Black flakes falling from inside of lid

Hello again,
I have used my WSM six times or so now, and am using it right now. Last time I decided to give it a scrub down as I had Sauce here and there, even on the outside. I did scrub the inside of the hood a bit, rinsed it, dried it, reassembled everything, put the cover on and stored it. Here I am two weeks later smoking a basic pork loin. I just checked on it and noticed the multitudes of small black flakes in a circle pattern from where I had taken the hood of this morning to get things started. Lots of small black flakes. Am I looking at paint flakes from the inside of the hood, or residue flakes from previous smoking sessions. I know that the inside of the smoker builds up a certain patina over time. Is my patina flaking off, and will it hurt my food if a few flakes fall on it. I would hate to lose a nice pork loin because of paint flaking off. When I washed it, the flakes were present on the underside of the hood, with their edges sticking up, very easy to scrub off. I guess I did not get them all, but the paint underneath looked fine and totally intact. Thoughts or experiences? Thanks, Jim

Probably only carbon build up. Brush it off from time to time and give it a good power wash at the start of the season.

Alan Keen said:

Probably only carbon build up. Brush it off from time to time and give it a good power wash at the start of the season.

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Thanks, Alan, I hoping for this answer, just couldn't think of the word "carbon". Would it hurt to just let it continue to build up without washing it, or would that make for a worse problem later on? Jim

As Alan said, it's carbonized grease.
I've never washed either of mine since I want a coating buildup.
Are you using water in the pan? I don't and have had very few problems with flakes on the lid.
My kettles are another story, but on them they're usually large flakes and easily scraped or brushed off.

Bob Correll said:

As Alan said, it's carbonized grease.
I've never washed either of mine since I want a coating buildup.
Are you using water in the pan? I don't and have had very few problems with flakes on the lid.
My kettles are another story, but on them they're usually large flakes and easily scraped or brushed off.

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Yes sir, I am using water in a heavily foiled pan. I have used my Kettle 22 twice, and will begin to check that lid. All I have cooked on it is steaks, so I should not have a problem. Thanks, Jim

Keep an eye on it. If the flakes become loose they might fall on your food. Some people never clean their lid, though, and don't ever have a problem. It all depends on how you use the cooker.

I don't want things dropping on my meat either. One of my "before use" checks is to clean off the loose carbon (inside of the lid) with wadded newspaper. I clean the grates during my "after use" process on my WSM.