HELP! Need some advice

[JpsBBQ]

Question on cleaning - has anyone tried laying down some heavy duty aluminum foil in the 'belly' to help capture grease and soot? I'm used to doing a regular cleanout with my Spirit E330 but wonder if doing something like this might make cleanup even easier on my EX4.

There is absolutely no need for this. I’m telling you I never clean mine and have zero issues. Maybe three times a year. Probably closer to twice a year. You simply have to pay a little attention if you do a big fat rendering cook followed by a cook over 375. Animal fat combustion is at 375. Doesn’t matter the cooker. I cook bacon routinely during the summer for BLTs and have to watch it after I dump the fat from a pound or two of bacon on the grease deflectors.

The stuff at the bottom of the barrel, below the heat source is not at all an issue. I don’t care what anyone says. It’s theoretically possible for this to catch fire but HIGHLY unlikely. It is latent grease on the flavorizor bars that combusts and causes fire. Once that has happened, it’s possible for it to spread obviously but the fire never starts at the bottom of the cooker. You have to be pretty negligent to have an issue. It can happen to any of us but if we’re honest we’d take the blame.

I’ve said before that I’ve been around the block with all kinds of cookers and at least a handful of pellet cookers and they all have potential for fire. The SF is no more than any other. The fact that it’s a great grilling tool means a multitude of higher heat cooks more than less effective grilling pellet cookers.

Happy grilling!

 

[JpsBBQ]

I think foil would cause issues with the grease drains. Using pans is probably the better way to go if cleanup was a concern.

Pans are absolutely the way to go on those heavily rendered cooks I mentioned above. Good advice here.

 

[MackeyC34]

Ah - good info and thanks. My experience is based on the E330 where fat from the flavorizers would catch on fire and then drop down to the catch basin and light off the accumulated 'stuff'. I'm only 2 outings with the EX4 so lots to learn.

 

[Hispanicgamer]

Yowza... I just checked and Amazon ain't discounting the EX6 at all - but they've jacked up the EX4 price
Makes it an even EASIER decision!

EDIT -- wrong - that was just one seller. Both are MSRP.

That's what I was saying. Back in September they were both discounted $200. I wished I would've bought then. Oh well, I'm still excited!

 

[Hal4UK]

That's what I was saying. Back in September they were both discounted $200. I wished I would've bought then. Oh well, I'm still excited!

I bought in November JUST as the price was going back up... Amazon had it for $999 while everyone else was back to $1199. Didn't want to wait, and there was ONE in stock at Lowe's. I made them honor their price match promise (they tried to weasel out of it, but I got it for $999). The very next morning, Amazon was up to $1139 (?). And now... back to $1199 like everywhere else. FYI --- I've been lucky (no problems) but you are in better "starting" shape. You'll build your own and you'll know it's put together well!

 

[abmet]

UPDATE: EX6 ordered and coming this Friday from Amazon. Hope to post one of my cooks soon. Thanks for all of the input and it made it easy to decide on the EX6!

Congrat, hope you love it!

 

[Hal4UK]

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!

 

[Mr. X]

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!

sure is! what are we smoking today?

 

[Hispanicgamer]

Look what I got today from Amazon!

 

[Hal4UK]

Don't fire it up in the living room!!!

 

[Hispanicgamer]

Don't fire it up in the living room!!!

But it’s cold!

 

[Hal4UK]

But it’s cold!

Carry on

 

[Hispanicgamer]

Okay, this thing is beautiful! I decided on trying a reverse seared steak but missed getting it to medium rare. I used one of the probes to in the steak and set it on smoke boost until the internal temp of the steak hit 100°F. Pulled the steak and then set the SF to 600°F to sear. Where I screwed up was not sticking to 1.5 minutes per side of the steak. I ended up with a medium steak but it sure tasted good. Had a nice smoke ring, which I was loving. Next up will be pork ribs. So far I'm loving it!

 

[JpsBBQ]

Okay, this thing is beautiful! I decided on trying a reverse seared steak but missed getting it to medium rare. I used one of the probes to in the steak and set it on smoke boost until the internal temp of the steak hit 100°F. Pulled the steak and then set the SF to 600°F to sear. Where I screwed up was not sticking to 1.5 minutes per side of the steak. I ended up with a medium steak but it sure tasted good. Had a nice smoke ring, which I was loving. Next up will be pork ribs. So far I'm loving it!

Rule #1, pics or it didn’t really happen.

 

[Bruno]

Rule #1, pics or it didn’t really happen.

Hell that’s rule 1 2 and 3 around here!!