Smoker question

[Becky Hampton]

How do you clean out the black stuff that is stuck to the lid of the smoker? I don't know if it's creostote or tar, but it's making my lid really hard to open. I usually have to light several matches and warm up the outer edge of the lid before I can get it to open. When it's cool, the stuff is really hard to the touch. Suggestions?

[ski]

You can chip away at it with a screw driver or hive tool but the easiest way may be the propane torch just get it hot and it will burn on its own and then flake off. Just a little scraping will clean it up.


Jacobs mentions using the torch in the second post.
http://www.guilfordbeekeepers.org/commu ... lit=smoker

[Becky Hampton]

I use cardboard, starter wood (for our fires), shavings for pet beds, dried leaves - anything I can find to get it going. I'm sure there's cedar in the shavings which might be the biggest culprit. -Also in the starter wood.
I'll try the torch.
Thanks!

[Jacobs]

Cedar chips produce residue faster than anything else I have put in a smoker, but pine needles will eventually build residue. I use the torch and the hive tool to burn away/scrape the build up along the rim of the body and the inner rim of the top.

I am trying to be a little more patient loading the smoker and making sure I am not shutting the lid over pine needles. If I avoid cooking needles between the body and the lid it seems to lengthen the time between the lid fusing itself shut when it cools.