SmokeFire Grease Fire: Who Has Had One? What Is One?

[bbqking]

Ok so I have used drip pans from the beginning. Mainly to keep it clean. I used to clean it after every cook or two. Then about every thre or four…I recently went about 10+ cooks without cleaning and was very worried what I would find when cleaning. Surprise, not much difference in 10+ cook ash build up and 2-3, cooks. The only real difference was the grease drawer wax almost completely full of ash/pellet dust…. I use drip pans on my kettles too. For moisture and cleanliness. My gasser I’ve never even thought of drip pans with….so I’m very happy with the SmokeFire, first pellet grill I’ve owned. I honestly feel like all the bad “reviews” on this grill are/were smear campaign s by other brands that saw the SmokeFire could do. Then did there best to scare people away. Bottom line, it’s cooking with fire outside. See what happens if you cook meat in your oven without trays or pans….

 

[SmokeMaster43]

Ok so I have used drip pans from the beginning. Mainly to keep it clean. I used to clean it after every cook or two. Then about every thre or four…I recently went about 10+ cooks without cleaning and was very worried what I would find when cleaning. Surprise, not much difference in 10+ cook ash build up and 2-3, cooks. The only real difference was the grease drawer wax almost completely full of ash/pellet dust…. I use drip pans on my kettles too. For moisture and cleanliness. My gasser I’ve never even thought of drip pans with….so I’m very happy with the SmokeFire, first pellet grill I’ve owned. I honestly feel like all the bad “reviews” on this grill are/were smear campaign s by other brands that saw the SmokeFire could do. Then did there best to scare people away. Bottom line, it’s cooking with fire outside. See what happens if you cook meat in your oven without trays or pans….

I guess drip pans are in my future. I do love the product my SmokeFire produces and will keep using it. I'm also so impressed with anyone who says they haven't experienced a fire and needed to know how. "Only YOU Can Prevent SmokeFire Fires" - Smokey The Bear

 

[JpsBBQ]

I honestly can’t imagine someone being more negligent than I am. I can’t get the thing to catch fire. I feel like I’m a failure.

 

[SmokeMaster43]

I honestly can’t imagine someone being more negligent than I am. I can’t get the thing to catch fire. I feel like I’m a failure.

Don't be too hard on yourself.

 

[MrPhilGrillTX]

I had some extra flames on my last cook, but they were from fatty steaks when I was trying to sear them. I moved them to the left side, and the flames went out. I'd post a picture, but my browser or windows won't let me.

Its a pretty normal flare up like I would get when cooking on charcoal. Just a little more exciting because there are three levels of fire going. (I had steaks on the main and top racks, plus the flames on the flavorizers and maybe some below. Usually I suffocate these on my kettle with the lid, but that doesn't work on the pellet grill.)

 

[MrPhilGrillTX]

Got the picture upload to work, I think.
Steaks were tasty.

 

[JpsBBQ]

I will recommend closing the lid. It may not fully extinguish the flames but it will dramatically reduce them I would think. OTOH, you can grab you some Long tongs and get busy managing your meat.

 

[Tom049]

I’ve had a grease fire in my Genesis; but, so far no grease fires in the SF4. That being said I was smoking a London Broil using SmokeBoost when I got a flame out shut down. I decided to restart so i could finish cooking. All was going well set at 225F when I realized it was overheating. I did not get the grease fire code; but, I did initiate a Shut Down that took about 20-25 minutes before it shut off.

 

[Goneincognito]

I’ve had a grease fire in my Genesis; but, so far no grease fires in the SF4. That being said I was smoking a London Broil using SmokeBoost when I got a flame out shut down. I decided to restart so i could finish cooking. All was going well set at 225F when I realized it was overheating. I did not get the grease fire code; but, I did initiate a Shut Down that took about 20-25 minutes before it shut off. View attachment 5705

Did you clean out the burn pot and excess pellets before starting it back up?

 

[folder]

I’ve easily used over 500lbs of pellets with my EX4. It’s a gen2 that I got in August, 2021, during their sale at the time. I didn’t use it during the winter (~November through March where I am.) But outside of that date range, It’s usually used at least 2-3 times per week.

I clean after every 5-6 normal cook sequences, and also clean it before a low and slow cook like a pork butt or a brisket. Not once have I encountered a grease fire with it. (4 full briskets, and over a dozen pork butts so far.)

So far, the only issue I’ve had with my EX4 was during spring, 2022. Turned it on, and there were a sequence of about 3 or 4 firmware updates that it had to go through after being off for the winter. After those were done, I had this weird issue where the controller would lose its set temperature in the middle of a cook … I’m talking 2-3 hours into a low and slow, so it was pretty annoying. I’m not sure what fixed it in the end, as I both re-paired it with the app and also did a factory reset of the controller. One of those actions, or perhaps both, seems to have fixed it.

 

[Tom049]

No, I didn’t think about that until the fire. I cleaned it this week and found there were still unburned pellets amongst the massive ash.

 

[MrPhilGrillTX]

I will recommend closing the lid. It may not fully extinguish the flames but it will dramatically reduce them I would think. OTOH, you can grab you some Long tongs and get busy managing your meat.

I closed the lid after moving the meat to the left side, at which point the flames went out. Long tongs are a must.