Vehement Solutions for Trivial Problems: Pellet Smoking

Andy has been wanting a smoker, and after visiting a BBQ equipment store in Brainerd on a rainy day, he suddenly decided he needed one STAT. We found a used Pit Boss series 3 pellet smoker on Craig's List for $100. It was really cruddy when he brought it home, but after 2 hours of hard-core cleaning and scraping, I got it clean enough that you wouldn't be afraid to put food into it. Next time, I'll buy some oven cleaner for it.

In late July, Sara and Todd visited, so we had them over, along with Elizabeth and Tim, for smoked chicken and ribs. Major first success.

In Aug, we had Grandma and Grandpa over for chicken and ribs. The leftovers are tremendous, and can feed us for days.

In Sep, we hosted our college friend Karen and her boyfriend Kingsley from KC, along with other college friends, for more smoked chickens and baby back ribs. The fermented pickles were a huge hit, as well.

Also in Sep, the night before leaving for a weekend work retreat and the harbor, we had 18 people from Andy's department over for 4 smoked chickens (people brought dishes to share, as well) and gazpacho from our garden. It was a hit. Forgot to get pictures!

Pork butt. Enhanced set up with grill mat and small table from Costco

Cleaning the smoker remains a real chore. Even with Easy Off manual spray, it took me about an hour. Steps:

Empty bin of pellets (into a bucket) so they don't take on the odor of oven cleaner
Vacuum the bottom of the smoker
Scrub racks with a grill brush, remove racks and water tray and spray with oven cleaner on the curb
Spray the inside with oven cleaner, including the inside of the door, close door and let sit a bit
Scrub the inside with grill brush and paper towels
Repeat 4 and 5 many times. Use a green scrubbie to scrub the inside glass door
Clean the outside with Fantastic
Rinse grates with a hose
Once everything is dry, reassemble, return pellets to bin