All you folks that cook/smoke food, don't forget to take a little time to look at your equipment, it's condition, grease build up, etc..... AND where & what type of materials your equipment is sitting on or around...... Safety First Right?
All my cooking gear is on concrete, but I spend a few weekends a year at my buddies "cabin" up in the mountains partying/cooking & he has a kettle that he cooks on, on a wood deck..... Tends to get a little breezy up their at times & just remember a lit piece of charcoal (or a few) briquettes that fall into an open ash catcher can get blown onto a wood deck....... Then, who knows what can happen ....... I inspected a house aboot a year ago that had part of the deck catch fire/burn, because the gal dumped all the "extinguished" briquettes into a cardboard box and set it on the deck, while she went in to serve dinner.... And wanted the grill cleaned out for the next thyme she used it Luckily, they were there & caught it in thyme.
So, I suggested my buddy get a non flammable mat to put under his kettle if he was going to cook with it on the deck & suggested the lower level patio area would be ideal, although not located directly off the kitchen, like the deck & to close ALL vents upper & lower after cooking to help the charcoal or briquettes distinguish faster...... After cooking a rotisserie chicken on his kettle, I closed all vents....... It was slightly breezy...... Then I went back to check it a couple hours later & sure enough that slight breeze kept at least part of the briquettes going & the kettle was still warm to the touch.
We cooked steaks Friday night on it, so not much concern aboot a bunch of grease dripping on the kettle sides ..... Later that night, I cooked a pack of bacon on it indirect with Apple for the following morning scramble.... Did not install a drip pan to help catch the grease..... Next day we cooked bacon wrapped ABT's indirect, in the same area as we cooked the bacon the night before.... Lots of grease in that area right? ..... DAMN RIGHT...... For our dinner that night, we were going to do a rotisserie chicken, so I was in getting the chicken cleaned & prepared & on to the spit for spinning & he went out to light the charcoal chimney..... He did & set it up dumping the coals in the same side we did the past 3 cooks..... I told him we need to burn off the grease before we put the chicken on, or we are most likely gonna have some problems ...... He didn't get it, so with tongs I took aboot 10 of the lit briquettes & moved them over to the side where we had been cooking all the food on..... Within a couple of minutes, that kettle was throwing up some serious flames & nasty black smoke with a pretty damn good grease fire going ...... So, it took aboot 10-15 minutes to burn all that grease off & when he moved the ash sweeper back & forth to clean out the bowel, greasy ash on fire fell into the ash bowl, which could have been blown onto the deck if the breeze was strong enough..... He was pretty amazed at how anything/everything inside could catch fire & potentially turn into a big problem....
I cook primarily on kettles, butt this can happen with WSM's, electric smokers & I'm guessing anything used for cooking outdoors? ...... Cooking/smoking can-will-does produce a film on the side & top of your cooker, which I think is a combination of smoke-grease-heat, etc? that will "cake up" and form a "film" on your cooker..... If you don't keep that crust scraped off, it can decide to "un-attach" itself from the top/sides of your cooker & fall onto your precious food.... Typically in the form of small black flecks, but from my experience can also fall as SHEETS the size of your hand, right onto your cockspatched chicken! ....... Or at least I have been told
Get a grate brush & knock that crap off the lid, or top, or sides from thyme to thyme & you will avoid this.... Not that I know aboot it or anything
Just some observations while cooking with a buddy this weekend..... Also, make sure the tip of your Thermapen is tucked INSIDE its case...... Reaching into a pocket with a Thermapen tip greeting your finger/hand on the way in is no fun
All my cooking gear is on concrete, but I spend a few weekends a year at my buddies "cabin" up in the mountains partying/cooking & he has a kettle that he cooks on, on a wood deck..... Tends to get a little breezy up their at times & just remember a lit piece of charcoal (or a few) briquettes that fall into an open ash catcher can get blown onto a wood deck....... Then, who knows what can happen ....... I inspected a house aboot a year ago that had part of the deck catch fire/burn, because the gal dumped all the "extinguished" briquettes into a cardboard box and set it on the deck, while she went in to serve dinner.... And wanted the grill cleaned out for the next thyme she used it Luckily, they were there & caught it in thyme.
So, I suggested my buddy get a non flammable mat to put under his kettle if he was going to cook with it on the deck & suggested the lower level patio area would be ideal, although not located directly off the kitchen, like the deck & to close ALL vents upper & lower after cooking to help the charcoal or briquettes distinguish faster...... After cooking a rotisserie chicken on his kettle, I closed all vents....... It was slightly breezy...... Then I went back to check it a couple hours later & sure enough that slight breeze kept at least part of the briquettes going & the kettle was still warm to the touch.
We cooked steaks Friday night on it, so not much concern aboot a bunch of grease dripping on the kettle sides ..... Later that night, I cooked a pack of bacon on it indirect with Apple for the following morning scramble.... Did not install a drip pan to help catch the grease..... Next day we cooked bacon wrapped ABT's indirect, in the same area as we cooked the bacon the night before.... Lots of grease in that area right? ..... DAMN RIGHT...... For our dinner that night, we were going to do a rotisserie chicken, so I was in getting the chicken cleaned & prepared & on to the spit for spinning & he went out to light the charcoal chimney..... He did & set it up dumping the coals in the same side we did the past 3 cooks..... I told him we need to burn off the grease before we put the chicken on, or we are most likely gonna have some problems ...... He didn't get it, so with tongs I took aboot 10 of the lit briquettes & moved them over to the side where we had been cooking all the food on..... Within a couple of minutes, that kettle was throwing up some serious flames & nasty black smoke with a pretty damn good grease fire going ...... So, it took aboot 10-15 minutes to burn all that grease off & when he moved the ash sweeper back & forth to clean out the bowel, greasy ash on fire fell into the ash bowl, which could have been blown onto the deck if the breeze was strong enough..... He was pretty amazed at how anything/everything inside could catch fire & potentially turn into a big problem....
I cook primarily on kettles, butt this can happen with WSM's, electric smokers & I'm guessing anything used for cooking outdoors? ...... Cooking/smoking can-will-does produce a film on the side & top of your cooker, which I think is a combination of smoke-grease-heat, etc? that will "cake up" and form a "film" on your cooker..... If you don't keep that crust scraped off, it can decide to "un-attach" itself from the top/sides of your cooker & fall onto your precious food.... Typically in the form of small black flecks, but from my experience can also fall as SHEETS the size of your hand, right onto your cockspatched chicken! ....... Or at least I have been told
Get a grate brush & knock that crap off the lid, or top, or sides from thyme to thyme & you will avoid this.... Not that I know aboot it or anything
Just some observations while cooking with a buddy this weekend..... Also, make sure the tip of your Thermapen is tucked INSIDE its case...... Reaching into a pocket with a Thermapen tip greeting your finger/hand on the way in is no fun
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