Question

[Ron D]

Went out this morning to get ready to smoke some country ribs and get the racks inside to spray down.
Opened my MES 30 inch and lo and behold I find it covered in a fine film of mold. Now I do wash out the racks and water pan after every use so I was very surprised to see this as I have never had this happen before.
I did have the vent closed and door latched and smoker covered.
After a quick spraying down with Greased Lighting and water rinse I cleaned it all up and have it doing a burn in again so I can smoke my ribs. Has this happened to anyone else or did I just have a bad time with the high heat and humid weather we have been having. 

[muebe]

It was the high heat and humidity. The vent being closed trapped that moisture in there.

Now that there are mold spores in there I would wash all the racks and then wipe the interior down with a solution of vinegar and water. Then fire her up with wood on high and re-season the interior.

[KyNola]

Did you happen to have a water pan in there that had water left in it when you closed it up?  My Bradley did that one time and I had left a water pan full of water in it.  Lesson Learned.

Not sure I would have cleaned the interior with Greased Lightning though.  Even with a "burn in" session.  I would have wiped it down with a strong vinegar/water solution.  Run the "burn in" at as high a temp as you can get your MES.

Oops, sorry muebe.  You posted while I was typing.

[Ron D]

I use a diluted version of Greased Lighting. I have cleaned all my grills with it in the past and it works wonders. I just mix it 10 parts water to one part GL. I did spray the inside with pure vinegar as a neutralizer to the soap and then rinsed with water. Just finished the burn in at 300F with cherry chips. 

[smokeasaurus]

Probably a good idea to keep the vents open while not in use........

[muebe]

If you sprayed the inside with vinegar then you should be good

[teesquare]

I like the vinegar and water idea - just safer than an industrial cleaner for food contact surfaces.....

How about when finished with the cook - remove any pans hod moisture and - let the unit run on it's highest temp setting for an hour or so? Vent wide open  - and 'er rip....