overnight cook on a wooden deck?


 
J

jeff davidson

TVWBB Super Fan
Last night I put a whole ham in the wsm with an estimated cook time of 16 hours. The wsm sits on our wooden deck. I've purchased an insulated disk that sits under the wsm and protects the deck.

As I was drowsing off to sleep, I started thinking about the possibility that operator error or a small animal could land me in the Darwin awards. It was pretty easy to dream up the Darwin Award tag line: "Barbecue enthusiast cooks delicious meat on deck in woods full of animals, blithely goes to sleep, burns house and family while squirrels feast."

Our deck is gated and there's a fence around the back yard that keeps most animals out but we do have occassional racoon, opposum and coyote. Also, late at night, I've been known to make a mistake or two..

It would be inconvenient to move the wsm off the deck in the winter because of the snow and mud we experience here in the northeast.

thoughts on how to make this safer? Or perhaps I should just put the wsm away for the winter?

tia,
jd
 
JD - Although I've taken similar precautions, I have the same concern with doing something stupid on my deck and burning down the house. I won't do an overnight or other untended smoke with the WSM on my deck. It is just not worth the risk. I plan on putting in a small paver patio this year for that purpose.

Jim
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jeff davidson:
thoughts on how to make this safer? Or perhaps I should just put the wsm away for the winter?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I guess I'm flirting with disaster, but I do overnighter's year round on my wooden deck.
I have a carport drip pan under my WSM.
I would think that the heat would discourage any animal from trying to get at the meat.
My dogs can tell I'm cooking, but they can't figure out where.
icon_wink.gif




--
Charles

You might be a redneck if...
You’ve ever cured cancer with peroxide.
 
The same concern troubles me. I quit overnites on the wood deck a year ago and I sleep better now. It's a bit of a pain to shovel a flat spot in the snow and to move the WSM there, but no where near the hassle it would be if the deck caught the house on fire.

Griff
 
Chicago's WGN radio personality Spike O Dell,s
home burned to the ground within the last year.
The fire was started by a spark from the grill on the deck. Smart money says move the WSM to the yard. Be smart now....
 
Bob, as I recall Spike's disaster was a bit more complicated. Chicago Tribune reported that a friend was sitting the house while Spike and family were away. Friend used the gas grill, but ran out of gas. So he put some briquettes on the flavor bars, and fired them up. When he finished cooking, he apparently shut the top of the gasser and went home. Unfortunately, some of the smaller coals, still burning, fell into the drip pan at some point, and you know what happened then.

Virgil
 
I use my WSM on a wooden deck as well. To mitigate the risk of a fire, I place a drip pan designed for a water heater under my WSM and fill it with water. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's fool proof, but I sleep well at night with that pan in place.
 
Nothing is fool proof, but I wouldn't worry about animals. There's been much discussion about this and it appears that the heat keeps the critters away. I've never heard anyone say their wsm was disturbed or tipped over by an animal while cooking.

As for operator error, I wouldn't think there would be much risk after the first hour or so. The risk, IMO, is when you dump the coals from the chimney to the ring. Once the WSM is assembled, I've never seen a spark come out of it. Not saying it can't happen, but I don't think you'd qualify for a Darwin award.

You definitely want a drip pan underneath the wsm and the filling it with some water idea is a good one. Having a hose in reach wouldn't be a bad idea either (or a fire extinguisher).
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Virgil Berry:
Bob, as I recall Spike's disaster was a bit more complicated. Chicago Tribune reported that a friend was sitting the house while Spike and family were away. Friend used the gas grill, but ran out of gas. So he put some briquettes on the flavor bars, and fired them up. When he finished cooking, he apparently shut the top of the gasser and went home. Unfortunately, some of the smaller coals, still burning, fell into the drip pan at some point, and you know what happened then.

Virgil </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's never a good idea to use something in a way that it clearly was not intended. A charcoal grill would have had a way to close the vents and snuff the fire. A gasser isn't meant to use charcoal and that DOES qualify for a Darwin award (except if he went home, the friend wasn't naturally selected out of existence).
 
Charles Howse,

Good pic - only thing missing is the beer. Can I assume it is in your hand and the pic does not show it?

Ray
 
I overnight on a wood deck all the time. I have even been known to start the cooker in the morning and then go to work. TO prevent an accident I use the 4 of the 18" patio pavers... see picture here Safe Smoker

Seems to work fine for me. It is about minimizing your percieved risk, if your not comfortable with cooking on a wood deck then dont do it.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ray Crick:
Charles Howse,

Good pic - only thing missing is the beer. Can I assume it is in your hand and the pic does not show it?

Ray </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ray,
Shame, shame on you. You'll have all these nice folk thinking us rednecks drink all the time.
NO, I'm not holding a beer in that pic, I set it down just out of view.
icon_wink.gif




--
Charles

You might be a redneck if...
You’ve ever tried to get a date with a tele-marketer.
 
I used to smoke on my front deck at my apartment (concrete and wood combo) with the BBQ guru. Of course, I had all the vents closed. I left a piece of carboard under it the first couple of times to see how hot it would get or if ashes would drip--no problems. It was fairly secluded from the wind, so that was one less worry as well.

Now I smoke on my back patio, which is made of concrete.
 
Bolt your WSM base to the deck. Something might still knock the top section over and spoil your food, but the bottom won't spill any coals.
 
I bought an oil changing galvinized pan(2ftx4ft) from auto zone for 6 bucks and use this under my WSM and weber grill with great results on a wooden deck.

So far, so good.
 
thanks for all the replies, food for thought. I do wonder if we were away and the house burned down if our insurance company would pay. I keep picturing a lawyer cross-examining me:

So you placed half a bag of charcoal in the smoker on your wooden deck and took the kids to the movies?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jeff davidson:
thanks for all the replies, food for thought. I do wonder if we were away and the house burned down if our insurance company would pay. I keep picturing a lawyer cross-examining me:

So you placed half a bag of charcoal in the smoker on your wooden deck and took the kids to the movies? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jeff, for what it's worth, I am an insurance company lawyer and have dealt with a number of similar cases. Up here it's usually someone who puts a space heater in his crawl space to thaw frozen pipes and then drives off to the local bar. I've frequently advised homeowner carriers that one of the reasons why people buy homeowner's insurance is to protect themselves from their own stupidity. Of course, they might look at it differently if you're three months behind on your mortgage payments, foreclosure is right around the corner, and you moved out your gun collection the night before the fire.

Griff
 
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