Funky Gunk

[Cliff H.]

I didn't want to clean the gunk off the wsm because it seals real good when it heats up but this stuff is making life difficult. If I let this gunk dry then my lid will be welded shut tomorrow.

I took a scraper to the lid and the rim of the mid section today after the cook.

 

[Helen_Paradise]

OMG what the hell is that stuff?!?!!? Seriously...

 

[Cliff H.]

The same stuff that makes the inside of the dome shiny and black plus a little fat from pork or beef and you can glue bricks together.

 

[007bond-jb]

its called creosol boy ya` usin too much wood with not enough air... I kin see another \how to do tip vid coomin up... BOY

 

[Helen_Paradise]

The same stuff that makes the inside of the dome shiny and black plus a little fat from pork or beef and you can glue bricks together.

[smilie=a_doh.gif] ...a little fat!? I swear it looks like tar from the beach. I'm going to stop neglecting my WSM and clean him this weekend

 

[Cliff H.]

its called creosol boy ya` usin too much wood with not enough air... I kin see another \how to do tip vid coomin up... BOY

I would agree with ya JB if thick white smoke was boiling out of my wsm all day but three little chunks of wood and white smoke for maybe thirty min is not enough bad smoke to do that.
Fat renders off the meat and onto the grate, then what don't fall off travels down the grate onto the rim of the mid section were it builds a nice layer of Funky Gunk. (If you don't clean it off after each cook ofcourse)

 

[Puff1]

scraper...................

 

[Pigs On The Wing BBQ]

Puff, Got a huge dry wall knife? Help a Bro out will ya?

 

[ScottyDaQ]

hmm. Never seen mine do that. You cooking possums? Porkypines? maybe? Them are greasy as hell!.


Looks like it's time for a douche. You may be looking at a fire bigger than you wanted in the near future.

 

[Puff1]

Puff, Got a huge dry wall knife? Help a Bro out will ya?

 

[Cliff H.]

hmm. Never seen mine do that. You cooking possums? Porkypines? maybe? Them are greasy as hell!.


Looks like it's time for a douche. You may be looking at a fire bigger than you wanted in the near future.

Truth be know, some of the fat getting on the rim is from me smashing an 18lb brisket in there with no foil to keep it off the sides of the lid.

I need a bigger pit.

 

[Cliff H.]

This problem is not going away. I posted the issue on two other forums and sadly, I am all alone with this problemo. I am burning a ring of lump with water in the pan right now ( no wood ). It has got to be wood or humidity related. I scraped the heck out the inside of the dome. All the way down to the original finish close to the edge.

In a couple of hours I will raise the lid and see if it sticks.

 

[Puff1]

:scratch
Cliff, do you close that top vent at all?

 

[Cliff H.]

:scratch
Cliff, do you close that top vent at all?

No not usually. If something happens and I am forced to, I will close it to 3/4 just long enough to get the temps under control. I have used water the last couple of cooks and found that it is easier to control spikes than with sand.

 

[LarryWolfe]

I would agree with ya JB if thick white smoke was boiling out of my wsm all day but three little chunks of wood and white smoke for maybe thirty min is not enough bad smoke to do that.
Fat renders off the meat and onto the grate, then what don't fall off travels down the grate onto the rim of the mid section were it builds a nice layer of Funky Gunk. (If you don't clean it off after each cook ofcourse)

Cliff I don't understand what you are saying. That picture is the lid, not the mid section. The lid pretty much sits at grate level and there is no way for grease drippings to cause that on the lid. I would tend to agree with JB's post and say that is creosote, nothing else I know of will cause that. Please don't take this the wrong way, but that just doesn't look right.

 

[Unity]

Cliff, this sounds like a continuation (or maybe a new version) of gunk problems you posted about earlier. Your WSM shouldn't be doing what it's doing. Is there anybody here who lives close enough they could take a look at your setup?

--John 8)

 

[Bruce B]

[smilie=a_help.gif] [smilie=a_holycrap.gif] [smilie=a_holyshit.gif] [smilie=eek2.gif] WOW...I ain't never seen anything like that.

 

[Cliff H.]

I burned a pile of the same lump I have been using all along with water in the pan and the result was no sticky gunk.

The problem is creosote. I was in denial at first because I just don't use that much wood. However it got there, be it from snuffing out the fire, all of the white smoke at start up or burning wood that had taken on humidity the problem ceased when I did this test burn with no wood.

From the pics posted you can see what looks like more of the goo oozing/dripping down. As stated earlier I scraped the inside of the lid real good close to the edge but hit and missed higher up the dome. I also scraped the rim of the mid section. The runs you see were not there when I started the test run. As a matter of fact there were straight lines from the scraper right were the drip lines are.

This tells me that when I was cooking the dried gunk/creosote was heating up and dripping down the lid onto the rim of the mid section. If I hadn't scraped the inside I might not have noticed the drip line. I am going to modify myself a curved scraper and clean the entire surface of the dome.

I am going to have to adjust the size pcs of wood I use and how much.

 

[boar_d_laze]

Steamers like the "Shark" are great 'que cleaners.

Rich

 

[Cliff H.]

Steamers like the "Shark" are great 'que cleaners.

Rich

Good Idea,.....I just happen to have one of those. Now I know what I am doing on Tue.