melted filament cleanup

I started a print of pla+ ( extruder 205,bed 50) and came to check on it and found this ( stock ratrig with asa ratrig printed parts)
Canceled print.
I set extruder to 225 and got the silicone cap off. Questions:
1) what is best way to remove solid filament blobs?
2) what happened/ how do I prevent this in future?