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A question I've never seen asked before....

The Naked Whiz
The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Has anyone ever had a neighbor complain about the smoke because a member of their family has asthma or some sort of breathing related condition? I haven't, but I was just wondering.....
The Naked Whiz

Comments

  • No sir, my neighbors like the smell of my smoke but I can see this happening.

    Lazydog B)
  • vidalia1
    vidalia1 Posts: 7,092
    Pork Butt Mike has a grumpy neighbor in Florida who just doesn't like the smoke. I don't think it is medical though... :unsure: :blink: :S .
  • bbqbeth
    bbqbeth Posts: 178
    yep! Omly in an apt. complex tho...
    silly people..
  • Roll Tide
    Roll Tide Posts: 505
    Seems like avindictive neighbor to me. Wonder if other issues led to this problem, if this is in fact an actual situation brought to your attention.
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    I would tend to think anyone complaining of smoke is merely jealous, and that greasing the skids with a rack of ribs would do wonders.
  • Not an Egg, but the worst story I've heard was a guy who opened a BBQ joint in the Boston area, whose smoker vented out across from a school for Hasidic Jews and a home for asthmatic orphans. Needless to say he wasn't too popular with the neighbors. Rumor has it that he had to move his smoker someplace else to keep the restaurant open.

    EDIT: Found an article on this story (I had heard it 2nd hand from a friend who lives in the neighborhood) ... turns out it was a center for Jewish Asthmatics. According to this article, he was forced to remove the smoker, and reopened the restaurant with a new theme.

    http://www.scandalouscandice.com/pork_chops_chicken/2010/02/a-quick-glance-american-craft.html

    -John
  • NotabuttDave
    NotabuttDave Posts: 181
    Just the opposite, my neighborhood comments on how good it smells. However, I smoke about once a month, grill twice a week with the EGG and, sadly, use the gasser twice a week.
  • bbqbeth
    bbqbeth Posts: 178
    exactly..that's the way i see it..my complainer brought me two filets the next day..an apology of sorts.
  • Don't worry, we will get you off of that dirty ol' gasser
  • Bama Chad
    Bama Chad Posts: 154
    My wife is currently preggo, about 15 weeks, and is extremely sensitive to all smells, especially smoke. Needless to say, I haven't been able to cook on the egg much lately :sick:
  • Capt Frank
    Capt Frank Posts: 2,578
    My wife [now deceased] had emphazema and COPD and was on oxygen 24/7 for the last 5-6 years of her life. Our home sat on about a 2 acre lot, as did all the neighbors. She loved the outdoors, but when fall came around and everyone started raking and burning leaves she became a shut-in for the day. I recall us coming home one day when the neighbors were burning and she could not make it into the house and we had to call the EMTs.
    This was pre-egg, but we did a lot of grilling on the gasser and I don't recall that bothering her very much, but I know if I had been smoking ribs and butts the way I do now, she would close up the house and wait patiently in the kitchen for dinner.
    I am only pointing out that there are a lot of folks out there with serious health problems that can be affected by our hobby/passion, and we need to be sensitive to there condition and alert them if we are planning an all-nighter or whatever. Sharing food is also good :)
    Pork BuTT Mike, however, just has a Butt for a neighbor :evil: :lol:

    Capt Frank
    Homosassa, FL
  • Kenny 13
    Kenny 13 Posts: 321
    I've had people on other forums tell me that they have had neighbors complain about the smoke. I recall one guy talking about a neighbor who was a vegetetarian and constantly complained.
  • No complainers on my block. I tend to share what I smoke, maybe that's why. ;)
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    My son has a third floor apt in NYC. With a fireplace. Which is one of the reasons he rented it in the first place. Whenever he builds a fire, the neighbor below him complains about the smoky smell. Not quite sure how the smoke travels downward, but apparently, it does. As far as I know, no medical issues, just someone who likes to b!tch.

    Maybe he should try COOKING in the fireplace. If he cooked.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • if it's an old building, they probably share a flue. since no one else has a fire, there's probably a lot of cold air in the flue, and a down-draft. when he lights his, his rising smoke will cause cold outside air to be drawn in at the top. incoming air can come down one side of a flue as smoke goes up. that can cause some smoke to "trickle down".

    either that or there are cracks somewhere.... :whistle:
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Prob'ly. Maybe he should just do it on low pressure days - never thought to suggest that. My chimney draws MUCH better on cloudy days. I keep telling him to build a fire anyway, but he rarely does. He's nicer than his old man. B)

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • do they smell smoke at the start of the fire, or all the way thru?

    if a tall chimney is filled with a column of cold air, his smoke will have to push its way up thru it all, and often will go downward instead if it can. if he is finding there's no draft, what he can do is hold a lit sheet of newspaper (crumpled) up in the chimney above the damper and smoke shelf. that can sometimes preheat the air column, and help get it going up and out before lighting the real fire.

    those new york chimneys would have been in use all at the same time back when they were supplemental heat. that would have helped the draft
  • yer over thinking this, he just needs a new flux capacitor
  • where's he gonna get the 1.21 gigawatts from, genius?
  • Capt Frank
    Capt Frank Posts: 2,578
    This sure jumped off topic real quick :ermm:

    Capt Frank
    Homosassa, FL
  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
    If you have smoke coming out of your egg, you are using the wrong lump and need to figure out how to BBQ correctly. Please see the Naked Whiz site for all your answers.

    :whistle: :woohoo:
  • bbqbeth
    bbqbeth Posts: 178
    it's not always the brickettes..it's the wood.......
    the good part.
  • followed it all the way though, dinnitcha?

    ;)
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    No idea WHEN they smell it, Jeff. But I'll suggest the newspaper thing. Can't hurt. He's on the top floor of the building so he has less of the column to pre-heat. Thanks for the suggestion.

    As for the flux capacitor, he said he already tried that. They were gonna make him move out. Something about his lease term being up 5 years earlier. :blink:

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • egginator
    egginator Posts: 569
    One time (at band camp) I had a small fire in the egg and a lot of extra chunks of pecan. So, I loaded the egg to the top of the ring with the pecan, let it light pretty good and then shut it almost all the way down to make some pecan lump. Well it smoked so much the neighbor came over to see if he should call the fire department, but not to complain. It did make a firebox full of really nice lump.

    Ed
  • Metalhead
    Metalhead Posts: 668
    nope, and my neighbors are forever burning stuff in the backyard....oh and whatever it is.....stinks

    my other neighbor is an elementary school....(the side that the eggs are on) and they have never said anything
  • Pharmer
    Pharmer Posts: 37
    At first I read this and I thought, "No ... nobody could be so anal as to complain about BB-Q smoke."

    And today I remembered that I live in Ottawa ...

    bge.jpg

    Sigh. Sadly, it's what I've come to expect (from far too many) in a government town.

    Here is a link to a larger picture to make the text easier to read (from today's Ottawa Citizen):

    http://lh4.ggpht.com/_9OESum-SKMA/TBpUEO4525I/AAAAAAAABdY/kDUUjy6shdA/s800/bge.jpg