Mold build up in WSM


 
I have had a 18.5" WSM for a little over two years and love it. I store my charcoal chimney starter inside when not in use. I keep the WSM cover on the unit when not in use and leave all vents open to circulate air. Today, I uncovered the smoker to get the chimney out to use with my Weber kettle and found significant mold build up. We have had the wettest September in San Antonio since records have been kept. I have not had a mold problem in the previous two years of use. Once I get it cleaned up, should I keep all of the vents closed or not? Thanks for any advice. Tom
 
I'm not sure how much the vents matter. You're probably getting rain past the cover, running down the lid and into the cooker. You can try covering the cooker with a plastic yard waste bag, that definitely keeps water out of the cooker. I did that for years. Or you can move the cooker out of the rain...that's what I do now. Of you can flip the middle section upside down when stored so the lid sheds water on the outside of the middle section.

Sometimes people drill a little weep hole in the bottom of the charcoal bowl. Effective, I guess, but not something I would do.

I've only had mold once in 21 years of WSM use, so let's hope that it's one and done for your WSM, too. :)
 
Thanks Chris. I always keep my WSM covered (with the cover that came with the smoker from Weber) when not in use. Also, I keep it on a covered patio when not in use (but at the edge of the patio so it can still get wet in a driving rain). I will use a yard bag as you suggest (under the Weber cover) as I am not sure how water resistant it is.

While I hope this is an isolated event, I will keep a closer eye on it from now on. Meanwhile, what do you recommend re: cleaning it up. a good wash down with Simple Green or something else. Thanks, Tom
 
Gentlemen, I washed down the interior, ran a double load of charcoal as recommended in the guidance and followed up with an after wash. So far so good. As background, when I began the cleaning process the bottom bowl was about 1/3 full of water so the heavy rains of Sept made their way into the smoker. I have now relocated the smoker to another part of my patio and covered it with a garbage bag with Weber cover over that. The garbage bag completely covers all sectional seams and does not show from under the cover. Thanks for all of the help. Tom
 
Try storing it with the middle section upside down, this way water runs off the side, like it would on the kettle. It made a big difference for me.
 
Weve had a lot of rain too this year, what I do is flip the middle section upside down, likes been said, open one vent in the bottom and the top vent both wide open, then I put the water bowl upside down on the top to cover the vent, no cover, completely exposed, no water in the bottom and no mold. YMMV
 
I'm also fighting the mold issue.
My 22.5 WSM is stored with open vents under a roof (Pavillion).
Last year without the cover -> mold. This years with cover --> mold.
I have no idea anymore.
I now try to store the middle section upside down as mentioned in the thread before.

... should I keep all of the vents closed or not?
I can definitely say that it's a way less mold with open vents but it's still there.
 

 

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