Brown goo, mold... WTF is going on with my small??

caliking

For some time now, I have had a problem with recurrent mold in my small egg. The LBGE and mini are fine, just the small keeps getting moldy. All eggs sit in the same uncovered area, within a few feet of each other. No covers on any, and I keep the lower intake cracked open to allow some air to circulate. 

Well I fired up the small to cook some burgers yesterday, and hung around since I was doing some yard work. Usually, I light the egg up and go inside to finish prep while it comes to temp. I noticed that the dome (not the base) started sweating like a whore in church. Some clear water, but a lot of brownish-yellow sticky stuff. I tried to wipe it away, but it kept weeping out some more. After the burgers were done, and the egg cooled off, I checked the inside of the dome and it looked like the crud had seeped out of the ceramic on the inside of the dome as well. When I looked closely at the glazing on the outside, I noticed some pin point holes which look like the glazing wasn't done right. There's no tree sap falling on the small, and I don't use any cleaners or shining agents on it. 

I'm thinking of making a warranty claim and getting a new dome, because I'm tired of finding mold in the small. Problem is the dealer from whom I bought the small is kind of a ****, and I'm not keen on giving him any business for anything or dealing with him. Can I make the warranty claim through the nicer dealer from whom I bought the mini and the large? I will probably contact the mothership first, since this isn't as straightforward as getting a replacement for a broken part.   

The burgers turned out pretty good. Although, I don't know how much brown goo fell on them. 

I have a video on my photobucket account, but don't know how to post it. 

Canugghead

Perhaps it's not used often enough compared to the other two eggs?  just a wild guess though.

R2Egg2Q

This is usually a sign of excessive moisture + not enough use. Here's a past post on the topic: https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1102158/yuk



Perhaps it is jealous of caliprince?

nolaegghead

That's nasty. 

Do a clean burn, then scrub the inside.  Make a concentrated (saturated) brine solution with pink salt.  wipe that all over the inside of the egg.  That should keep the mold from growing on it.

Thatgrimguy

That happens to my XL and my small. I just wipe it off with some vinegar and ignore it.  Part of living in one of the most humid climates in the country.   Never imparted any weird flavors that I'm aware of.

I use both grills pretty much every single weekend too.

Carolina Q

Could be worse...  )

EggHead_Bubba

I've seen this happen on mine. It usually occurs, but not every time, after I cook something low/slow with a water pan for 10+ hours. if my next cook is a turbo steak or something and the BGE approaches 600 degrees, it weeps this way.

caliking

OK. I guess I can cool my heels about replacing the dome. I think its odd that only the dome sweats the goo, not the base. 

My small is used much less than the large or mini, so maybe that is the reason. I'll try and work it into the rotation more often. 

Thatgrimguy said:

That happens to my XL and my small. I just wipe it off with some vinegar and ignore it.  Part of living in one of the most humid climates in the country.   Never imparted any weird flavors that I'm aware of.

I use both grills pretty much every single weekend too.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it. I've never had this issue with the large though, even after lo n slo or overnight cooks.

nolaegghead said:

That's nasty. 

Do a clean burn, then scrub the inside.  Make a concentrated (saturated) brine solution with pink salt.  wipe that all over the inside of the egg.  That should keep the mold from growing on it.

How concentrated in terms of %? Is pink salt the same as Morton curing salt?

SGH

@caliking‌
I think that @Thatgrimguy‌ makes a valid point. I live on the gulf coast where it is humid beyond belief and I have the same issue as you do. I use my egg very frequently but if I miss a day or so of using it the mess is there. Maybe there is something else at play as well but I do feel that moisture and high humidity factor in. You are not alone with this phenomenon.

SmokeyPitt

I agree probably not worth the hassle of a warranty claim.  I have seen the exact same thing with both my eggs (large and small), but my small does seem to get moldy quicker as if it is letting in or holding more moisture. 

FWIW- my understanding is that any authorized dealer can handle a warranty claim if you should ever need one.  It doesn't have to be the dealer you purchased the egg from. 

fishlessman

could be even worse than my large oozing, heres what happens when the moisture freezes

RAC

caliking - Funny you post this. Mine did the same thing last night and I was going to post also. I think it's due to the 10+ inches of rain we have had in the last few days. I will do a clean burn and see what happens.

nolaegghead

caliking said:

nolaegghead said:

That's nasty. 

Do a clean burn, then scrub the inside.  Make a concentrated (saturated) brine solution with pink salt.  wipe that all over the inside of the egg.  That should keep the mold from growing on it.

How concentrated in terms of %? Is pink salt the same as Morton curing salt?

No, Morton's Tender Quick has sugar and a very low concentration of nitrites.  Pink salt is 6.26% sodium nitrite and the balance sodium chloride.   The salts will help inhibit mold and bacteria growth.  It should work in theory, I'm just hoping you'll be my test subject.

SGH

@fishlessman‌
Good gracious. That that's the real deal there !

caliking

@RAC - so I'm not alone then. But I thought the exterior glaze would make it impervious to moisture/water, so I don't gets why it weeps like that. 

@nolaegghead- check. Will look into getting some pink salt. What about just a very concentrated NaCl solution? I've got plenty of regular salt.

@fishlessman - I would have cried for at least a couple of days if that had happened here. 

@SmokeyPitt - thanks for the info re: warranty claims. The place where I bought 2 of my eggs is not super knowledgeable about egg stuff, but they're decent folks, and I would rather do business with them.

@SGH - do you get mold in your eggs regularly, given the humidity in your area? I thought that cracking the lower intake open would take care of it, but not so.

Anyways, I got it nice and hot last night doing a wok cook, and I think it stopped oozing. I'll clean up the dome and see what happens.

SGH

@caliking‌
I do not get mold on the inside of the egg. Never have. But I am plagued with the build up on the outside. Just for the record I leave my vent closed and the top capped when not in use. I don't know if this prevents mold on the inside or not. Just some thing I have always done.

The Naked Whiz

caliking said:

@RAC - so I'm not alone then. But I thought the exterior glaze would make it impervious to moisture/water, so I don't gets why it weeps like that. 

The porcelain glaze crazes (cracks) so it is not impervious to water.

The Naked Whiz

I get mold here in NC.  Leftover grease on the grid seems to encourage it, FWIW. 

Fred19Flintstone

Mmmmmm.  Brown goo...

henapple

I did that for stealing all my pbr....na na na boo boo.

FearlessTheEggNoob

Looks like it could use an antibiotic.

Careful where you get your rub for your meat.

MagicMike

Does anyone think this brown goo could be from keeping eggs outside in the rain? Does anyone who keeps their eggs indoors when not in use have this problem?

NPHuskerFL

That's an eggs way of giving back ;-).

Canugghead

This is one of the reasons I downsized from four eggs to two, couldn't keep up with the rotation!

MaskedMarvel

Eggs are possessed. Allow me to exorcise them. Ship here.

stemc33

I suggest doing a clean burn like @Canugghead‌ did (see link below) and spritzing with vinegar after your done. Vinegar is good at getting to the roots of mold. http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1166524/my-egg-is-white-again#latest

EagleIII

I have had slight oozing, but only once, and only after a lot of rain and not having egged in a while (heresy, I know!)

ads75

I just noticed this on my large today as well. The area that is the "worst" gets the most sun. We have had about 5 or 6 days of lots of rain during this last week in Eastern Pennsylvania. I usually have my egg covered, but it wasn't this week. The last few years I've usually kept it covered. The inside seemed fine. I'll probably to a high heat burn and scrub the outside later this week as other have suggested.

badinfluence

MagicMike said:

Does anyone think this brown goo could be from keeping eggs outside in the rain? Does anyone who keeps their eggs indoors when not in use have this problem?

My eggs are stored indoors when not being used and no I have never had this problem.