Wet & Mould in the UDS

[euromir]

Hi All,

Im guilty of not checking out the forums foe ages! Apologises...

Last used my UDS smoker three weeks ago and its been sat on the patio wrapped as it always is in a tarp with ratchet straps, usually does all ok. But i unwrapped her today ready to smoke a chicken this afternoon and when i took the lid off the bottom of the drum was 3inches deep in murky water and the sides and grill were growing lots of spores of lovely mould! charming!

No idea how the tarp has leaked and 3inches of water got in, little confused but there we are, it has.So ive abandoned todays planned smoke and the chickens in the kitchen oven sadly!

Whats best plan to get the UDS safe and hygienic for cooking again? What i have done so far is to empty the water out, filled the basket (which is a little rusty now) with an old bag of supermarket lumpwood (not wasting the heatbeads) and fired her up, not cooking on it, was purely to try and get the whole drum etc dry again! Its currently sitting at about 360F so sure after a few hours all will be dry once more. Just need to work out cleaning it safely once its cool tomorrow.

Will a simple scrub and wash be enough? Or are we talking sanding and getting back to metal to be safe from the mould!

Also need look at a better dry storage solution for the UDS now, making room in the sheds probably best!

Thanks

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Honestly the high heat should do the job. If you can get it up hotter that would be best, as hot as you can. If there's any mold left spray down with vinegar, hose out and fire up again to dry it out.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

One more thing, I store mine with the lower vents open. A sealed drum, will form condensation due to temp changes.

 

[wade]

Don't panic - It would actually have been perfectly safe to cook on today.

You have done right so far - empty out the murky water and give the pan a scour and rinse out. Just hot water is fine and maybe a little detergent - but make sure you rinse it out well. Do not use anything like bleach or other kitchen cleaner or you may leave a taste in the smoker the next time you cook.

Removing the visible signs of the mold is not actually necessary and it is more for aesthetic. The first time you fired up the smoker and it reached over 114 C everything in there was killed - including spores. Before you put the meat in though you may want to give the inside of the hot smoker a quick go round with a wire brush to remove anything from the sides that may be loose.

It is a good idea though to more carefully wash your cooking grates with hot soapy water to make sure that there is no taste taint from any dead mold that may be on it.

 

[euromir]

Thanks guys, Will the grill be ok in the dishwasher? Think it will fit...maybe haha

I know lazy right! If not ill scrub it good.

Cool, once its cooled down, tomorrow evening ill clean down the insides of the drum and hopefully we be good to go again!

 

[wade]

If it will fit in the dishwasher then great. Mine wont and Joyce would divorce me if I tried.

I usually just use a bucket of hot soapy water outside and a kitchen scourer, and then just rinse it off with the hose.