Chemical smell coming off of HB Gourmet 256?

[colin]

Has anyone noticed a chemical small coming of their Hasty Bake cooker?

I purchased a HB Gourment 256 earlier this year. Overall it has been a positive experience accepting the HB learning curve. I have noticed, however, a petroleum smell emanating from the cooker. My wife thinks it has always been there to a degree. I feel it is getting worse and did not notice an strong smell when I first got the cooker. I have used Rockwood, BB, KBB and recently some Cowboy lump in my quest to figure out temperature control. I have also only used the HB fire-starting gel. Any advice if the smell is something with the cooker vs a batch of charcoal I used? I have used the same KBB in my PBC with no problems.

[tiewunon]

I can not speak for the cooker. However out of the lump listed I have had multiple bags of Cowboy years ago that had a petroleum smell. Have not used any Cowboy in at least 15 years. Never had an issue with Rockwood lump.
B&B I have used there lump no issues. I have used there Orange bag Oak Briqs and Red Bag Char logs no issue.
As far as Kingsford never use the stuff.
Never had an issue with the HB gel. You could eliminate that yourself by using a paraffin cube or cotton ball soaked in alcohol.
I sure hope you get it figured out.

[HawkerXP]

Strange, you would think the paint has been burnt in by now so not that. Are you cleaning it with something that may produce the smell?

[IowaGirl]

I have the Continental (model 83) which is the little sister to yours. I have been cooking on it for just under a year. I have never smelled a paint or petroleum smell from the cooker once I did the initial burn-off. I have used only Kingsford briquettes and Royal Oak briquettes, wood chunks from various hardwood trees on my property, and the Hasty Bake fire-starter gel.

I cooked two turkeys on my HB this past week. They turned out nice with a mild smoke flavor on the meat -- nothing "off" about the smell on the food. I also didn't smell anything odd about the smoke from the cooker itself during the cook.

I can't begin to imagine how the cooker itself could possibly create off odors after months of use, especially odors that are getting worse not better. That just doesn't add up -- the is paint well cured and manufacturing residues are burned off. There isn't much more to the cooker itself that could cause odors. I'd evaluate other factors instead, and one thing comes to mind that could easily explain your troubles.

One thing I've learned in my time at AR is the importance of deep cleaning a cooker from time to time. A build-up of smoke residues, food char, and rancid grease in any cooker will create off odors and unpleasant flavors. I've heard people talk about this problem with their PBCs, humongous offset cookers, and others, and I am certain the Hasty Bake isn't immune.

I'd suggest doing a deep clean to remove grease and as much of the smoke residue as possible. Do a test burn/cook and see how that goes.

[tenphases]

I have never had a chemical smell come off my gourmet. Any factory residue should have burnt off. Deep clean and a high temp burn might be in order

[ecowper]

Something is going on here. In 10 years, I’ve never had that sort of thing happen with my Gourmet. As others mentioned, you should deep clean. Get it as close to factory new as you can. Use a pressure washer, if you have one, for the inside chamber. Careful around the edges of the powder coating.

The only charcoals I have ever used are HB Lump, FOGO Premium, Cowboy briquettes, Weber briquettes, Kingsford Pro and KBB. I always use newspaper or tumbleweeds to light the charcoal. But I don’t see where any decent brand of charcoal, HB lighter gel, etc would cause this problem.

[lostclusters]

Partially lit charcoal can have that smell.

[colin]

Thank you to everyone who responded and for the advice. Yesterday, I deep cleaned the grill and let it dry all day in the sun. I did see some paint flaking on the ash pan and scrapped that off; I have always kept the pan covered with foil but did note some of the paint flaking under the foil. Right now I am burning Rockwood lump and the smell is gone. The super smeller wife agrees.

Back to grilling.

[IowaGirl]

I'm glad to hear you have a sweet smellin' cooker again!

[tiewunon]

Ditto what Iowa Girl said.