# Mold and dark smoke.



## hunter1025 (May 16, 2019)

Mold:

So I pulled my Meadow Creek TS120 out for the first time this year for an event this weekend and when I opened it up there was mold in it. I immediately burned it off and cleaned it. I also noticed some rust in the bottom of the smoker. What can I do to prevent the mold and rust? I clean in well after every use to make sure nothing like this happens. Should I use it for the event?

Dark smoke:

What causes the dark smoke to come out of your smoker?

Thanks

Joe


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## daveomak (May 16, 2019)

Mold....   Keep it open with good air circulation..  also, crank up the temp, after smoking, to burn off anything left in the smoker...

Dark smoke could be wood that is not thoroughly dry...  Smoker fire too cold..  Wrong type of wood...


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## hunter1025 (May 16, 2019)

daveomak said:


> Mold....   Keep it open with good air circulation..  also, crank up the temp, after smoking, to burn off anything left in the smoker...
> 
> Dark smoke could be wood that is not thoroughly dry...  Smoker fire too cold..  Wrong type of wood...



The wood I am using is cherry and it's over a year old.


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## hunter1025 (May 16, 2019)

Holly2015 said:


> Agreed with Dave. When not in use let it breathe. My MES30 I long ago threw away the chip tray so its open unless the mailbox mod is plugged into it. When in storage mode the top vent is also left open. Unit is stored in the garage where humidity levels are extremely high in the summena during the Pennsylvania monsoon season (early March through the middle of February) and no mold issues.



I am in Pa also  so I know what you mean and I store mine in the garage. I will keep the vents open from now on


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## daveomak (May 16, 2019)

I had problems with cherry... I think it has some resins in it...  It may be the resin/pitch type stuff is in the bark or cambium layer...  Try some of the cherry with the bark removed...  I've seen my cherry trees bleed a sap/pitch like material that may be the cause of the black smoke...


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## hunter1025 (May 17, 2019)

daveomak said:


> I had problems with cherry... I think it has some resins in it...  It may be the resin/pitch type stuff is in the bark or cambium layer...  Try some of the cherry with the bark removed...  I've seen my cherry trees bleed a sap/pitch like material that may be the cause of the black smoke...



That makes sense. There's a guy up north from me that sells clean cherry for smoking without the bark.


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## JonathanHodges (Nov 18, 2020)

I had no idea that it is better to take off the bark. I just can't get rid of mold...


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## Alphonse (Nov 20, 2020)

Mold:
Mold loves moisture and grease.  No real way to avoid that in a pit that is used.   It is inevitable.

I brush it off with a wire brush and then blow it out when I find it has invaded one of my pits.  I then fire the pit hot for 30 minutes before I use it.

Rust:
A steel pit will rust, that is also inevitable.   I also brush it down and spray the interior with Pam and then fire it up.

Dark Smoke:
Dark smoke is typically creosote laden smoke.  Get the fire hotter and keep a flame.  A smouldering fire is nasty.  I generally avoid bark in my wood burners.


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## 1MoreFord (Nov 21, 2020)

hunter1025 said:


> Mold:
> 
> So I pulled my Meadow Creek TS120 out for the first time this year for an event this weekend and when I opened it up there was mold in it. I immediately burned it off and cleaned it. I also noticed some rust in the bottom of the smoker. What can I do to prevent the mold and rust? I clean in well after every use to make sure nothing like this happens. Should I use it for the event?
> 
> ...



Quit cleaning it after every smoke.  If it's well seasoned and greasy it won't rust.  Coat the outside with oil too while cooking.

If there is mold you need to cook more often.  When there is mold crank it up and burn the mold off and cook some more and more often.

For the dark smoke smoke you will just have to learn fire control.


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## JonathanHodges (Nov 25, 2020)

Thanks for your replies guys. I had some serious mold problems in my house and I had no idea about it actually. I found out about it by mistake when my daughter was close to being born. We had to do the room inspection before she was going to live in there and there was mold behind a closet in the room. I could not let that stay there and I hired a special crew to inspect the whole house. They found mold in a few more places, and we managed to get rid of it. My house is now safer to live in.

_______________________________
https://www.damagecontrol-911.com/services/mold-remediation/


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