Electric smokers are one of the best ways to smoke your food if you enjoy eating grilled or smoked meat.
But smoking food comes with its downsides, especially when it comes to cleaning. You will find yourself maintaining your cooker throughout its lifetime to ensure you get the best out of your food.
If you fail to take extra good care of your smoker, your food will not only taste bad but will also carry host of diseases like cancer. So it is very important to clean your smoker every now and then.
We have compiled a small guide to help you easily clean your smoker, sometimes also known as seasoning a smoker.
Step 1# – Read your smoker’s manual: one of the best ways to effectively clean your smoker is by reading its manual. Most manufacturers will include a manual that clearly states the necessary steps required to clean a smoker.
Step2# – coat the inside with oil: no matter what oil you use, make sure you coat the insides of your smoker properly. It also doesn’t matter if the oil is expensive or cheap because all you need is a little oiled lubrication.
Step3# – start heating up the smoker: once you have properly coated the inside of the smoker, turn up the flame and let it heat for a while. This will get the oil to places that were not reachable by hand.
The oil is basically used to create a barrier on spaces where water and other dust agents make home. This causes rust and can cause your smoker to malfunction or even create bad tasting food.
Step#4 – clean the oil: once you have heated up the smoker, let it rest and cool down. Once cool, use a scrub or dishwashing sponge to clean the oil on the sides with detergent or soap.
Re-apply the coating and it should be clean. This should have cleaned the smoker entirely.
Just remember that your smoker should always maintain this coating throughout its life time. This causes no water to enter the parts and cause rust and as well as the ashes from food does not enter the parts and stick there.
Once in a while, clean the smoker again by repeating the steps above. These steps should also be applied to new smokers before you start cooking.
Cleaning Rust
If your smoker shows sign of rust, simply scrub it using a wire brush. After you have taken off the rust, you should wipe away the remaining dust and particles using a sponge.
Make sure you apply a heat resistant bar be que paint to your smoker where the rust was prominent the most. This will ensure that rust doesn’t show up at the same place again.
Now make sure you apply the oil coating everywhere inside the smoker to avoid the rust from developing again.
If you do this regularly, you will keep your smoker clean and it will live a long life and will offer you the best tasting food you can imagine.
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