Ryan Gardner
TVWBB Fan
Ok, I'll be the first to admit that although I used to be pretty good about cleaning my water-pan back when I used to put water in it... since I've switched to using my stoker I've not thought about it much...
So... imagine my surprise when I'm using a hair-dryer to heat up my coals for a 350 degree standing-rib-roast cook yesterday, and the flames get high enough and I start to notice flames flicking up around my meat...
Putting my lid on and closing the vents seemed to put it out - but opening the lid created a serious blowback where the flames shot up again like crazy.
I was able to save my meat (I finished it in the oven) - and by dragging the feet of the WSM I was able to get it out from under my deck so it didn't burn my house down - but the flames on that thing were nuts.
In my rush to get the fire put out, I didn't get any pictures of it... I wish someone else around me had their camera handy and had snapped a few because it's hard to describe just how nuts that thing got.
We're talking 16-foot high flames shooting out of the thing like jet-engine afterburner.
I used a fire extinguisher to get the flames to die down enough for me to be able to put the lid back on and put the door back on - but the handle on my WSM is melted now and both my pit probe and my meat probe for my stoker are now out of commission.
So... Everyone doing high-temp cooks (or any cooks for that matter) - CLEAN YOUR WATER / DRIP PANS... A year of grease buildup is not a good thing to have sitting in your cooker waiting to ignite...
So... imagine my surprise when I'm using a hair-dryer to heat up my coals for a 350 degree standing-rib-roast cook yesterday, and the flames get high enough and I start to notice flames flicking up around my meat...
Putting my lid on and closing the vents seemed to put it out - but opening the lid created a serious blowback where the flames shot up again like crazy.
I was able to save my meat (I finished it in the oven) - and by dragging the feet of the WSM I was able to get it out from under my deck so it didn't burn my house down - but the flames on that thing were nuts.
In my rush to get the fire put out, I didn't get any pictures of it... I wish someone else around me had their camera handy and had snapped a few because it's hard to describe just how nuts that thing got.
We're talking 16-foot high flames shooting out of the thing like jet-engine afterburner.
I used a fire extinguisher to get the flames to die down enough for me to be able to put the lid back on and put the door back on - but the handle on my WSM is melted now and both my pit probe and my meat probe for my stoker are now out of commission.
So... Everyone doing high-temp cooks (or any cooks for that matter) - CLEAN YOUR WATER / DRIP PANS... A year of grease buildup is not a good thing to have sitting in your cooker waiting to ignite...