Preventing Mold

[trabba]

I fired up the WSM for the first time about 2.5 months ago and had no issues after it sitting for most of the winter. After that smoke, it sat for about 3 weeks and when I went to use it, the grates and the water bowl both had a little mold starting to grow. I figured I didn't clean it up well enough after the last smoke. So after that one, I thoroughly cleaned and dried everything before covering it up. Then just this past weekend, mold again and more of it so had to clean it up again before I used. So my questions:

Has anyone else had this issue? I did not at all last year (first year I had it).

Would using sand instead of water help with the mold problem?

Should I leave the vents open and not use the cover to help it to air out more after smokes?

Any info or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[lancep]

Yes, I don't know, yes and yes. On my old covered back porch, I never had any issues. Since relocating to a house with no covered porch, every time I've used the cover I've had mold. Keeping the vents open for storage does help but the cover seems to just breed mold. Now I just do what all the neighbors do and keep it in the garage and smoke in the driveway. I don't know if sand vs water will make any difference or not but keeping it dry and ventilated sure will.

 

[daniels]

Leave the vents wide open and leave the 3 parts separated.  Put one edge of the top on a block of wood or something to let air circulate.

For getting rid of mold I'd use an air compressor nozzle if you have a compressor.  It can also knock a lot of the hardened stuff off the grills and out of the barrel and water pan.

Set it out in the sun on a dry day or two.  That will certainly help.