Keep your gas grill clean...you've been warned!


 
Chris: That is wise with any public grill. They are treated like any other rental. Most people don't make the bed and vacuum the floor of a hotel room when they leave either. I know the assisted living center my parents were in had a Genesis E3xx on the back patio for the residents to use. Yes, it was a rusty mess inside as it was left out uncovered but it was also very gunked up. I was going to do some ribs at home and take them over there to finish off/warm up, but I didn't want to have to spend the time and effort to clean it up enough to use it for just a quick cook. I didn't even look at the drip pan or grease pan.
 
At what point does a grill become dangerous? My grills are recently cleaned and yet I get flare ups on the Dave Santana stainless flavorizer bars quite frequently. They've not lastsed long and I've assumed it's par for the course but am I doing something wrong? I tend to run the grills hot. I like to sear my meats and the results well done.
 
Roy-Parallax said:
At what point does a grill become dangerous? My grills are recently cleaned and yet I get flare ups on the Dave Santana stainless flavorizer bars quite frequently. They've not lastsed long and I've assumed it's par for the course but am I doing something wrong? I tend to run the grills hot. I like to sear my meats and the results well done.
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It's a common problem, especially with fatty meats. You can put a drip pan under the meat or use a pan or griddle. I don't have that problem with my grates. :)

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Roy-Parallax said:
At what point does a grill become dangerous? My grills are recently cleaned and yet I get flare ups on the Dave Santana stainless flavorizer bars quite frequently. They've not lastsed long and I've assumed it's par for the course but am I doing something wrong? I tend to run the grills hot. I like to sear my meats and the results well done.
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Doesn't matter what brand of flavorizer bars you have, flare ups are going to happen. One of the best ways to fight them is to do a good burnoff before you start a new cook. If you do have a fire in your grill, open the lid and let it burn for a few seconds to prevent damage to the grill and then shut the lid to snuff the flames. We've all had to take food off the grill to keep it from burning up during a fire, but keeping the grill clean and letting the grill heat up properly goes a long way. Another thing is to use indirect cooking, meaning, don't cook your food over a lit burner. I learned that from the Weber owner's manual 20 something years ago when I first got my grill.
 
Ed P said:
It's a common problem, especially with fatty meats. You can put a drip pan under the meat or use a pan or griddle. I don't have that problem with my grates. :)
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You mean your grill grates, lol? Of course not, the drippings don't go through.
 
I had a ham on the roti in a kettle catch fire once, but at least with a kettle you can close all the vents and put the fire out.
 
Steve Hoch said:
I've had some grease fires come out of nowhere before, can't explain it, just happens sometimes.
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It's just one of those things! If you see how far above the coals a roti ham is on a kettle you would think, no way! I started putting a griddle (or a drip pan) on a rack under the ham after that experience.
 
Ed P said:
It's just one of those things! If you see how far above the coals a roti ham is on a kettle you would think, no way! I started putting a griddle (or a drip pan) on a rack under the ham after that experience.
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That's why I usually don't walk away from the grill while I'm cooking something for more than a minute or so. You just never know when things are going to go wrong !
 
You and me both! Doubly so if you are cooking under an overhang or patio cover or in the front of a garage.
 
Steve Hoch said:
Yes, the whole turkey fryer thing is something I have to take a giant pass on.
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We tried it once...I turned the flame off before I put the turkey in the fryer...good thing I did, oil splashed everywhere. And what do you do with 5 gallons of peanut oil when you're done? We made a lot of tasty french fries but that's a lot of oil to store and dispose of.
 
Ed P said:
We tried it once...I turned the flame off before I put the turkey in the fryer...good thing I did, oil splashed everywhere. And what do you do with 5 gallons of peanut oil when you're done? We made a lot of tasty french fries but that's a lot of oil to store and dispose of.
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Yeah, it just isn't worth it in my opinion. I like turkey the old fashioned way.
 
Steve Hoch said:
Yeah, it just isn't worth it in my opinion. I like turkey the old fashioned way.
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I didn't care for it, either. You are right about the traditional part of it, too. We only have turkey once a year, and every year we have a "debate" about whether to do it on the roti or in the house. My wife likes the smell of the turkey cooking in the house, but the bbq flavor wins out most years, and it's less work for her.
 
I did a fried turkey once about 15 years ago. It was a disaster. Took WAY longer than it was supposed to and wound up with an overcooked turkey on the outside by the time the inside got to temp. Looking back, I probably didn't let the damn thing defrost long enough. I remember when I put it in the oil went from 350 way down and it took forever just to get it back up to over 300....that is why I figure the turkey wasn't defrosted well enough. It also took an hour longer to cook than expected so it messed up the whole dinner.
Then, as others mentioned, you have gallons of expensive used oil to either dispose of or store for re-use. No thanks. I got off that fad quick.
 
I love fried turkey. The key is to put the turkey in the empty pot fill with water until it covers the bird, take out turkey and mark water line. Don't put more oil than the line and it will not overflow. The price and left over oil got was a lot so I got one of the Big Easy oil less turkey fryers and used it for many years. It was really fantastic. Crispy skin, juicy turkey, and done outside and fast. Over the years we used it, it paid for itself in the oil I saved. Sold it when we moved.
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