Fire!

jllbms

Last Sunday I cooked pizza on the Egg.  While preheating it, I left the cap off for way too long and the temp got up to 1200 or so (the gauge wrapped around).  I got the temp down, finished my cooking at about 7:30PM and shut down the egg.  At 0100 Monday morning I was awakened to a bright light in my bedroom window.  I went out to discover the starboard side of the Egg table in flames.  I successfully extinguished it with no apparent damage to the Egg.

Now I have to do something about the table.  My first thought was to chuck it and replace it with a stainless table; however, that's $$$.  The current plan is to replace all the top deck boards.  I'm somewhat queasy about using - who knows if it could happen a second time?

But most of the tables in use are wood and this doesn't seem to happen all the time.  Any thoughts?

Thanks,

John

ShadowNick

My guess is there was not enough of an air gap between the egg and the wood, especially for high temps.

jllbms

Oddly, the other side of the Egg didn't catch, and the wood is closer to the Egg (unless it was the brace under the top.)

grege345

Oh damn that was close. Too close!!! Something must have hopped out of there. If your worried about it happening again (for good reason) use a piece of plywood for a top and use tile with tight grout joint.

Tjcoley

Wow.  Looks like it could have been a lot worse.

CosmicVoyager

Wow! You dodged a bullet! I'm glad that you caught it early. If I were to build one, I would use ipe wood or Brazilian redwood which is very fire tolerant due to it's high density properties.  It is also very attractive.

Kempy

Very scary. Especially considering I just put my egg in a wood table.

Eggcelsior

Was the brace metal? Cen-Tex might want to have a word.

NPHuskerFL

SS is $$ however, occasionally you can find it when restaurants revamp/remodel. Other than that...yup your gonna pay for it and it won't catch fire from a egg period.

Focker

Yikes, glad all are safe and damage is kept to a minimum.

You could buy a nest, then build a separate prep table to accompany it? 

I started out with a huge wooden table.  Have zero regrets trashing it and upgrading to nests and separate prep tables.

nolaegghead

Sams, Costco, craigslist, used restaurant supply houses all have stainless commercial kitchen prep tables.  Buy one, couple hunnert bucks, and take it to a metal shop and they'll plasma-cut a hole in it.

But I think that's just solving a symptom.

Grilling, using your stove in your kitchen or any use of fire, you need to be vigilant.

henapple

I know most people use them...but I'd always be leery. Nest till you want to pull the trigger on fireproof materials. As you now know...**** happens. Glad you caught it.

jhl192

First of all, glad you woke up and all are safe. If Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature that paper burns wood can't be far from that. Surely way below 1200 degrees.

nolaegghead

jhl192 said:

First of all, glad you woke up and all are safe. If Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature that paper burns wood can't be far from that. Surely way below 1200 degrees.

I thought exactly that, 451.  I had some charring under my table when I had no air gap.

henapple

@nolaegghead‌. .directly on the table or on a stone?

nolaegghead

I had an expensive pizza stone, had stand-off legs, but the air gap was probably 1/4".  Not much air flow.  I think I took pictures of this, but this was early in my egg days.  I probably would have burned down the deck if it wasn't for this forum.

nolaegghead

...and the pizza stone broke, and I replaced it with the legs and a big slab of concrete.

hapster

I did this... Keeps everything mobile and the table was about $130 at Sam's Club.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Same exact thing happened to me but I wasn't home. Both mine are in a nest now. I will never have a wood table again.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1150036/holy-cow-feeling-very-lucky-today/p1

Carolina Q

First, so glad you caught it in time!!

From your pics, it appears not to be sitting on a wood deck. Can't tell how close it is to the house though. Regardless, you are one lucky guy!!! Anyone still think it's okay to put a grill on a deck?

As much as I like the look of a well made egg table, my egg is in a nest and will probably stay there. If I built a table, the gap between the egg and the table top would prolly be 3" or so! And with a heat shield. And then there's the bottom with the table nest, green feet, paver, whatever. I have a nest and a side table, both on a cement patio. Works for me and I don't worry about fire. As far as I can tell, the only thing that may burn is my burger.

Here's an idea that may be worth checking. Some scrap metal dealers not only buy, but they SELL scrap too. The one nearest me did so until the guy retired and sold the biz to someone else. He used to sell steel for 10¢ a pound. Stainless was 15¢ as I recall. Made no difference what it was or it's condition. 15¢ a pound. How much do you suppose a stainless table or cabinet, suitable for an egg weighs? 50 pounds? $7.50. 100 pounds? $15.

The trick is finding a scrap dealer who sells. And of course, a suitable stainless table or cabinet that hasn't been trashed. Maybe all you can find is a table TOP. Might be worth a few phone calls.

nolaegghead

Hey, I have a wood table and I can say with 99.99999% confidence that for every wood egg table that catches on fire, there are 5 or 6 that never have that problem for the whole life of the egg (and table).  Let's all calm down, folks.

Carolina Q

nolaegghead said:

Hey, I have a wood table and I can say with 99.99999% confidence that for every wood egg table that catches on fire, there are 5 or 6 that never have that problem for the whole life of the egg (and table).  Let's all calm down, folks.

Maybe. But I've seen too many of these to blow it off.

Not saying you're wrong, just that fire needs to be taken seriously.

jllbms

Carolina Q said:

First, so glad you caught it in time!!

From your pics, it appears not to be sitting on a wood deck. Can't tell how close it is to the house though. Regardless, you are one lucky guy!!! Anyone still think it's okay to put a grill on a deck?.

It was on a deck, actually. The deck has a few charred spots now. The deck is attached to the house. As you all say, lucky. I just say God wanted me to make Good Friday.

Carolina Q said:

First, so glad you caught it in time!!

From your pics, it appears not to be sitting on a wood deck. Can't tell how close it is to the house though. Regardless, you are one lucky guy!!! Anyone still think it's okay to put a grill on a deck?

As much as I like the look of a well made egg table, my egg is in a nest and will probably stay there. If I built a table, the gap between the egg and the table top would prolly be 3" or so! And with a heat shield. And then there's the bottom with the table nest, green feet, paver, whatever. I have a nest and a side table, both on a cement patio. Works for me and I don't worry about fire. As far as I can tell, the only thing that may burn is my burger.

Here's an idea that may be worth checking. Some scrap metal dealers not only buy, but they SELL scrap too. The one nearest me did so until the guy retired and sold the biz to someone else. He used to sell steel for 10¢ a pound. Stainless was 15¢ as I recall. Made no difference what it was or it's condition. 15¢ a pound. How much do you suppose a stainless table or cabinet, suitable for an egg weighs? 50 pounds? $7.50. 100 pounds? $15.

The trick is finding a scrap dealer who sells. And of course, a suitable stainless table or cabinet that hasn't been trashed. Maybe all you can find is a table TOP. Might be worth a few phone calls.

Zmokin

nolaegghead said:

Hey, I have a wood table and I can say with 99.99999% confidence that for every wood egg table that catches on fire, there are 5 or 6 that never have that problem for the whole life of the egg (and table).  Let's all calm down, folks.

Well, if you are right, let's go with 6 never catch fire for every one that does.  That's 1 in 7 chance or 14.3% occurrence of fire.  Maybe you like them odds, but I sure don't when it comes to fire.  I have a 7 shot revolver and I won't play Russian roulette with it either.

jllbms

My news gets worse. After checking it out and cooking on it a few times, now I notice a crack running the whole length of the affected side. Perhaps the Egg cracked during the high cook and heat escaping from the crack ignited the stand? Oh well, it's off to the store tomorrow to see if BGE will honor a warranty. Then to procure a nest followed by a stainless side table.

Fred19Flintstone

This is a scary scenario. I remember when Cen-Tex had his table fire and that scared me. Mostly because by the time a typical cook is over, I've had a few cold ones and not in the mood to play fireman. Even though I really enjoy woodworking, at my house the egg stays in a nest.

Lit

I had the exact same thing happen a couple years ago except my egg didn't crack. Did a pizza shut it down and a couple hours later looked out and my table was on fire. Still have a table but I made sure I have a half inch plus gap all the way around now. I am going to buy one of the z counter form kits and do a poured concrete top soon at our new house.

KennyLee

I've built a few tables and always leave at least a 1.5-3" gap around the Egg (22.5-24" for a large versus the required 21").  With a suitable gap, I can't see there being a problem, but mine sits in a table on a concrete patio too. 

Little Steven

We had a fire. Took us seven years to settle with the insurance. $155,000 in legals. Please everyone do your best to avoid this.

CosmicVoyager

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Same exact thing happened to me but I wasn't home. Both mine are in a nest now. I will never have a wood table again.

Good to Know! This thought has been in the back of my mind and I haven't really addressed it until this thread.