Cleaning Behind Behmor heat elements

[eaglemick]

I've searched the forum and could not see a post on this so apologies if I missed it!

Does anyone clean behind the heat elements on the Behmor. I'm 20 roasts in on my new toy now and have noticed some build up on the shiny surface behind the heat bars. It's pretty difficult to get to with the wire cage in front so I was wondering if this should be removed for cleaning as it doesn't seem to budge. I didn't want to pry too hard in case I snapped it!

Thanks for any advice,

Mick

[Andy]

I would worry about it Mick. Carbon build-up there would be minimal and won't affect the roasting. Typically most of it will burn-off.

The right hand side of the chamber wall is the important part to clean as it has a sensor behind that reads the roaster wall temperature... carbon there gives misreadings and could cause errors and odd quirks in roast times.

As long as you are removing any stray chaff from the rest of the roaster and maybe removing the right side panel a couple of times a year to check the fans are spinning freely (and not full of gunk) the roasts should be fine.

[Divey]

I went to the trouble of finding out where to buy the recommended cleaner, Simple Green. I must say this stuff strips off the coffee stains like magic. I use cotton buds after the Simple Green has been given a little soaking time to get the fiddly bits behind the grill.
I'm a fussy bastard and I find the only section I can't seem to clean is the little air flap which is obviously stained by burning chaff when it first opens onto the hot element.

Mitre 10 have Simple Green.

[Andy]

Bunnings have Simple Green too

I don't like the smell of the green one but they have a new version that's orange and smells better. Their (blue) glass cleaner works well too.

[Divey]

Yep, should have said that I bought the orange scented brew.

[Andy]

Good choice!
I expect that any of the family of orange oil cleaners will work well too.

[GrahamK]

Not sure if this will impact the Behmor issue, but I used an orange oil cleaner on the front cover of a Hottop, and suspect is was at least partially responsible for ruining the chrome finish. I also read a warning about the orange oil in another post at some stage, which is what makes me suspect it was a culprit. The chrome started to bubble and cause problems. I replaced the cover and used std Cafetto from then on, and so far had no repeat of the problem.

GrahamK

[eaglemick]

Thanks for the tips guys. I've been using the simple green glass cleaner purely because I found it in the back of a cupboard! Seems to do the job well. Like the idea of using cotton buds too to get to those fiddly spots!