Black smoke (tons of it) from Genesis


 
J

Justin W

TVWBB Pro
Yesterday I was cooking for some friends. I on about my 4th and final round of burgers/chicken breast, when all of the sudden massive amounts of black smoke started pouring out of the Genesis.

I closed the lid, turned in off, and eventually the smoke went away and the temperature died down but it was a pretty phenominal site there for a while.

I assuming what I had was a grease fire, but I have no idea what caused it. I always preheat/burn off before using and nothing remarkable happened at that point in the cook to start the fire.

Anybody else ever experience this? Any idea how to avoid this in the future?

Thanks,
Justin
 
try cleaning UNDER the burners... plenty of junk down there to fire up and send smoke signals
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It would help the diagnosis to know where the flames were coming from. My guess would be from fat that was collecting among gunk in the pull-out tray

Chicken is notorious for causing big flare ups, and on gassers this is hard to control because even when you cut the gas down, the heat and hot surfaces are still there. Charcoal can be doused directly.

The risk is highest when the chicken is getting close to being done and the fat is fully rendering.

As a kid, I was cooking a grill full of chicken on a gasser for an extended family gathering. Everything seemed to be going well until just 5 to 10 minutes from pulling the chicken from the grill. Then WUMPF! Once it ignited, the fat engulfed the entire grill. I burned myself just trying to get in there with tongs and rescue the dinner.

Those last 5 to 10 minutes of chicken on a gasser are high risk.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Interesting. Steve, it was chicken. Strange thing was that it was chicken breast though.

Jim, I'm pretty sure it was coming from underneath the burners. I thought it was coming from within the drip pan but it wasn't.

So how do I clean that? Also how often? I'm surprised the burn off doesn't take care of it frankly.
 
the entire pan pulls out for cleaning...
get yourself a putty knife or something like it and scrape away the majority of the gunk then find a washtub big enough for the drip pan and clean the remaining grease and build up.
I clean it after 4-5 cooks (however, I haven't used my gasser in quite awhile.)
 
That's Jim. I rarely use my gasser either. I just used it yesterday because there were so many people comimg over. The gasser cools off faster and it's in a more "protected" corner of the yard (lots of toddlers in this bunch.) and it's typically easier to work with...or so I thought. I feel like it stabbed me in the back.
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Does the tray come out the top or the bottom?
 
Justin,

The pan in question just slides towards you like a drawer. It basically acts as the bottom of the grill. There is an aluminum grease catcher hanging on the bottom of the pan too. Both really need to be kept clean. I've have several close calls when the whole grill lit up like the flames of hades. Very scary.

My guess is that a big glob of fat/grease falls from the food, ignites as it falls past the burners, hits the drip tray, and all that greasy goo thats been piling up there goes boom.

The burn off is great for the grates and V bars, but does not do anything for the lower drip trays.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Justin W:
Yesterday I was cooking for some friends. I on about my 4th and final round of burgers/chicken breast, when all of the sudden massive amounts of black smoke started pouring out of the Genesis.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

any chance you're grilling on a mysterious tropical island after your plane crashed?
 
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