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bears and overnight cooks

skihorn
skihorn Posts: 600
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Are black bears a risk when doing overnight cooks, or for that matter even unattended day cooks? I spend a week every 4th of July outside of South Fork, CO which is very much in bear country. They will get into any trash left out. However, I never heard of them bothering a grill, but then again I am only up there one week a year (excluding ski trip when they are hibernating). I have never seen any threads on here about it. It seems odd that it wouldn't be a problem. When I am smoking a brisket a human can smell the brisket at least a quarter mile away. I am sure a bear can smell it ten times that far. But I have never heard of it being a problem.

In past years, I have moved the brisket inside to the oven when I am in bed. Partly for bear protection and partly because of the altitude and dry air it will dry out too much if I do the whole 18 hours on the grill. However, this year I would like to leave it on all night and then finish in the oven. Am I asking for a problem? I will be using an electric water smoker, since I can't justify (nor trust the renters with) an Egg when I am only up there three times a year. The water smoker is another reason that the brisket has to spend some time in the oven as water boils at about 195 at the elevation and it will never get done.

Freddie
League City, TX

Comments

  • reccitron
    reccitron Posts: 176
    I live in an area where we have problems with bears. Just 2 weeks ago there was a little cub in our breezeway going after the trash even with the dog barking inside.

    I've done overnight cooks and have never had trouble with the bears. It's always on my mind when I do one but either it doesn't attract them or I've gotten lucky. I don't clean my grid until my next cook (Usually on the gas grill) and have never had a problem.

    Good luck I hope everything works out well.
  • skihorn
    skihorn Posts: 600
    Thanks for the reply. I guess we don't have many Eggheads in bear country.

    If you and I are correct (based on our very limited sample) I figure that it must be the heat. They are intimidated to get near something hot. Otherwise, it sure seems leaving cooking meat outside unattended in bear country would almost always lead to bad results.

    Freddie
    League City, TX
  • ibanda
    ibanda Posts: 553
    I spend a week or two in Almont, (Gunnison County) Colorado every summer. I have had bears in the driveway, and the next door neighbor recently had one on the front porch.

    I don't worry much about them during the day, but I have not done an overnight cook there. My Dad is worried that a bear is going to try to break his garage door down, trying to get to the egg (after the cook is finished and the egg has cooled down, I roll it into the garage for the night).
    "Bacon tastes gooood, pork chops taste gooood." - Vincent Vega, Pulp Fiction
    Small and Large BGE in Oklahoma City.