The blue rtv didn't crack or become brittle. It set up like epoxy cement and was a real bear to remove when the gasket was due to be replaced.
Ah gotcha. Yeah when I remove this on engine parts I take a rubber mallet and gently tap the parts sideways to break the initial seal. I'm not sure how one would accomplish this on a stove. I was thinking getting a plastic scraper under the gasket and chiseling it with a small hammer to get it started. I've never really tried something like that before. I've never really had it just peel off very well. It has to be scraped in my experience. Which isn't a big deal to me, but I'm not sure what kind of specific results you're looking for. FWIW Usually I spend about 15 minutes cleaning off old gasket before I put on new gasket.