Help! My Smoker Is Flaking

[Cruzino]

I was wondering if anyone could help me understand what my Bradley is doing and how I can solve the problem? 

I have had my smoker for about 2 years and have loved it!  Today, I did a couple of things with it that I never did before and now all of the brown, smokey stickiness that I thought was good to have in the smoker is flaking off and falling on the food!  Here's what I did differently today:

1) I moved it.  It had always been in the same place in my yard and was only moved around about 5 feet at a time.  Today I put it in the back of a car and drove it 15 miles to work so that I could smoke lunch for 80 people.  (They loved it by the way!   ;D )

2) I smoked fish (tuna).  Until now I had only smoked Beef, Pork, Chicken and Turkey.

3) I filled it up.  Normally I only have 1 or 2 racks of meat (or 1 whole turkey) in when I smoke.  Today I had about 30 lbs of fish in it (mostly tuna) and the fish filled all 4 racks completely.

Could it be that the vibrations of the car caused the brown, smokey, sticky stuff to crack and then flake?  Or could there be something in fish that has a bad reaction with the sticky stuff and causes it to peel?  Or does filling it up somehow overwhelm it and cause the flaking?  Or is there something else that I'm not considering? 

The flakes that came off revealed the original aluminum surface in pristine condition.  I thought that the only cleaning the smoker needed was the racks and pans, the door seals and the outside of the box and other than that, you shouldn't clean the inside because the brown sticky stuff was "conditioning" like what you would do to an iron skillet. 

Have I been wrong?  What should I do now?  If anyone has any advice, I'm all ears (or eyes)!

[IKnowWood]

I have had mine for a year now and it has had the flaky stuff this spring and summer. 

Its the seasoning in it.  What I do is every other smoke or so, I blow it with about 100 PSI of air from my air compressor using a blower tool on the hose.  It tosses out a lot of the loss peices.  I would consider brushing it when its cold, but then I would need to re-season it.  Blowing it maintains the loose stuff to stay away from what I am smoking.

The only thing I know that causes it is using it. 

[Habanero Smoker]

Occasionally small amount of flaking is normal. On a regular basis, not after every use, I wad up some newspaper and gently brush off the loose flakes that begin to peel off the walls of the cabinet. Only one time I had the severe peeling that you describe - peeling that exposes the metal underneath. That occurred when I filled the smoker with 10 pounds of chicken wings. The moisture build up inside the cabinet "steamed" the seasoning off to the metal in large sections on the door and ceiling of the cabinet. So with 30 pounds of tuna, that may have released a lot of moisture to cause the flaking that you described.

It will take a while for the seasoning to build back up on the exposed sections.

[Kummok]

I'm with Hab in this.....I do LOTS of fish and mine is frequently flaking. I also suspect the higher moisture content and, like IKW, I also just blow it out with compressed air...I don't see it as a "problem"......BTW, how'd the tuna turn out??? I've seen others asking about a good tuna smoking recipe......don't catch much of that anymore 'specially up here! ;)

[manxman]

I do LOTS of fish and mine is frequently flaking.

I agree with previous comments including above.

After smoking fish in particular I leave the door open on my BS for it to air for a couple of days, it always seems damper inside after smoking fish compared to meat no matter what the vent position.

If required I use either compressed air or a paint brush to get rid of any loose bits, it is never enough to warrant re-seasoning and the bare aluminium soon gets covered up with the next smoke. :)

[iceman]

You guys are all right on the money. I can't really add much more to all that's been said except to stay away from dandriff shampoo! :D ::) ;D Just kidding. Flaking is okay as long as there's no itching. :o :D

[IKnowWood]

So no Wire Brushes, as it might constitute "scratching"   :o Ouch...

[iceman]

So no Wire Brushes, as it might constitute "scratching"   :o Ouch...

Good point to remember.

[asa]

I think that the truck ride probably did jostle that stuff loose. And the only other thing I would add is that even if most or all of it fell off, I wouldn't worry about having to season it again. That first seasoning, it seems to me, is mainly to get the factory-smell out and a good smoky flavor in. Even if you wiped most of the dark stuff off the walls of your smoker, I'll bet it would still smell just about the same inside. In other words, I don't think that keeping the smoker "well-seasoned" is as critical as it is with your 90 year old cast iron pan that you guard with you life after every use. So even if I cleaned out the inside of the cabinet (assuming I didn't use any detergent, or anything other than water), I wouldn't worry about seasoning it again before use - that would happen in the first hour of the next smoke.

[tsquared]

That's what my wife often says--Help! My smoker is flaky!!
T2