Sticking Lid on the Mini


 

E Mann

TVWBB Fan
I have an issue with my mini & wondering if others have/had the same. During my first cook, I got so much smoke that it was condensating and then actually dripped out of the lid. Now there is so much gunk on the lip of the pot & lip of the lid that it's almost glues together. I've heard not to use oven cleaner on the steamer pot so what should I do? Thanks.
 
I've had this happen on my 22.5" WSM. It's fairly normal. Just build a fire, heat it until it comes apart, then cook and wipe the edge clean when your done. I use shop towels. I hope this helps!

Here http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/faq.html#stuck Chris says:

A: Under certain conditions, a mixture of grease and smoke collects on the lip of the cooking section where the lid rests. As the WSM cools down after a cooking session, this mixture solidifies and causes the lid to stick.

To un-stick the lid, apply white vinegar or Simple Green spray cleaner or hot soap and water to loosen the gunk, then rinse and dry.

To prevent this from happening again, wipe off the edge of the lid and the lip of the cooking section with a paper towel at the end of a cooking session while the cooker is still warm.
 
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Definitely no oven cleaner....

1) Just bad practice in general for the inside of a smoker

2) Eats into aluminum (I recently destroyed a nice aluminum pot with it)


I would wash the mating surfaces with warm water, dish detergent and then rinse.
Without washing you could try "floating" the gunk off with a paper towel wetted with PAM
(or similar).
 
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Had that happen on my last cook, I could lift the lid and pot up with a 6 ound butt in it. Had to have Barb hold the handles on the pot so I could yank the lid off.
When the cook was done I open the bottom vent and got it as hot as I could which was about 340 and cleaned around the edge of the pot and lid with some old rags and soap and water, seemed to do the trick.
 
This happens to my 14.5 WSM to be honest I am a father and found that baby whipes work awesome. Of course you must get the organic ones due to the possible chemicals. Two wipes is all you need to clear that bad boy up!
 

 

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