Reason #83 for never........

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
.....using a charcoal grill on a wooden porch or deck.
Last night I roasted a chicken on our Weber kettle. When I took it out, some juices drained out. I didn't pay any attention to this at all. Not a big deal. Later, I looked outside and found the wheels of the kettle in the final stages of burning off. All I can figure is that the juices (melted fat) caught fire, drained through the bottom and did the deed. In more than forty years of using Weber kettles we have never had an incident like this. Had this been on a wooden deck, it could, very well, have resulted in a house fire. Luckily it was on gravel outside my shop and ended up being just funny.
 

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.....using a charcoal grill on a wooden porch or deck.
Last night I roasted a chicken on our Weber kettle. When I took it out, some juices drained out. I didn't pay any attention to this at all. Not a big deal. Later, I looked outside and found the wheels of the kettle in the final stages of burning off. All I can figure is that the juices (melted fat) caught fire, drained through the bottom and did the deed. In more than forty years of using Weber kettles we have never had an incident like this. Had this been on a wooden deck, it could, very well, have resulted in a house fire. Luckily it was on gravel outside my shop and ended up being just funny.

That could have been a bad situation Frank, I also use weber grills for around 35 years, the newer ones have an attached ash collector which I really like. The one you are using should have an ash pan underneath to catch the ash and grease, if you can find it I would use it just for such an occasion, if you can't find it I would go to webers web sight and see if you can get a replacement.
 
Frank and Tom, I'm a proud Weber Kettle owner too...6yrs...I've never even thought about this happening. Will always be in the back of my mind when grilling in the future.
 
Ya I can to, but us naturalist BBQ'rs just can't use gas, just like us flatlanders just can't turn:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Tom, funny you should mention that. Although I've had one or more gas grills for years, I've been a lifelong woodburner when it came to smoking meats. A couple weeks ago I decided to add a gas burner to the side firebox on my smoker, since I was tired of the temperature fluctuations and creosote flavor I was getting with wood and/or charcoal. I gotta tell you, I'm sold. I can dial in 225º and it stays there all day or night. I have a pan for the smoking wood in the firebox, and it lets me put just the right amount of smoke into things. (Previously, I was oversmoking some things, especially things like a ham that needed to cook for 18 - 20 hours.

Here's the story about the mods I made to my cooker...

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28077

(Warning: The Smoke Ring Forum will make you very hungry, and make you start looking for used propane or air compressor tanks.)
 
Thanks for the info Vaughn. I myself can't tell the difference between cooking with propane versus cooking with wood except I didn't stink like smoke afterwards. I'm not sure where your getting the creosote taste from but I know cherry puts a nice flaver in the meat and leaves a very nice smoke ring in the meat. Looks like I'll be converting mine also. WOOHOO!:thumb:
 
Thanks for the info Vaughn. I myself can't tell the difference between cooking with propane versus cooking with wood except I didn't stink like smoke afterwards. I'm not sure where your getting the creosote taste from but I know cherry puts a nice flaver in the meat and leaves a very nice smoke ring in the meat. Looks like I'll be converting mine also. WOOHOO!:thumb:

Man that looks great Vaughn I was looking at a gas grill yesterday at Lowe's and just couldn't get myself to pull the trigger as I us a Big Green Egg but I want something with more room in it for indirect cooks (like ribs and stuff) so am taking a good long look at your cooker ( I Like IT)
Thanks for posting it.
Jay
 
Frank,
I don't know where I picked up the idea, but for years when I used a Weber, I had a set of ceramic tiles under mine - because it was on a wood deck and I was more concerned about the drippings on my deck than ashes...
 
...I'm not sure where your getting the creosote taste from...

From what I've read, the creosote taste can come from the white or dark gray smoke than can happen when your fire's not burning efficiently. The wood might be too green, too cold, or starved for oxygen. I'd say I noticed it the most when using mesquite chunk charcoal. Still got a great smoke ring in the meat, but the flavor wasn't right. I used some apple chips a few nights ago on a stuffed pork loin, and both the ring and the flavor were right on.

As an aside, I suspect you could get good results with a lower-pressure burner than the one I used. I'm running mine with the gas valve open maybe 1/16 to 1/8 of a turn. I think a lower-temp burner might actually be easier to control, but still have plenty heat to cook. The convection plate and baffle also make a world of difference in keeping the cooking chamber temps even. Mine originally had about 50º difference from one end of the chamber to the other. Now it's more like 2º difference.

BTW Frank, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. :doh: I'm glad you didn't have that Weber on a wooden deck. Like you said, it sure could have been nasty. :eek: Of course the important question: How'd the meat turn out? :D
 
From what I've read, the creosote taste can come from the white or dark gray smoke than can happen when your fire's not burning efficiently. The wood might be too green, too cold, or starved for oxygen. I'd say I noticed it the most when using mesquite chunk charcoal. Still got a great smoke ring in the meat, but the flavor wasn't right. I used some apple chips a few nights ago on a stuffed pork loin, and both the ring and the flavor were right on.

As an aside, I suspect you could get good results with a lower-pressure burner than the one I used. I'm running mine with the gas valve open maybe 1/16 to 1/8 of a turn. I think a lower-temp burner might actually be easier to control, but still have plenty heat to cook. The convection plate and baffle also make a world of difference in keeping the cooking chamber temps even. Mine originally had about 50º difference from one end of the chamber to the other. Now it's more like 2º difference.

BTW Frank, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. :doh: I'm glad you didn't have that Weber on a wooden deck. Like you said, it sure could have been nasty. :eek: Of course the important question: How'd the meat turn out? :D



We also have this large New Braunfels smoker which we haven't used in years. Two reasons. It takes a very large amount of meat to justify firing it up. And, I don't like the results. The low temps used for smoking make a nasty, tarry, flavor in the meats. I should clean it up and sell.
BTW, I do not like mesquite flavor at all, just too strong.
Our son has a Big Green Egg and cooks on it all the time. Downside, he almost did burn down his house with it. It sets on a wood deck and some coals caught the deck on fire. Big hole that eventually self-extinguished. Scary.
Our chicken was just fine. :thumb:
 

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We also have this large New Braunfels smoker which we haven't used in years. Two reasons. It takes a very large amount of meat to justify firing it up. And, I don't like the results. The low temps used for smoking make a nasty, tarry, flavor in the meats. I should clean it up and sell.
BTW, I do not like mesquite flavor at all, just too strong.
Our son has a Big Green Egg and cooks on it all the time. Downside, he almost did burn down his house with it. It sets on a wood deck and some coals caught the deck on fire. Big hole that eventually self-extinguished. Scary.
Our chicken was just fine. :thumb:

What temp do you smoke at Frank? Usually I keep mine around 225 or above, 180 and above will give you the best smoke. You really want it to be a blue or clear smoke. If it's white, then your cooking too low and will get soot on the meat. I used to have one like your, but traded up for a pellet smoker, which I love. Can fire it up have it up to 700 degrees in about 15 minutes for grilling or to do a self cleaning. It has been very consistent in it's results and don't have to baby sit it hardly at all.

Vaughn, thanks, I've got another 1 hr and 15 minutes before lunch and now I'm hungry! Nice work on the propane mod, will have to share that with a friend with that same smoker. So what's the recipe for the bacon rollups and what is the rub you used on the ribs?
 
What temp do you smoke at Frank? Usually I keep mine around 225 or above, 180 and above will give you the best smoke. You really want it to be a blue or clear smoke. If it's white, then your cooking too low and will get soot on the meat. I used to have one like your, but traded up for a pellet smoker, which I love. Can fire it up have it up to 700 degrees in about 15 minutes for grilling or to do a self cleaning. It has been very consistent in it's results and don't have to baby sit it hardly at all.

Vaughn, thanks, I've got another 1 hr and 15 minutes before lunch and now I'm hungry! Nice work on the propane mod, will have to share that with a friend with that same smoker. So what's the recipe for the bacon rollups and what is the rub you used on the ribs?

Like I said, it's been several years since we used it. I don't remember the temp. But, I followed instructions and cook book that came with it and the smoke was WHITE :eek: . Maybe I'll try again with higher heat to see what happens.
 
Like I said, it's been several years since we used it. I don't remember the temp. But, I followed instructions and cook book that came with it and the smoke was WHITE :eek: . Maybe I'll try again with higher heat to see what happens.

Frank, based on what I saw with mine, I'd suspect there's a good chance that your thermometer is not showing the actual temp. (Mine was off by a lot.) You can test it by putting the probe in boiling water. At my 1000 foot elevation, the boiling point is about 210 degrees. My thermometer was reading about 255. I ended up replacing it, but you can also just add or subtract the error from the reading to get a pretty close idea of your cooking temp. Also, that smoker would be pretty easy to gassify. I think I spent about $30 for the burner and regulator. The gas makes it much easier for me to keep the temps even.

Another thing I've learned is that you need good airflow to keep the smoke from tasting yucky. I was making the mistake of partially closing the damper on at the top of the smokestack, thinking it would add to the smoke flavor. Instead, it helps starve the fire of oxygen by inhibiting airflow, resulting it black or white smoke.

Darren, the bacon things were a variant of ABTs. I used Anaheim green chiles for mine instead of jalapenos, but they had no flavor. (I ain't in New Mexico anymore, so I gotta remember green Anaheims have no flavor here.) :rolleyes: Nest time I'll try them with Jalapenos.
 
Darren, the bacon things were a variant of ABTs. I used Anaheim green chiles for mine instead of jalapenos, but they had no flavor. (I ain't in New Mexico anymore, so I gotta remember green Anaheims have no flavor here.) :rolleyes: Nest time I'll try them with Jalapenos.

Guess what I'm making this weekend? Holy Cow those look good!! :thumb:
 
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