you can transfer them to your kitchen basin. Here, you can use clean water for a thorough rinse.
Now, the removable smoker parts are super clean! You can place them on a clean surface to dry.
Clean the Internal Chamber
After cleaning the removable parts of your smoker, we will see how to clean the inside of the electric smoker.
Before cleaning the interior cooking surfaces, place a plastic sheet or newspaper below the cooker. This will help catch the cleaning waste, thus protecting your floor from soiling.
Now, take your plastic scraper and the soft-bristle brush. You can start scrapping all the dirt or grease sticking inside your cooker.
After scrapping all the dirt, you can brush all of it from top to bottom. Brush out all the rubble onto the paper below the smoker and put the waste in the trash bag.
Is that all? No. There is more cleaning we need to do in the smoking chamber.
You can either choose to clean the cooking chamber further using vinegar or Coca-cola. Let's see each of these two cleaning methods:
Cleaning Smoker Chamber using Vinegar
It's safer to use apple cider vinegar in cleaning your smoker than using other harsh chemicals from oven cleaners. To make your cleaning water, mix the vinegar and water in the ratio of 50:50. Transfer your mixture to the spray bottle.
Spray the vinegar water onto all the inner surfaces of the cooking chamber. Take a paper towel and clean the smoker's internal walls.
You can repeat the spraying and wiping task for another round. This makes sure that all left-over grease is removed.
But never attempt to shine the internal walls of your master built smoker grill. The dark theme of the cooker facilitates smoking and protects the smoker from rust.
Cleaning Cooking Chamber using Coca Cola
Your favorite beverage has more benefits than you could ever think. Today we shall use it as a grease remover to clean the smoker.
So, grab your coca-cola bottle and pour the beverage in the spray bottle. Spray the cooking chamber like what you did with the vinegar mixture. Then, clean the surfaces with an absorbent cloth.
Cleaning the Widow of Masterbuilt Smoker
To clean the window of your smoker:
1. Take a bucket of soapy water and a soft piece of cloth or sponge.
2. Use the cloth and soapy water to clean the glass window.
3. Rinse the window with clean water.
What if there are stubborn lumps of grease on the glass window? All you need to do in such a case is wet the glass window with soapy water and leave it to rest for a while. You can later scrub the window and clean it effortlessly.
Cleaning the Exterior of Your Smoker
When cleaning the masterbuilt smoker exterior, grab a piece of damp cloth and wipe the entire outside of your smoker gently. Then take the spray bottle loaded with vinegar water and spray all-round the smoker exterior.
Now, use a piece of paper to wipe down the surfaces you just sprayed. A glass cleaner can also give a premium shine to the exterior of your cooker.
Remember to clean the backside of your smoker, too; don't allow it to turn into a permanent dwelling place of cobwebs and dust.
Drying the Smoker
Your cooker is now clean. It's time to allow it to have a few hours to dry with its door open.
Take a dry cloth and run it through both the interior and exterior of the cooker to absorb any remaining moisture. Use the dry cloth to dry the drip tray, water pan, holders, shelves, and anything else you had removed from the cooker.
How to Clean Mold in a Smoker
Mold adores moist and dark surfaces. So, if you have abandoned your smoker for quite some time, it's likely that mold is building mansions in there.
But, how will you deal with your present wild craving for smoked food? Don't worry. You can still redeem your cooker.
Here are a few steps you can follow to eliminate mold from your cooker:
Empty the smoker
The first thing you need to do is remove any old and unwanted substances from your smoker. So, start by emptying the smoker box and wiping it with a dry cloth.
Burn the mold
Heat and mold are lifetime enemies. Just turn on the cooker's heat as if you are preparing it for a cooking process. You can even place a cup of wood chips in the smoker box.
Heating your cooker destroys the mold and helps loosen oil residues on masterbuilt smoker racks and other cooker parts. This makes cleaning the grill easier.
Clean the smoker
As usual, wait for the smoker to cool down from the burn before cleaning it. You might consider having your face mask on since mold fumes are not good for your health.
Then, you can carry out the cleaning process we have discussed above for your smoker's interior and exterior.
Smoker Maintenance Tips
Proper maintenance of your smoker assures you great smoking experiences and enhances the lifespan of your cooker. Here are some of the methods you can adopt in taking care of your cooker:
Use and clean
Always remember to clean your smoker after every cooking. I know this could be tiring, but again this is the only way to get assured of a tasty next meal.
Frequent cleaning of your smoker also enhances its performance and keeps it from temperature problems.
Rub the masterbuilt smoker racks with oil
Rubbing oil on your smoker racks prevents food from sticking on them when smoking. This also makes the cleaning of the cooker easy after cooking.
Some of the most recommended oils in your grill include sunflower oil, avocado oil, and olive oil. Rubbing these oils on the shelves leaves the shelves in good working conditions.
Use smoker cover
Remember to cover your masterbuilt gravity series smoker with a cover whenever it's not in use. By covering it, you will be protecting it from dust or any other substance that may harm it.
FAQs
1. Which type of detergent can I use to clean my smoker?
You can use your dishwashing soap or any other detergent to clean dishes.
2. Should I oil the outside of my smoker?
This may seem odd, but yes, you can oil the exterior of your smoker. Oiling the outside of the smoker protects the outer surfaces from rusting.
3. How do I prevent mold from reproducing in my smoker?
Mold loves moist places. So, always ensure that you thoroughly clean and dry your smoker after every use.
4. Can you smoke meat or any other foods with moldy wood?
Moldy wood will give your food a bad taste. In addition, some molds contain harmful toxins not fit for smoking food. You can also use wood that has fungal growth provided you pre-burn it into charcoal before smoking food with it.
Conclusion
More and more people have been embracing smoked foods over the years. As a result, the demand for smoker grills has always been rising, as seen in research published by C. Simionato in January 2022.
However, buying that grill and smoking food in it is not all there is. You will need clean food from a clean cooker.