Not Quite Sure Where to Categorize This, Kind Of Frightening.....

grussem

Hey Everyone!

     So this past Saturday I smoked some St. Louis ribs low and slow (270 for about 5 1/2 hours) They were pulled off of the BGE around 5 PM Saturday.  I shut down the egg as I always do, close the vent on the bottom, place the ceramic lid on top of the egg to shut it down for the evening....

     Today (Sunday) we did our grocery shopping for the week and decided to make some burgers on the BGE for dinner.  We get home from Target, decide to watch a movie, about 45 minutes before the movie is finished (about 5 PM or so) I go to our back patio, open the lid to stir the lump first (usually what I do before I start a new fire) and I proceed to clean the ash from the very bottom of the egg.  All of this took about 5-7 minutes or so MAX. I go back in, finish watching the movie and go back outside to start the fire and see that I have a fully engulfed flame on the BGE!

     Mind you the BGE was cool to the touch when I stirred the coal around and the thermometer was at ZERO.  None of the ash I scooped from the bottom of the egg and placed in a paper bag was anywhere NEAR warm or glowing in any way shape or form, also I could smell no smoke at all.  I guess it is good and bad in a way.  Good in the fact it speaks to the BGE ability to reach and hold temperatures.  BAD in the fact you REALLY need to be sure your fire/flame/heat/warmth is done before starting up again.

     Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this at all?  Anyhow, be careful out there and keep smoking!

Eric 

stemc33

Never experienced this, but have heard many fire stories of people thinking their ashes were safe when they weren't. No BGE stories until I heard yours. Doesn't surprise me though. I always put my ashes in a metal can and take them to the dump. The Dump has an ash pit.

tulocay

24 hours later? That's scary.

JRWhitee

Thanks for that information, will definitely pay more attention when cleaning out the ashes. 

stemc33

You know that type of thing would never happen if your life depended on making a fire to keep warm.

Fire is a strange animal.

Doc_Eggerton

In our fireplace, when we clean the ashes before starting a fire there will often be embers 24 hours after we let everything shut down.  Ash preserves the smouldering wood very well.

yzzi

It only takes the tiniest of embers to reignite everything given ample oxygen supply!

KiterTodd

Thanks for sharing.  I shut down my BGE the same way as you and prep for the next cook the same way.  So I appreciate the safety reminder.  There is certainly nice fuel in the egg in the form of fat drippings and charcoal and I'll make sure  I don't open the egg a day or two after a cook and then leave the house. 

That's the fire safety speech we've heard all our lives, though, right?  An errant ember can sit in your mulch, deck, house, leaf pile for several hours before the right breath of air brings it back to life.

I use a chimney starter and when I dump the lit coals into the egg there is always some "harmless" crackling and errant embers that fly out.  I'm always nervous they'll find a nice crack to sit in for a while before causing problems...

jrb06

Never assume your fire is completely out after just 24 hours. Many a house have had fires because someone thought it was O.K. to put the ashes in the trash after 24 hours or so. Some fires have ignited from so called "out ashes" longer than 24 hours. 

lewisj82

As a kid my dad had some form of Weber bullet smoker and did a turkey at Christmas. Got the bird off of the smoker and left the charcoal tray out overnight to let it all burn out. The next day, he dumped the ash into a trash bag with all of our wrapping paper and placed the bag up against the fence. (So many smooth moves there, Dad) Shortly after that my brother was looking out of the window and said "Hey, the fence is on fire... THE FENCE IS ON FIRE!"

The fence was burning, and starting to catch a tree on fire between us and the neighbors. Between my dad and brother and the neighbors who came out at first wondering why we were spraying down their windows with the hose, luckily it was caught before any major damage happened. 

This happened when I was probably 8. TO THIS DAY, 25 years later, I think of it every time I empty out the egg.