Cleaning the BGE

Unknown · May 2000

Can you rinse a BGE with a water hose every now and then inside and out without hurting the ceramic materal?Of course i would only do this to a completly cold egg.

sprinter · May 2000

m l baker,[p]I suppose you could but cant see the reason to do so. If you want to clean the inside of your egg, fire it up to searing temps, throw on some steaks, and let the heat clean it for you, then enjoy the steaks. After searing steaks my fire ring, grate, all of it is nice and clean. I've never cleaned the outside of the egg, I would imagine that it could be cleaned with some ammonia and water to take the grease off of the chimney area.[p]Troy

RRP · May 2000

sprinter,
run that by me again...my egg is still rather new, but the inside is rather dark already. Are you saying to just let it burn out at a searing temperature?...like uncapped and wide open?

KennyG · May 2000

m l baker,[p]Sprinter is right on the money. An Egg dark on the inside is one that is well seasoned. You really don't want to remove that coating. Over time and with lots of low and slow cooking that coating might get crusty. I like to periodically dissassemble Humpty and GENTLY go over the inside and dome with a soft wire brush such as brass. Vacuum it out and put back together and you're ready to go for another six months. Many folks here have never cleaned the inside even after years of cooking.[p]The moisture and grease that drips down from the chimney and dries on the dome during long cooks can be removed with a strong solution of Simple Green (isn't that ironic?) and an old toothbrush. [p]K~G

BBQfan1 · May 2000

m l baker,[p]At first, I was also asking about clean-up techniques, but when several people on the forum mentioned that it's best to think of that build-up as war-paint or battle scars, I actually took some pride in the blackened areas of the Egg. Of course, if the gummy build-up affects taste/performance/flare-ups or utility of the daisy-wheel, then it is time to take action. Otherwise, when you see those streaks of black growing down from the chimney, consider it as earning you BGE 'stripes'. Cheers!

sprinter · May 2000

RRP,[p]I never let mine go unchecked indefinitely, however, when I do some steaks, in that it's already up to that temp. anyway, I generally let it go for awhile, whether its before I cook the steaks (usually) or after I cook the steaks (not usually as I'm too engrossed in eating the steaks to pay attention). I just let it "cook" itself for about 10-15 minutes at these temps and it comes out nice and clean. I don't do it often as I'm not that concerned about it, that little bit of grease and buildup on the inside/outside of my egg doesnt effect the cooking one bit and I do enough of a mix of low and slow and high temp stuff that it never really builds up. I just figure that while I'm in the neighborhood of 8-900 degrees, I'd take advantage and clean things up a bit.[p]Troy

RhumAndJerk · May 2000

KennyG,
Now you are making me feel bad about sending Mr. Big back in his well-used condition. Before you showed up on Saturday, I was using Simple Green on the outside to try and get some of chimney leavings off.[p]I actually would be of the mind to suggest very little cleaning, with the exception of ashes. The more you disassemble to clean, the greater chance that you have to break something.[p]I miss him,
RhumAndJerk[p]

KennyG · May 2000

RhumAndJerk,[p]You got that right. On only my second cleaning/dissasembly (and fourth PBR), I dropped the lower grate and watched it shatter into too many pieces to attempt repair. The is where I found the inspiration to build those turbo grates.[p]BTW, Humpty has only been back for a couple of days and he is already complaining about the food. I guess he was eating much better at your house.[p]K~G

RhumAndJerk · May 2000

KennyG,
If Mr. Big is unhappy, you could always send him back. (Ha)
R&J[p]

Spin · May 2000

RRP,[p]The inside ceramic will stain with smoke and can't be removed. A sear burns anything splashed about to a crisp. It then can be wiped off.[p]Spin

JimW · May 2000

m l baker,
For God's sake, don't wash the inside. No telling what kind of mess you'll create.
JimW

Unknown · May 2000

sprinter,
I guess i should restate my question a different way.If you wanted to wash out the bottom of the fire box without taking it apart,could you just hose out the bottom?
Being the lazy person that i am the less i have to clean the better,but old habits do die hard.I would dare think of remove the wonderful color of the interior.
But what effect does water have on the ceramic materal?Does it soften?
I guess i should just leave well enough alone and enjoy it the way i have been.
MLB

Char-Woody · May 2000

M L Baker, my thoughts here if you will. Using a hose or water on the interior would be of little help in removing the dark material, and possibly could soak into the ceramics causing a future heat/moisture problem. A vacuum or simply using a ash removal tool takes care of most of the interior cleaning. I think there could be a better design of the ash tools, but they do work for what they are intended to do.
You can make a tool from stiff aluminum sheeting with a slight curve to match the dome curvature, or close to it, and then on occassion scrape down the outer layer of crusting. Use some throw away gloves or use Goop to remove the stains from your hands later on. A good coating of hand lotion helps also before you start your work.
This is just a once a year or so cleanup if you personally feel its necessary..I did mine after three years of nearly daily use.
Good luck..C~W[p]

sprinter · May 2000

Char-Woody,[p]Thanks CW, I was remis in getting back to him on this. I echo your thoughts exactly. I would shy away from getting the inner ceramic wet. Theres no real reason to do anything but scrape/vaccuum/brush out the leftover ash occasionally, the rest is not going to hurt a thing.[p]Troy

Cleaning the BGE

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