Has Anyone Ever Seen This
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TentHunter
Moderator
I would call Rec Tec.
I did call them. Spoke to the owner and he had no idea what it was. Said I could ship it back for a full refund, but I don't want to do that. My main concern is my health and if any of that is going into my food. When I heat up the grill to 500 it is a little easier to scrape but not much. Anyone see a possible health hazard?
Salmonsmoker
New member
Even though it's an inconvenience, shipping the unit back so that Rec Tec can identify the substance might be the prudent and safe thing to do. For you and other Rec Tec customers.
Don't you think it's more than a new lid? It's builds up after every cook from the first one. If I could find out what it is and what's causing it and how stop it and know whatever it is isn't getting into my food, I would be happy to raise the temp as high as possible scrape it as well as possible and use it. Thank you.
I think you're right. If they don't know what's going on they can't possibly know if I'm eating that stuff & if it presents a health risk and besides that I don't think most people would be happy with seeing that from the very first cook and watching it build up. Thank you.
You're absolutely right. Might you have an idea of what's going on & if I might be eating what ever that is and if it poses a health risk?
I can't be the only one it's happening to, can I? I'm not doing anything unusual or using it in any way that it's not intended to be used.
Thank you.
scooter
Moderator
Calling Dr Greg Blonder, stat!
In my opinion if it's sticky and smells harsh or chemically then it's bad and your fire is getting starved of oxygen. If it's hard, glossy and has no smell or smells like clean smoke then it's not bad just smoke sheen.
If you're using your grill properly as you say and the food coming off doesn't have a strange tarrish taste to it I wouldn't be overly concerned. But that's just me.
In my opinion if it's sticky and smells harsh or chemically then it's bad and your fire is getting starved of oxygen. If it's hard, glossy and has no smell or smells like clean smoke then it's not bad just smoke sheen.
If you're using your grill properly as you say and the food coming off doesn't have a strange tarrish taste to it I wouldn't be overly concerned. But that's just me.
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scooter
Moderator
When I was using it a lot the inside of my WSM was like that. A dark hard shine that I always just attributed to it being well seasoned and yes, on the lid there was evidence of runs of liquid. The inside of my MAK hood is similar to that but not as thick or runny that I recall. I'll have to take a look when I'm done cooking the chicken and ribs.
A byproduct of wood combustion is water vapor. I feel the water vapor mixes with the smoke particles and attaches to the cooker walls then dries and hardens. I have no scientific background I can point to to validate my theories. They are my thoughts from observations I've made over the years.
A byproduct of wood combustion is water vapor. I feel the water vapor mixes with the smoke particles and attaches to the cooker walls then dries and hardens. I have no scientific background I can point to to validate my theories. They are my thoughts from observations I've made over the years.
scooter
Moderator
Just googled it and found this from Weber: http://help.weber.com/faqs/4/i-see-what-i-think-is-peeling-paint-inside-the-lid
Mine did peel off the lid over time but never peeled off the side walls of the WSM but the point being is that it's not toxic, just a byproduct of using your cooker.
Weber says to remove it. I'd only remove it if it starts to flake off.
Mine did peel off the lid over time but never peeled off the side walls of the WSM but the point being is that it's not toxic, just a byproduct of using your cooker.
Weber says to remove it. I'd only remove it if it starts to flake off.
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Thank you so much for helping put my mind at ease. If a may ask another question. This little mini puts out prolific amounts of nice looking and smelling blue smoke. A beautiful sight to see but no matter what I do low & slow, smoke tube and both I get no smoke flavor from what ever I cook. It's very good but no smoke flavor at all. Is that just how pellet cookers work? Great food but no smoke real flavor.
I want to upgrade my grill in the near future and my 1st choice is to be a Mak 2 Star so I'm curious does your Mak produce a nice borderline strong smoke flavor. It's not going to change my mind but just wondering. Thank you again.
I want to upgrade my grill in the near future and my 1st choice is to be a Mak 2 Star so I'm curious does your Mak produce a nice borderline strong smoke flavor. It's not going to change my mind but just wondering. Thank you again.
scooter
Moderator
I would say that your Rec Tec lays down a very refined, light smoke flavor which is the trademark of a pellet cooker. The upside of that is it's virtually impossible to over smoke anything with a pellet cooker. There are two areas where pellet cookers don't lay down much smoke flavor at all, short duration cooks under 3 hours and cooks over 325F for practically any duration.
Some members of this forum mitigate that by running their cooker on smoke for the 1st hour or so then raising the cook temp to their desired setpoint for the remainder of the cook.
In the beginning I installed a Smoke Daddy on my 2 Star to add more smoke in those 2 areas where pellet cookers lay down their lightest smoke flavor. A couple years ago I shifted to cooking everything on the upper rack, where the smoke lingers longer (my theory), and have not needed to use the Smoke Daddy hardly at all since then. So EVERYTHING I cook goes on the upper rack and any overflow goes down on the bottom grate.
Some members of this forum mitigate that by running their cooker on smoke for the 1st hour or so then raising the cook temp to their desired setpoint for the remainder of the cook.
In the beginning I installed a Smoke Daddy on my 2 Star to add more smoke in those 2 areas where pellet cookers lay down their lightest smoke flavor. A couple years ago I shifted to cooking everything on the upper rack, where the smoke lingers longer (my theory), and have not needed to use the Smoke Daddy hardly at all since then. So EVERYTHING I cook goes on the upper rack and any overflow goes down on the bottom grate.
SeenRed
New member
I think you've nailed your issue with this statement. I have followed your concerns in this thread and in another forum. Because pellet grills burn so cleanly and efficiently, there are some stick burner cooks out there who simply are never very satisfied with the smoke taste/smoke production of a pellet cooker. You seem to like every other aspect of your new grill, but if that heavy smoke taste that comes from stick burners/charcoal rigs is what you're after, you may never be truly happy with pellet cooking...
Just food for thought...
Red