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Moldy Egg

Tim (Watkinsville)
Tim (Watkinsville) Posts: 106
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
After hip replacement surgery gone bad (it's a long story, I ended up with a fractured femur and had to have more surgery) I had to endure 8 weeks of no cooking on my XL. Last Sunday, my boys came by for a visit and they volunteered to cook hamburgers for us. We went outside to fire up the egg, when we opened it up, it was full of mold. White mold on the grid, on the inside surface of the dome, even some mold on the lump. What's left of my felt gaskets were coated with mold. We fired up the egg and let it run for an hour at 350 in an effort to clean it up. After scraping the grid down thoroughly, we proceeded to cook burgers. After the cook, we added more lump and set it to run along at 250-275 and let it go all night.
My question is, has anyone seen this mold growth after a period of inactivity? Is burning it off sufficient for clean up or should I consider some chemical treatment? The burgers were excellent as usual but I was concerned about what mold survived the burn.
It has been a typical hot, humid summer here in NE Georgia and I know that's the reason for the mold. I just want to make sure my 'clean-up' is copacetic. Any input is appreciated!
Watkinsville, Ga   XL, Medium

Comments

  • any time you don't use the egg for a while in a humid environment you are going to get mold....i let my small go for a month one time with no use, and it had about an inch of 'hair' growing all over the inside of it, dome, grid, lump, everywhere. . . just fired it up to around 500 degrees until it was all gone ... no big deal. .. . i wouldn't go putting any special chemicals in the egg... they may get absorbed into the ceramics!! ... just simply fire it up any time you see the mold in there.... and you can go higher than the 275 you burned at. .. fire her up to 500 - 600 for a few minutes. ..that will take care of things. ..like i said, no big deal!

    hope you are feeling better
  • I agree that a good hot burn would do it.
    When that happens to me...I just fill it up about halfway with lump and leave it til the fuel is gone.
    For prevention...I take a drop light (think old fashioned light for working on your car) with a 20 watt light bulb and leave that in the egg after it's cooled.
    Good luck with your recovery.
  • Since getting my LG, my XL has been idle. Had to smoke a big brisket so I decided to use the XL. opened her up and it was all moldy and gross. Gave it a high temp burn and now it's sparkling white again. It's been like that all Summer with no more mold.