Good to hear from you again, Ravel! Thanks for the "confession;" ...welcome to the "no peek" club!
I'm funny about my smokers. I always wash the shelves, after each smoke. I wipe down the floor to remove the grease that always finds its way under the foil (drips down the sides).
Then, about once a year, when the crust really builds up on the door and on top, I take everything out and give it a treatment of EZ-Off oven cleaner! I also do the smoke box and shelf guides, at the same time. After it sits awhile, I hose out the inside and the other parts. Looks like a new smoker! I then re-season, and start fresh! This has no effect on the taste, but gets all that burnt creosote off the sides, top and door. I don't care for my smoker to look like an old stick burner.
I know there are lots of folks that probably think this is way overboard, but I don't mind. This is just what I do, so just consider it my nickels-worth of 2¢!