High-temp silicone crumbling from heat, food safe to eat?
Cooked steak in my Brinkmann today for the second time and after lunch went to clean out the ash. When i opened the ash door i realized that the Permatex High-Temp Red RTV Silicone on the bottom was falling apart and coming off the door and there was white soot on it. The bottom silicone not on the top. I did mix Royal Oak and Kingsford (first time) so not sure if that had anything to do with the soot. I know the temperature was really high. My meat thermometer did not even display a temp only HHH it’s maximum is 572 degrees. And the silicone is rated for 600.
Did the firebox get to hot for the silicone and should i be concerned for any toxic fumes/particles in the food?
The silicone is not old only, less than 9 months and the smoker had 5 or so low and slow cooks in it. And the first time i cooked steak in it the temp was around 350-400.
Posted May 2, 2016, 12:57 AM UTC
Honestly, I have no idea, but this post is four hours old. Did you eat it? I would probably call it a loss and not if you haven't. Something has clearly gone wrong if the silicone cooked. I would imagine it would taste like rubber if you decided to eat it anyway.
Having silicone crumble like that got me worried I might be doing something that has negative side effects. Kind of like you are not suppose to BBQ with zinc, because over 400 degrees it releases toxins. Never knew that until in a forum some one mentioned it, everyone else knew, but it was news to me. Still new to this whole thing.
It tasted great :) and had a nice sear on each side. Since I can get very high temperatures on it now I plan to keep cooking once I remove the silicone and put on a better gasket.
There is silicone in between the bolts and other small areas that was placed there to plug smoke leaks.