Matt,
In this instance an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. There are several culprits that can cause issues with glue pots.
1. Don’t over fill your glue pot. If you only run your edgebander 1 to 4 hours a day and fill your glue pot to the top, the glue will heat to temperature then cool, then heat to temperature again, then cool. The same glue could remain in the pot for weeks. Each time the glue goes through this cycle it burns. If you don’t have a premelt only fill your pot to about 1/3 full when you add glue. If you purchase another machine in the future a premelt is worth the extra money. You will have to clean the pot less often and the edgebander will perform better. I include a premelt in the edgebanders I sell unless the customer insists he doesn't want it
2. If you walk away from your machine for more than 15 minutes turn the glue pot temperature down to 150 Celsius. This reduce the glue burning in the pot. If you don't need the edgebander for several hours turn the pot completely off.
I would use the stick in the pot method to pull the old glue out but never use anything metal to scrape the pot clean. You’ll damage the Teflon coating on the pot with metal. Use wood or plastic to help clean the char out of the pot.