SmokeFire Grease Fires

[Craig Lares]

My local hardware store where I bought my two EX6 units says that they have been temporarily removed from the market due to grease fires. A buddy that saw my units and decided to buy one got the same story a week ago. Anyone know more about this? Has WEBER commented officially? I have not had any grease fires with 2 grills at 2 different homes over almost 100 cooks.

 

[AHoneyman]

Weber has asked for unsold units to be return so that they can be fitted with all of the updates. Nothing to do with grease fires. Any grease fire that has occurred was probably caused by the lack of cleaning ash residue in a timely manner. It is not wise to try to do 4 briskets and 8 pork putts without drip pans and not clean the ash from the unit.

There are multiple threads on this if you search.

 

[Dassman5]

My local hardware store where I bought my two EX6 units says that they have been temporarily removed from the market due to grease fires. A buddy that saw my units and decided to buy one got the same story a week ago. Anyone know more about this? Has WEBER commented officially? I have not had any grease fires with 2 grills at 2 different homes over almost 100 cooks.

Part of the urban myth, partly as a result of the premature release of the smokeFires combined largely with operator error. No different than with my Summit or any other pellet, gas or charcoal grill.

 

[JpsBBQ]

Animal fat combusts at 375 degrees. Cooking above that temp with a dirty grease filled cooker will result in flair ups or if a lot of fat is rendered a fire. It’s a total red herring. Any cooker does this, all of them.

 

[Dassman5]

Animal fat combusts at 375 degrees. Cooking above that temp with a dirty grease filled cooker will result in flair ups or if a lot of fat is rendered a fire. It’s a total red herring. Any cooker does this, all of them.

Amen! A few years back I had a huge one in my Summit 670 after forgetting to empty the full grease pan after smoking 2 9# pork butts, followed by cooking 100 Italian sausages and 80 burgers for my wife’s family reunion, and the next day deciding to use the sear station for a coupe of ribeyes. Full ignition as the grill temp passed 650F...The black smoke could be seen by my neighbors across the street even though I was cooking out-of-sight behind our home.

 

[JpsBBQ]

Amen! A few years back I had a huge one in my Summit 670 after forgetting to empty the full grease pan after smoking 2 9# pork butts, followed by cooking 100 Italian sausages and 80 burgers for my wife’s family reunion, and the next day deciding to use the sear station for a coupe of ribeyes. Full ignition as the grill temp passed 650F...The black smoke could be seen by my neighbors across the street even though I was cooking out-of-sight behind our home.

If you cook enough stuff and have a busy lifestyle, it’s probably gonna happen sooner or later. Just hopefully it is not damaging to the house or cooker. I have a 670 and cook bacon on it for BLT sammies. Did that a couple times and went to sear some takes and whamo! Grease fire. Totally my fault because I was in a hurry and paid no attention to what I had previously cooked. It’s a bit startling until the grease burns off.

 

[G_Gryphon]

My local hardware store where I bought my two EX6 units says that they have been temporarily removed from the market due to grease fires. A buddy that saw my units and decided to buy one got the same story a week ago. Anyone know more about this? Has WEBER commented officially? I have not had any grease fires with 2 grills at 2 different homes over almost 100 cooks.

They are actively selling Gen 2 units on their website and no modifications were made to the Gen 2 that has anything to do whatsoever with grease fires to the best of my knowledge.

As an aside, I had a major grease fire a few months back in my Weber Summit. The flames were so high that they were starting to reach some branches high above my grill. Pro tip: baking soda will snuff a grease fire out immediately and I now always keep a canister of it nearby. Big bags of it are super cheap (especially compared to your deck, home, etc.) at Costco.

Oh, BTW, before I snuffed out the fire, I went in and rescued my tri-tip first. Priorities, right?