Dreaded creosote layer

[west coast smoker]

I listened to someone who told me smoking with walnut wood was good. NOT GOOD. My new smoker is covered with creosote and the meat was bitter. Any suggestions on getting rid of the creosote layer?

 

[SmokedChef]

I just burn it off in mine. I heat mine up to 600 degrees for an hour or so and it burns off just about everything. Otherwise, you might try oven cleaner but remember that it can be corrosive.

 

[candelbc]

I also burn it off. For me, after it gets REAL hot, it almost looks like a big, black Cheeto.. Then it's pretty crispy and scrapes off without a problem...

 

[Poppinfresh]

Walnut is good to smoke with. You just have to "cut" it with something else. And yeah, there's that other issue you ran into :P.

 

[west coast smoker]

Thanks for the info

Thanks for the information. I did manage to burn it off. Also used small pieces of walnut and worked much better. Still very strong, I will try to use it with something else from now on.

 

[Bacardi]

To prevent it from happening in the future...Use a cooking spray like pam and spray a coat over the under-side of your smoker...

 

[LadyCook61]

To prevent it from happening in the future...Use a cooking spray like pam and spray a coat over the under-side of your smoker...

that is good to know, thanks for sharing.