vchris314
Got Wood.
- Joined
- May 12, 2014
- Location
- Scranton...
Hello Brethren!
This afternoon my smoker suffered what may be a killing blow - a major grease fire as I was cooking ABTs for a party. (Interestingly enough, it was the wife that mentioned that the fire may have "cooked" the smoker).
The cause was that I had too many ABTs on at once (90+) and too little grease drainage. All that I can imagine is that some grease dripped down into the firebox and started all the other grease on fire.
Lessons learned:
1. Don't overcrowd or overload
2. Keep grease away from firebox.
3. Make sure that there is plenty of grease drain holes. Put one or two close to the firebox.
So the quandry that I am looking for wisdom from all here (newbie or salty) is:
Being a Chargriller Super Pro with side firebox, is it worth it to try and clean it up and recondition it? Should I look into something like a Yoder (the Cheyanne or Witchita is calling me from the catalog)? I'm not sure if I would find the time to do something as ambitious as building a UDS.
Several things that I have noticed: The inside of the firebox is flaking metal; airflow issues that result in a white, smouldering fire unless I pull the ash drawer out three inches. The airflow issues also means that the fire rarely burns completely clean so I have to scrape creosote out.
If I decide to scrap the Chargriller, I do plan on saving the grates and the firebox mods that I have made (expanded steel basket, etc).
Ugh. Now that I have typed this up I am strongly thinking that scrapping and going for something else is the way to go.
Thanks for your opinions.
This afternoon my smoker suffered what may be a killing blow - a major grease fire as I was cooking ABTs for a party. (Interestingly enough, it was the wife that mentioned that the fire may have "cooked" the smoker).
The cause was that I had too many ABTs on at once (90+) and too little grease drainage. All that I can imagine is that some grease dripped down into the firebox and started all the other grease on fire.
Lessons learned:
1. Don't overcrowd or overload
2. Keep grease away from firebox.
3. Make sure that there is plenty of grease drain holes. Put one or two close to the firebox.
So the quandry that I am looking for wisdom from all here (newbie or salty) is:
Being a Chargriller Super Pro with side firebox, is it worth it to try and clean it up and recondition it? Should I look into something like a Yoder (the Cheyanne or Witchita is calling me from the catalog)? I'm not sure if I would find the time to do something as ambitious as building a UDS.
Several things that I have noticed: The inside of the firebox is flaking metal; airflow issues that result in a white, smouldering fire unless I pull the ash drawer out three inches. The airflow issues also means that the fire rarely burns completely clean so I have to scrape creosote out.
If I decide to scrap the Chargriller, I do plan on saving the grates and the firebox mods that I have made (expanded steel basket, etc).
Ugh. Now that I have typed this up I am strongly thinking that scrapping and going for something else is the way to go.
Thanks for your opinions.