What’s your biggest or most memorable barbecuing oops?
- Thread starter Brett-EDH
- Start date
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Around 27 years ago, I got my first Weber gasser for the apartment we were living at that time.
We were having friends over for dinner and I was grilling swordfish (which I haven’t eaten now in over 20+ years).
After I got the fish off the grill and onto a charger plate, I came in through the living room sliding door.
I didn’t feel the rug under my foot, and whoops, I tripped and the cooked fish went flying off the plate.
Not all of it, but a really big piece did.
Embarrassing? Yes. Very.
We picked the fish up, rinsed it off under the faucet, added a little more seasoning, quickly warmed it on the grill and ate dinner. And cleaned up the carpet too.
My wife on rare occasions retells this story. Truth be told, I haven’t dropped cooked food off a serving plate since. Thankfully!
We were having friends over for dinner and I was grilling swordfish (which I haven’t eaten now in over 20+ years).
After I got the fish off the grill and onto a charger plate, I came in through the living room sliding door.
I didn’t feel the rug under my foot, and whoops, I tripped and the cooked fish went flying off the plate.
Not all of it, but a really big piece did.
Embarrassing? Yes. Very.
We picked the fish up, rinsed it off under the faucet, added a little more seasoning, quickly warmed it on the grill and ate dinner. And cleaned up the carpet too.
My wife on rare occasions retells this story. Truth be told, I haven’t dropped cooked food off a serving plate since. Thankfully!
Bradley Mack
TVWBB Pro
Had a date night with my wife and decided to make ribs on my Genesis before she got home from work. I stopped and bought the pre-marinated rack from Costco. I raced home and fired up the BBQ. Let it heat up and threw the ribs on the grill. I went in the house to prep some salad, and about 45 seconds after walking into the kitchen, I see smoke billowing from the window. I run outside and open the lid, and my ribs are completely charred and inedible. The sugars caught fire with the heat at around 500 F.
I shut down the grill, fly back to Costco and buy another rack. I ended up getting the same cashier and she asks me “Uh, weren’t you just here?”
I then made said ribs without incident and had to explain why dinner wasn’t ready when my wife got home.
I shut down the grill, fly back to Costco and buy another rack. I ended up getting the same cashier and she asks me “Uh, weren’t you just here?”
I then made said ribs without incident and had to explain why dinner wasn’t ready when my wife got home.
Ed P
TVWBB Platinum Member
My most memorable but not BBQing: As a young boy, maybe 11 or 12, my mother was roasting a turkey in the oven, and when she removed it she dropped it and it skidded across the floor. My parents had the neighbors over for dinner that night and the neighbor lady took off her blouse so as not to get it dirty to help clean up the mess. Seeing a woman in a bra other than my mother was memorable, as you might imagine.
But as to BBQing, we had planned to roast a turkey on the kettle while glamping in a tent trailer and I had sufficient charcoal to cover the cook, or so I thought, but it was a cold and windy night and we soon ran out of charcoal. I had to drive like 40 miles to get to the nearest store to buy charcoal and paid almost $10 for a 5lb. bag. We ate a late Thanksgiving dinner that night.
Oh...thought of one other...cooking sausages on a Coleman stove at 8000ft altitude while glamping in the tent trailer, cooked them to a crisp...Kids (now in their 40s) loved them and still remember Dad's crispy fried sausages.
But as to BBQing, we had planned to roast a turkey on the kettle while glamping in a tent trailer and I had sufficient charcoal to cover the cook, or so I thought, but it was a cold and windy night and we soon ran out of charcoal. I had to drive like 40 miles to get to the nearest store to buy charcoal and paid almost $10 for a 5lb. bag. We ate a late Thanksgiving dinner that night.
Oh...thought of one other...cooking sausages on a Coleman stove at 8000ft altitude while glamping in the tent trailer, cooked them to a crisp...Kids (now in their 40s) loved them and still remember Dad's crispy fried sausages.
DanHoo
TVWBB Olympian
Cooking steak on a Smokey Joe. 7th floor outside stairway of a 10 story off campus dorm.
Sirens, fire engines...
Saw them coming and realized they might be coming due to the smoke.
Closed all the vents, carried it up a floor and inside. Briskly walked until we saw someone and doused the coals with some water in their bathtub.
Steak was charred and raw at the same time.
Turns out they were there for a medical emergency, not the smoke from the Joe.
Sirens, fire engines...
Saw them coming and realized they might be coming due to the smoke.
Closed all the vents, carried it up a floor and inside. Briskly walked until we saw someone and doused the coals with some water in their bathtub.
Steak was charred and raw at the same time.
Turns out they were there for a medical emergency, not the smoke from the Joe.
Ed P
TVWBB Platinum Member
DanHoo
TVWBB Olympian
There was no sign prohibiting BBQ.
And, there was probably more smoke coming from 10 floors of pot heads than my little smokey Joe,
But yeah we thought we were busted.
Ed P
TVWBB Platinum Member
I can just see you being hauled away in handcuffs, doing the perp walk with a half-cooked ribeye in your hands...
BUT...on the other hand, there was a fire that tore through several apartments a few days ago, set by a charcoal grill on a balcony. Apparently, the coals weren't extinguished after a cook and somehow the grill fell over and ignited a fire under an overhang, damaged several apartments...so it does happen.
www.wptv.com
BUT...on the other hand, there was a fire that tore through several apartments a few days ago, set by a charcoal grill on a balcony. Apparently, the coals weren't extinguished after a cook and somehow the grill fell over and ignited a fire under an overhang, damaged several apartments...so it does happen.
Apartment complex fire was ignited by charcoal barbecue grill on balcony, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue says
Officials in Palm Beach County announced the cause of an apartment fire that displaced more than 50 residents earlier this month.
www.wptv.com
Steve Hoch
TVWBB Honor Circle
Just the normal stuff that happens to a gas griller over the years. I've run out of propane mid cook with no way of replenishing it. I've had high wind blow out the flames and not realized it. The best is when you get a grease fire and have to scramble to get everything off the grill before it burns to a crisp. The last thing is when you mysteriously run out of propane because you turned the grill off but left it on somehow? Still not sure how that happened.
Bob Bailey
TVWBB Guru
Was staying with our youngest daughter In Seattle for a couple of days before heading out on a road trip through Western BC. Decided to do a slab of spares on her gasser. Prepped the ribs, fired up the grill, cleaned & oiled the grates, adjusted the temp to ~250 and put the slab on. Went out about 10 minutes later and found the grill engulfed in flames. Managed to get the ribs off before they turned to charcoal and got the fire out. Finished the ribs in the oven and they turned out decent.
Upon inspection I found the grease pan under the burners was overflowing and questioned my daughter about it, knowing how well she always cleaned my grills after using them. She told me that the only one who ever used the grill was the couple who lives upstairs. As grimy as the grates were, I should have checked.
Upon inspection I found the grease pan under the burners was overflowing and questioned my daughter about it, knowing how well she always cleaned my grills after using them. She told me that the only one who ever used the grill was the couple who lives upstairs. As grimy as the grates were, I should have checked.
TimA
TVWBB All-Star
I can’t really think of anything major, mainly running out of fuel (propane, charcoal, pellets) during a cook.
My biggest screw up would be using lighter fluid on my Smokey Joe. Before YouTube was huge, I didn’t have a clue how to cook charcoal. So I would be in a hurry and hungry, figured if some was good, more was better, and had three foot flames out of that little sucker and food that always tasted awful. I couldn’t imagine why folks thought food off charcoal was good.....
Lost a good 10 years of cooking because I gave up and didn’t touch it again. A few years ago I walked past the SJ in the garage and thought I should try again, this time YouTube showed me the wonderful world of the chimney and it’s been a slippery slope ever since.
My biggest screw up would be using lighter fluid on my Smokey Joe. Before YouTube was huge, I didn’t have a clue how to cook charcoal. So I would be in a hurry and hungry, figured if some was good, more was better, and had three foot flames out of that little sucker and food that always tasted awful. I couldn’t imagine why folks thought food off charcoal was good.....
Lost a good 10 years of cooking because I gave up and didn’t touch it again. A few years ago I walked past the SJ in the garage and thought I should try again, this time YouTube showed me the wonderful world of the chimney and it’s been a slippery slope ever since.
JimMilton
TVWBB Member
My first brisket, 25 years ago, on an off brand bullet smoker. I used match light charcoal. Temperature varied widely. The result was tough and smelled like starter fluid. I still remember my Dad saying how good it was. 
My son still has the off brand bullet but just uses it as a hibachi grill.
My son still has the off brand bullet but just uses it as a hibachi grill.
LMichaels
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
At least you had hair to singeI needed to sear steaks in the winter in the rain So I needed a hot fire. Oops too hot! The sous vide rib eyes seared in seconds, had to pull them off flaming and I singed the front of my hair!
JohnTak
TVWBB Pro
At least you had hair to singe
The steaks turned out good but it was a learning experience.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Hall of Fame
These posts about lighter fluid bring back bad memories. I cannot believe we ate food that came off of gasoline lit coals.
And how many of us were stupid enough to squirt more fluid onto lit coals because there wasn’t enough fire burning already?!?!?!
I was one. Charcoal cooking has grown and dramatically changed.
And how many of us were stupid enough to squirt more fluid onto lit coals because there wasn’t enough fire burning already?!?!?!
I was one. Charcoal cooking has grown and dramatically changed.
Larry D.
TVWBB Emerald Member
#1. I was doing an overnight cook of a butt outside on our patio, controlled/monitored by my Stoker. The "fire" alarm on the Stoker woke me and I went outside to find that the door of the WSM had fallen off, and the charcoal was blazing away with all the extra air. The mini-bonfire burned up my temperature probes, but I managed to salvage the butt. Now my pre-cook preparation includes double checking the door latch.
#2. One Saturday afternoon I was cooking something on the Brinkmann smoker I had before I wised up and bought a WSM. I was inside watching a ball game when I realized that it had started to rain. I ran outside, picked up the center section (with handles) and lid and carried them to a dry spot under the deck. I then used two pairs of pliers as handles to pick up the base, which was full of burning charcoal. As a safety consultant I knew that safe lifting practice required keeping the load close to your body, but that doesn't work very well when the load is on fire. So when I bent over to set the fiery load down, my back locked up. It took me a good five minutes to get back to an upright position, and another ten minutes to get inside, climb the stairs, and sit down, where my wife found me when she came home from work. After I told her what had happened to me, she said "Don't you get paid to teach people not to do that?"
#2. One Saturday afternoon I was cooking something on the Brinkmann smoker I had before I wised up and bought a WSM. I was inside watching a ball game when I realized that it had started to rain. I ran outside, picked up the center section (with handles) and lid and carried them to a dry spot under the deck. I then used two pairs of pliers as handles to pick up the base, which was full of burning charcoal. As a safety consultant I knew that safe lifting practice required keeping the load close to your body, but that doesn't work very well when the load is on fire. So when I bent over to set the fiery load down, my back locked up. It took me a good five minutes to get back to an upright position, and another ten minutes to get inside, climb the stairs, and sit down, where my wife found me when she came home from work. After I told her what had happened to me, she said "Don't you get paid to teach people not to do that?"
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Brad Olson
TVWBB Diamond Member
I posted about it when it happened, but a couple of years back I was smoking a rack of Mangalitsa pork ribs when the WSM's door somehow fell off. The resulting conflagration caused by massive amounts of a)oxygen and b)pork fat partly melted the lid handle and the ribs were really charred, although we did manage to salvage a few shreds of edible meat.
And back in 2004 we were staying at a vacation condo with gas grills, and after cooking dinner I turned up the burners to clean the grates and then promptly forgot about them, and when I went back outside about a half-hour later the grill was spewing fire. Fortunately I was able to shut off the gas and there wasn't any obvious damage. And the grates were really, really clean.
And back in 2004 we were staying at a vacation condo with gas grills, and after cooking dinner I turned up the burners to clean the grates and then promptly forgot about them, and when I went back outside about a half-hour later the grill was spewing fire. Fortunately I was able to shut off the gas and there wasn't any obvious damage. And the grates were really, really clean.