Now that I have about 15 smokes under ol' #1's belt, I am also wondering about cleaning methods. On my Friday night cook of a pork butt, I found something I haven't seen before. When I went to remove the wood box, it was stuck to the foil in the bottom! I pulled it all out, and found a giant clump of black creosote had grown on the bottom of the smoker box! I had never had this happen before, and I know the bottom of the box was clean when I put it in for the smoke.
This was the first pork butt I used injection on, so it must have produced a lot more dripping than normal. I also noticed foil on the top of the smoke box was also completely covered with black char.
Just wondering if anyone else has seen this...