Cleaning a smoker

When I first got my smoker, the meat came out tasting wonderful. Then it gradually got worse. The smell of the smoke coming from it smelled like a dirty old chimney. Then I started doing some research. They said you must have good air flow and not over do the smoke or you will get cresote buildup. Well, that must be what I got. I didn't open the vent much because I thought the more smoke the better.

I got some oven cleaner today. The kind that doesn't have the caustic fumes, and sprayed it down and then put a soapy scrub brush to it a few hours later. I've got it looking like new now. I hope I didn't mess up anything electrical when I blasted it with the water hose. I'll try a butt in a few days and see if it tastes and smells like barbecue again. I sure hope so. If not, then I will have a smoker for sale.

Yeah those things are like old heater pipes with the build up...A little build up aint bad but alot will make it taste terrible not to mention eventually cause a big fire and burn your meat.

What kind of wood are you using?

Perhaps I had better take a close look at what you all are saying. I am not much at cleaning out the basic box of my smoker. Every thing else comes out of it and I scrub it in the kitchen sink and then run the things through the dishwasher. It all is very clean then and I go on to the smoking. It sure looks like a lot of work to clean out the box. Should I do it or is that not necessary. How about just a little scraping with a puddy knife just to get off the major stuff. I would think that would be sufficent.

From what I have read, if you do it right, you don't need to clean it. If you do it wrong and get a build up of cresote, then you have to clean the cresote out or you won't get tasty meat. As long as your meat tastes good, you're ok. Mine got to where the smoke coming from it smelled more like a dirty old chimney than meat cooking.

I had my vent almost closed off to hold more smoke in and I have now found out that isn't good. You need a good air flow. I think thats how I messed mine up.

I have only used store bought hickory chips in mine except for a time or two when I used some oak from scrap lumber I had.

Here's something I got from the cajuninjector.com website:

Too much smoke, or inadequate air flow, can cause a bitter flavor in the products being smoked as can inadequate knowledge of the wood chosen for smoking. If meat receives too much smoke, it will impart a very bitter creosote taste that also may numb your tongue. Inadequate air flow or too strong a wood flavor for what is being smoked, can also create bitter flavors. With smoke as with spices, it is better to use too little than too much. While there is still debate among some grill masters, most cooks believe that smoky flavor obtained after the first two hours is enough that further smoke is a waste of good wood and may well result in a creosote flavor.

Its according to your wood....if you have a strong smoke wood then just put the smoke to the meat for a little bit then cover it for awhile and let the smoke flavor cook in.....smoke it again at the end...Thats the way I do turkey and pork roast when using pecan wood.