Grease Fire

[Roadsterguy]

Hi All,

I did my first cook on the smoker this past weekend. Its a 95 gal RFOS. I did beef ribs, spatchcock chickens, pork ribs and italian sausage. Ran the fire at 250 and the smoker held it great. The smoker was running for 6 hours (beef ribs) and everything else went on based on what I though I needed to get the food done at the same time. The last to go on was the sausage. An hour into the sausage cook, a great fire broke out when I opened the door.

Fortunately, I saved the beef ribs (they were on the side where the fire broke out, which is the fire box side. I wondering what is the best way to prevent a grease fire? Should I put some water pans on the BP? I had trimmed the fat from the beef ribs, but they still had plenty of marbling in them and the chicken also had the skin, which had completely rendered. Most of the drippings stayed on the BP and didn't drain.

Any thoughts on how to work this out? I've even thought about putting a slight rise on the FB side to get the fat to drain out the other end.

Thanks, John

[towtruck]

Sausage gets oily fast. You might have to make sure to put high fat meats on the other side away from the hot spot.

[Roadsterguy]

Do you get any drippings out the drain? I'm wondering if I need a slight slope in the BP. When I built this I used the Smokerbuilder plans, but it didn't say to slope the BP

[towtruck]

A slope will help for sure but if the BP is getting hot enough it will still light it off. I would try a slope first before anything else. No sense having a drain if nothing makes it to it.

[Zroadn]

Does it have a shadow plate under the BP by the FB? A couple of members here were telling me on my 1st build to add a shadow plate, that it would help reduce the initial heat on the BP next to the FB.
The slope to the grease drain would also help.

[Dirtytires]

Do NOT slope your baffle plate. It will mess up with the airflow.

I would look to see if you have a hole/gap in your welds on the baffle plate that is allowing grease to drip under it. Wouldn’t take much grease to work thru and find its way to the firebox to get a fire going. The baffle plate should be fully welded and able to hold water.

[Roadsterguy]

What about adding a water tray under the cooking grate on the FB side?

[Roadsterguy]

Does it have a shadow plate under the BP by the FB? A couple of members here were telling me on my 1st build to add a shadow plate, that it would help reduce the initial heat on the BP next to the FB.
The slope to the grease drain would also help.

It doesn't have a shadow plate and it would be very difficult to add one now.

[Zroadn]

True that.

[Dirtytires]

A water tray will catch some drippings but it is not going to prevent grease from dripping into your firebox. And it definitely is not going to magically put out a fire....

Clean out your pit and remove the racks. Grab a hose and put a half inch of water in your baffle plate then open the firebox door and, with a flashlight, see where the water is dripping thru. Mark it, drain the water and weld the holes shut. Just make sure you test it again to make sure you got the right areas. You should be able to let your smoker sit full of water overnight and still have a dry firebox in morning.

[Roadsterguy]

A water tray will catch some drippings but it is not going to prevent grease from dripping into your firebox. And it definitely is not going to magically put out a fire....

Clean out your pit and remove the racks. Grab a hose and put a half inch of water in your baffle plate then open the firebox door and, with a flashlight, see where the water is dripping thru. Mark it, drain the water and weld the holes shut. Just make sure you test it again to make sure you got the right areas. You should be able to let your smoker sit full of water overnight and still have a dry firebox in morning.

That’s a great idea. Thanks!

[mp4]

You can always place a shadow plate above the baffle plate. As for tilting the baffle plate, I'm not a fan. I like to see the drippings stay relatively directly under the meat so when it steams off it flavors the meat that it came from. Saying all that, you could weld a slanted shadow plate above the baffle plate that would direct any fluids away from the hot spot of the baffle plate.

[Roadsterguy]

Thanks to Dirtytires, I checked below the baffle plate and could see some seepage along the sides. After cleaning the cc I added additional weld along where the BP is welded to the cc. So far so good and thanks for the suggestion. The inside of my air tank has a rough surface and I think this might have been the culprit.

[Dirtytires]

You bet....glad it worked. If grease can’t get below the baffle plate it won’t ignite.