holy schnickies, there's concrete in the bottom of my WSM!!!


 
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Hello all,

I unfortunately went AWOL from smoking and my WSM for the last 2 months because of time constraints. I also, unfortunately, forgot to clean the ash from my last overnight cook in early October.

Our weather in Wisconsin has not been terrible by any means. But it has been somewhat rainy and fairly cold (teens at times). I checked my cooker the other day and found that the ash from October had gotten soggy and then frozen into a concrete slab. Needless to say, I have tried a hammer and chisel, a small handaxe, etc. and this stuff is like granite rock.

Has anyone had to deal with this particular problem before? I am tempted to bring the WSM into the basement for several weeks and see if the change in temperature (nearly 60F) will loosen the mixture at all. I am also curious if once the charcoal ash has warmed up somewhat if more warm water applied might create a muddy mixture that could be easily removed.

Please help with any advice because I feel like SMOKING again soon!!!!!!

Thanks,
Troy
 
Sorry Troy,

the only concrete we can make on Florida is from a bag of Quickrete!!! But we'll be thinking about your 60 degree basement, while sipping some nice cocktails on the 68degree back porch!!! Good luck sorry i cant be of any help in Florida, but if i get the same problem hopefully youll have the answer!!! /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
 
Troy, I would think if you poured some boiling/hot water into it you would be able to warm it up enough to pour out, that would be a lot quicker than bringing it inside to de-thaw.
 
Troy, instead of puring boiling water into the bottom, why don't you invert the bottom and pour hot water to the outside. With the round bottom I would think this will work quite quickly and shouldn't be quite as messy. This is speaking from the Great White North where we deal with problems such as yours on adaily basis. Let us know what works.
 
Troy, I have to confess that last year I have left mine outside after a winter cook and had a the same cement block in the bottom of my unit. All I had to do was take the bottom piece and drop it from about 2 feet upside down a couple of times (on the grass NOT cement) that took care of it. Unless of course you've got the charcoal grate frozen in too?? if thats the case i'd bring it inside but I sure wouldnt want that dust in my house so I'd be really carefull disposing of that after it thaws!!!!

Good to see more bulletheads in Wisconsin not leting a little snow get in the way of a good BBQ.

Cheers
 
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