Hey guys. Pellet guy here most of my smoking life... Just bought one of these guys and am going to start modding it.. One thing I am worried about though.. I assembled today and I used 3M RTV someone mentioned earlier in the thread. I had been on another forum that suggested RTV at Home Depot, I had no idea it needed to be food safe. Now I am too worried to cook anything, Im assuming if i call 3M they will tell me it isn't food safe. Has anyone else used this RTV and had any issues? I'm dreading having to disassemble and somehow get this crap off, but Ill do it if it is going to poison me.
"Food Safe" is a strict designation. It means the product, it's source material, and how it's produced meets tight FDA standards, which include coming into contact with the food, itself. I don't think anyone here is going to flat-out tell you it's 100% OK, because everyone usually errs on the side of safety and caution.
In the case of RTVs/Silicones they have to cure, which involves outgassing of the curing agent, most people have smelled this if they have used it, and I wouldn't want it wafting over my food. But that is curing. Then most people do a test firing after curing. If there is anything else noxious left over, probably small traces at most, a hot fire will "probably" see to it that it is cured to it's final stage, and probably be coated with some smoke too.
It probably wouldn't hurt to call 3M, being a large company, they will probably have someone who can answer your question.
My thinking is if you used it to seal up your firebox, cured it, test fired, and it won't be coming into direct contact with your food, or even be in the cooking chamber, it might be OK? But, again, no one is going to just say "go for it" because it does involve food, and none of us would want anyone to have a problem.
Suggestion: call 3M, and tell them it's not coming into contact with Food itself, and see what they say?
Hint: if you ask a company in the wrong manner; "Is this food safe" they MUST say "NO" to protect themselves.
It's all in how you approach it.
Good luck, let us know what they say, please.