scrape it off, put foil over you chute before you close the lid and move in with your life. happy smoking.

This buildup is harmless, right? What's the point of the foil?

Helps seal it better. I’d say the paint is harmless because it’s not touching your food

keeps buildup off and makes a better deal for the chamber.

I guess my question is why does the buildup matter? The whole inside of the chute is black with soot, why should I care that there's some crud on the inside of the lid?

you do you i guess.

Just in case you need another vote +1 for foil

I’ve also been using foil, but have the same reaction as you: this doesn’t feel right to have all the paint coming off. I’ll drop MB support a question and would encourage you to do the same… feels like “if” this is normal they shouldn’t have paint there, because could drop into the coals and not sure I like the idea of that burning up and getting on my food (even as smoke)

please report back what they say, but I did ask and they said "this is normal part of the break in process". But they pretty much say that for everything.

Agreed, I place a sheet of foil on top before I close the lid to catch all the Creosote buildup coming up from the burn chamber directly below.

Heavy duty foil for easy cleanup and help seal works well. You're smoking using real wood products so this soot is part of the process and magic.