Mold in my PBC - A Thanksgiving Scare

[Obi-Dan]

Hey all,

Been a while since I’ve posted. Been a while since I’ve smoked anything. Life has been busy for a while now. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Since it had been a bit since I’ve smoked anything I was very excited to fire up my PBC and smoke the turkey. I put it in a brine using a recipe from Malcolm Reed last night and woke up early to drag all my accessories out to where I keep my Weber Kettle and my PBC. Set everything up and opened the lid to get the charcoal basket and what before my wondering eyes should appear? Mold covering the bottom 1/3 of my PBC.

I have no idea what caused it. I always keep the cover on and empty out the ash. I mop up any excess grease after a cook. Sure it’s been a while since I’ve used it but I’ve gone through some periods before with no use and this has never happened. I live in Houston so humidity is high, but why now?

Regardless the show must go on, Thanksgiving waits for no one. So in the oven Mr. Turkey went; brined, injected and rubbed. Came out perfect (I was a little nervous as it has been many years since I’d roasted a turkey in an oven).

Any thoughts on what led to the mold would be appreciated. I’m going to email Noah after the holiday weekend. Guess I’ll have a big burnout tomorrow.

[Henrik]

The only way to eliminate mold is to leave it wide open, no lid, but under roof. Even the rain cover traps moisture. And that goes for all grills.

[Jerod Broussard]

I have mold in both kettles, all over the grates, the lids. Both left wide open and under a patio. 110% humidity for weeks don't play.

[ssandy_561]

I stopped using the PBC cover for this exact reason. Now it just sits outside uncovered with both rebar removed and I haven’t had any mold.

[Polarbear777]

There is always residual grease and moisture.
Mold loves that.

My cover keeps the rain off and leaves it open but I use it at least once a month and I think that’s why I haven’t seen this yet.

[Frozen Smoke]

Burn it hot, burn it out you'll be fine.

[Obi-Dan]

Got around to doing the burn out this weekend. Thanks everyone. I’ll make sure to air it out from time to time.

[JGo37]

Yeah, I haven't seen that, but I would have simply done a break-in burn and put it to use. I pulled a pizza stone last week, slid it between some cutting boards, and the next night the cutting boards were COVERED in mold. I couldn't scrub them clean, so they were relocated to the processing table for fish and game.

Weird...