Overnight smoke...chance of rain...can I smoke on the porch?


 
G

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I'm attempting my first overnight smoke and plan on bringing the goods to a party tomorrow. Only problem is my area has a chance of thunderstorms/rain. (about 20-30% chance according to the wizards at weather.com) Anyway, I didn't want the rain to ruin things or keep me up all night with adjustments (I have a wireless thermometer from Maverick to help me keep an eye on things). So my thought was to do the smoking on my front porch. It is about 7 feet deep or so (distance from house of concrete porch end) and is covered. The covering above it is vinyl siding and is about 8-9 feet above the concrete surface. Two questions:

1. Is it safe for me to use the smoker there?
2. Assuming it is safe, is the smoke that comes out of the WSM likely to stain the siding that covers it, or will it likely sufficiently disperse so as to not be a problem.

If it matters at all, I'll be using the Minion method. Obviously I'm not going to hold anyone to anything they may comment here, as the ultimate decision is up to me...I was just hoping that maybe others had similar experiences. If anyone cares, I'll be doing a brisket and a butt.
 
Mike,
I am in Ohio and we are getting rain on and off today and Tuesday. I don't think putting it on the proch is such a good idea, unless you are going to stand guard over it the ENTIRE time w/ a fire extinguisher.
What I do in bad weather is get a big umbrella w/ an iron stand and put the WSM under it. I have the WSM on some blocks to prevent water from splashing in.
I just put a10 lb Brisket and an 8 lb butt on.
 
M D Baldwin,

Thanks for your thoughts. I am curious why you feel it would be problematic to the extent of running the risk of fire. To me the only real problem would be chance of the smoke discoloring the siding. What makes you feel the umbrella is less likely to catch fire than the siding would be with all that space to have the air cool? I'm not throwing your thoughts out the window, just trying to think things through totally.
 
Mike,
An umbrella will not catch fire unless you have a concentrated fire under it. It reaches about 8 foot or so and w/ the WSM going it should not be a problem. Welcome to the world of smoking!
 
Alot also depends on how far away from ANY potentially flamable material the smoker will be. You said your porch has cement so it's not a risk of the coals dropping on the floor and catching your house on fire. Is there a chance the WSM could be blown over and catch the house on fire? If so then yea, that's a potential problem. I have cooked with my WSM sitting on my back porch area before but it sitts on a "flowcrete" floor area and the porch area is screened in and covered. There is a minimum of 4 feet in every direction and I have a fan blowing in the area to keep the smoke dispersed so as not to pose a carbon monoxide risk back into the home area. Even still I only take "catnaps" during the cooks.
 
Okay, so maybe I've been living dangerously for these years, but I always run the WSMs on my covered but non enclosed back porch. Concrete floor, protected from the north and west by the house, roofed over with simple corrugated metal over 2x4 studs. However, I've been running these two girls on a very regular basis on this back porch for the last three years, and there is no smoke stain on the white siding walls of the house, on the 2x4s, or on the underneath side of the roof.

Keri C, still smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
I have about the same exact situation as you Keri, except the roof of my porch is 1x4's, roofed and painted white underneath. I've been smoking like that for at least 2 years. The only thing I won't do is actually leave while I'm running the WSM on the porch, unless it's just to the corner gas station 2 minutes away. I can sleep like a baby and I've never had the smoke stain my porch roof or white siding. I would only be worried about it blowing over but it would take a hell of storm to do it.
 
I don't use the unbrella during storms for fear it will take off/get knocked over in any strong winds. I break out the hot water heater wrap (double sided), and pinch off the top with cloths pins so the rain can't get into the WSM.
 
I run my WSM on my patio under my deck (walk out basement). Deck is probably 10 ft up...WSM 10 ft from house. (brick tho...).

never had or thought of an issue. I would never put the WSM ON a wood surface due to ashes etc...but 7-8 feet below your porch roof I would feel is fine...heck the wind will probably blow the smoke around anyway.

Wind would be of more concern than a little rain for temp control.
 
My back patio has a concrete slab with wood overhang. I have always smoked on the patio. It is not enclosed except for the side that the house is attached to. The house has never gotten smoke stained, nor has the roof, and I even hang my clothes on the line next to where the smoker is set up, and never had a problem. I would venture to say that the smoker stands about 10 feet from the house, and two feet from a wood 4X4 post that holds up the overhang. I dunno, just always been too lazy to venture across the yard into the hot sun to smoke on the open slab the shed sits on. We've had evening monsoons lately, and it just wasn't beneficial to smoke anywhere BUT underneath my patio.
 
I have a poarch that sounds a lot like Mikes only maybe a little smaller (5ft width). I've smoked on it a couple of times when I thought it was going to rain and the only issue I had is what my neighbors will think (like what's next, a couch?).

Like anything, there is a risk of fire if the WSM gets blown over. Other than that, I think you'd have to do something careless to have a problem. One person who posted here told a story of lighting the fire, putting on the middle section (no top) and walking away. This apparently caused a very intense fire that if under your poarch would have started a fire according to the poster (one big chimney).

Keep everything buttoned up and I don't think it's any riskier than smoking on a wooden deck which many people do.
 

 

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