How much of this soot needs to come out?

[92hatchattack]

Hey guys, i spent the afternoon today trying to clean out my UDS after burning it out a few weeks ago. The top and middle sections cleaned up pretty well, but the bottom section and very bottom of the drum i could not get all the soot out. Well, i think its soot. It's some seriously caked on black shit that wont come out with soap and water and a stiff brush. Even tried a brillo pad and that took some more off, but not all of it.

Is it ok for some of this stuff to be left in there??? I just cant get all that shit out and it was rusting up so fast on me. I slapped on some veggi oil cause its the only thing i dah around.

Do i have more work to do or do you guys think ill be more or less ok?

here are some pictures of the best i could do.

 

[Tri Tip]

That may just be discoloration from the heat. It's hard to tell from the pictures.
My teammate had his sandblasted and powder coated. The high temp discolored the inside.
I burned mine out with a weed burner til the metal got red there was massive soot left behind.
I had to hit it with a grinder and took it down to the metal. Mine had a Teflon like coating when I first got em. It's up to you. I have a little girl and I don't want to chance it. I even spent over $40 on all stainless steel hardware since there is Zinc in the plated stuff. In the future I'm going the powder coating route. They strip it down to the metal inside and out and put a beautiful coat of paint that won't rust for $130. It's just not worth the work in my opinion.

 

[92hatchattack]

I agree with you with the whole not worth the work argument. For $45 more than the $20 i spent i could have had a brand new drum without all the dents and crap. I also used all stainless and i must say i paid close to $80+ for all my hardware ( i have fun fancy stuff like toll handers and handles, and even replaced all the stock hardware from those with stainless) ..

My drum contained clean motor oil. I cleaned it out very well before i burnt it out. It had no liner and was clean before the burn out so anything left in there is residue from the burn only. Im not sure if any of this residue is harmfull.

 

[Tri Tip]

Yeah your cool then. I wouldn't sweat it. It looks like discoloration. I rubbed mine down with Lard (pork fat) it sticks like playdough. I then did an overnight burn with one plug out and lots of wood. It put an nice thick season on the inside. Also they will hold temps the better the ticker the gunk gets on the inside. My WSM held high when it was new and UDS's are the same. It cooked at 325 new, now my UDS cooks at 240 with one plug out. Also meat brings down and regulates the temps. So your first burn to season will run hot. I love the picts with all the junk on it. We use 4 in comps and that would look cool for the public. Get yourself a 22 in pie pan to catch the grease and ash. I cook chicken on it all the time and it makes clean up way easy.

 

[92hatchattack]

damn, i have a 16" pie pan under my 15" firebasket. thats all i could find around here. Where did you find that awesome 22" pan?

 

[mb168]

damn, i have a 16" pie pan under my 15" firebasket. thats all i could find around here. Where did you find that awesome 22" pan?

I bought an 18" one from this guy for my Big Green Egg. Heavy duty

http://ceramicgrillstore.com/shop/shop/index.php?productID=138

 

[92hatchattack]

Nice! After just finishing my basket im not sure i feel like rebuilding it again though.

Does anyone just put some tin foil at the bottom of their UDS? I would think this would make for some easy cleanup after a long cook... just fold the tinfoil and grease up and throw it out?

 

[Tri Tip]

Correction my pan is 20 inches.
My charcoal grate is 18 in and the basket is 17 in.
20 will leave about an inch or so around the pan.
I got mine at a local cake place but here is a place.

http://cooksdream.com/Merchant2/merchan ... e=LLPRD202

 

[Jester1]

I used a scrub brush and warm soap water to scrub the inside after my burn out... I did this 3 times and figured it didn't come out by scrubbing, then it would be ok to cook with. I covered with lard and seasoned... I also had a bare metal finish on the inside, so no liners or coatings to worry about...