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Kind of Bummed
bjeans
Posts: 191
Did we make a mistake buying our egg? I love it, but:
1 - It's on our deck.
2 - Our house has cedar siding.
3 - There's no other place to put it.
The deck is 100% PVC aka solid plastic lumber, no wood filler. It can't burn; it could melt. We're on a wooded lot on a hill; our deck and kitchen/main floor are up a story. There are no small trees or branches nearby of any size. A large oak tree grows through the deck with lowest branches much higher than the roof line.
I sweep the deck before every cook, keep a fire extinguisher just inside the kitchen door, and a bucket of water outside. The egg is in a nest with a handler; a small metal table with cement top is by it (not the metal chairs in the pic), and a Challenger metal storage unit (no egg holder) is being built. A hose is on the deck but at the far side of the house. (Weird 3-part deck.) I suppose we could drag it over but the water is turned off in the winter at some point.
At the start of a cook the dome is open a couple minutes with me standing next to it. The vent screen is always closed. One of us sits outside at the table or just inside the kitchen (large glass door) while the temp is rising and during the cook, though occasionally I do prep in the kitchen. If the daisy wheel is off I'm right there. (We have a Smokeware cap but haven't put it on yet.)
I've already decided no super long, slow cooks. : ( I figured an egg would be safer than another gas grill but maybe not. I'm feeling chained to it, afraid to walk away. Autumn (dry leaves) is coming.
If I look straight up above the egg some branches are above it but well above the roof line. I could get them trimmed off.
I figured strict attention to safety measures would make it okay. Now I'm wondering - and am sitting here looking out at grills on neighbors' decks...
We've got 2-3K into this but obviously our and our animals' lives and our house are more important. The recent post about the fire kind of shook me up. Bummer, as we used to say. Is there anything else we can do other than sell it? No cooks when all the oak leaves turn brown? (They hang on forever.)
BTW, the trees past the deck that look fairly close and small? They're not. Some are down near the lake and some 15-20 feet from another section of the deck. One has leaf blight and is being turned into a safe snag in a week. (Snags = good for wildlife.) Thanks for your opinions.
Beth
1 - It's on our deck.
2 - Our house has cedar siding.
3 - There's no other place to put it.
The deck is 100% PVC aka solid plastic lumber, no wood filler. It can't burn; it could melt. We're on a wooded lot on a hill; our deck and kitchen/main floor are up a story. There are no small trees or branches nearby of any size. A large oak tree grows through the deck with lowest branches much higher than the roof line.
I sweep the deck before every cook, keep a fire extinguisher just inside the kitchen door, and a bucket of water outside. The egg is in a nest with a handler; a small metal table with cement top is by it (not the metal chairs in the pic), and a Challenger metal storage unit (no egg holder) is being built. A hose is on the deck but at the far side of the house. (Weird 3-part deck.) I suppose we could drag it over but the water is turned off in the winter at some point.
At the start of a cook the dome is open a couple minutes with me standing next to it. The vent screen is always closed. One of us sits outside at the table or just inside the kitchen (large glass door) while the temp is rising and during the cook, though occasionally I do prep in the kitchen. If the daisy wheel is off I'm right there. (We have a Smokeware cap but haven't put it on yet.)
I've already decided no super long, slow cooks. : ( I figured an egg would be safer than another gas grill but maybe not. I'm feeling chained to it, afraid to walk away. Autumn (dry leaves) is coming.
If I look straight up above the egg some branches are above it but well above the roof line. I could get them trimmed off.
I figured strict attention to safety measures would make it okay. Now I'm wondering - and am sitting here looking out at grills on neighbors' decks...
We've got 2-3K into this but obviously our and our animals' lives and our house are more important. The recent post about the fire kind of shook me up. Bummer, as we used to say. Is there anything else we can do other than sell it? No cooks when all the oak leaves turn brown? (They hang on forever.)
BTW, the trees past the deck that look fairly close and small? They're not. Some are down near the lake and some 15-20 feet from another section of the deck. One has leaf blight and is being turned into a safe snag in a week. (Snags = good for wildlife.) Thanks for your opinions.
Beth
Ex LBGE owner and current BGE liker
Comments
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I would put the egg as far away from the house as possible. Make sure the bottom vent screen is always in place, and I would turn the egg so if a spark does pop out the bottom it goes in the least likely direction to cause a fire.
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Thanks @Semolina Pilchard. The screen is always closed and facing the kitchen glass/metal doors about 7 feet away, and 6 feet from siding. It could be a little farther away but there's the risk of a spark going over and below the deck to bricks, stones around the oak tree, mulch and small plants, and in the Fall tons of leaves.Ex LBGE owner and current BGE liker
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I have a similar set up. PVC type deck, wood siding on the house and wood railing on the deck. I had mine in a table for a while and my table caught fire while we were away. Came out the next morning and almost crapped my drawers. Melted part of my deck but didn't spread. Fortunately. No more table for me, they are both in nests now. Have not had a problem since. I had done a pizza cook and when I shut down the egg, I guess the table went up or I had a grill brush out there that was totally burned down to a pile of bristles. I figure that may have gone up first since everything else was burned but not destroyed like the brush. It was a sobering moment. And I hate those.Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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Glad it didn't spread - worth the un-fun sobering moment! Do you think it was a spark from the vent (though it was shut, right?) or just the heat of the egg against the wood handle or something else?
I got the nest and handler for easier moving away from the house (not that it's AWAY away) and no wood. Our rails are also PVC.
Once a cook is going - say 300-400, not extreme - with the dome and screen shut, and the vent and ss cap or daisy wheel not open much, can I leave the deck/kitchen for a little while.
@The Cen-Tex SmokerEx LBGE owner and current BGE liker -
Any time I've seen or read about a fire there is one thing in common - the Egg was in a wooden table.
You have your Egg in a nest so that probably lowers the odds dramatically.
You might look at getting one of those fire retardant grill mats to put under your Egg - http://www.atbbq.com/heavy-duty-fire-resistant-grill-mat.html
You might also consider getting one of those nice metal tables. They won't catch fire and they will likely keep an Egg together if it were to develop a cracked base thus preventing the spilling of embers anywhere.
A nice metal table and a fire retardant grill mat to go under that table might be the "belt & suspenders" answer to your situation.
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk -
I have 2 LBGE on my back deck. I need to replace the screen on one as it is torn on the bottom. Finished cooking the other night and noticed a black spot on the deck from an escaped ember.....no bueno. Gotta be more careful until I get fire mats.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
-Umberto Eco
2 Large
Peachtree Corners, GA -
bjeans said:Glad it didn't spread - worth the un-fun sobering moment! Do you think it was a spark from the vent (though it was shut, right?) or just the heat of the egg against the wood handle or something else?
I got the nest and handler for easier moving away from the house (not that it's AWAY away) and no wood. Our rails are also PVC.
Once a cook is going - say 300-400, not extreme - with the dome and screen shut, and the vent and ss cap or daisy wheel not open much, can I leave the deck/kitchen for a little while.
@The Cen-Tex Smoker
I think it was either the table as this does happen over time. I did have a paver but the table was older and the cook was very hot (pizza for like 2 hours). I think the brush handle got hot and combusted but it did burn that half of the table down. Was very fortunate that the egg was still teetering in the table the next morning even though most of the top and supports were gone. A good wind could have pushed it over. If the egg had fallen over and broke with hot lump in it, that could have been a very bad day for us. I get ember all over my deck all the time. I run a small stick burner out there as well. I use a fiberglass fireproof mat under that but embers still spill out on the deck. they don't' even make a mark. That deck is not going to burn but you will have embers flying around from time to time. I don't have to worry about the land around my house catching fire so that is not a worry for me.Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
Thanks @HeavyG. I was wondering about a mat - will add a heavy duty one you link to - it looks good.
I didn't want a metal egg table due to expense and size. (Of course now we spent an awful lot on a separate unit from Challenger from their kitchen line.) It would have been awkward to move it away from the house plus would block walking and the view.
The little table next to the egg has metal legs and base and concrete slats so figured that would be safe for a hot PSWoo w/platesetter, etc.
Maybe down the road we can look at something like this, though if the base cracked I'm not sure how much protection it would give. http://www.outdoorkitchenequip.com/store/egt4/2f2a96d4-3c5b-4faf-8ce4-588c23b2c934?category=products
Good points, thanks.
I'm kind of paranoid about a drifting ember, not that I've seen one except once at the very beginning out of the chimney.Ex LBGE owner and current BGE liker -
I have my LBGE on the back deck. There is no other option. I keep the screen shut and watch continuously.Large Egg, PGS A40 gasser.
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I hate to see eggs on decks, but yours is certainly not the only one. I don't know how the un-wood ones stand up to heat. Hopefully, melting fake wood won't cause a fire that spreads to the house.
It sounds like you have the fear of God about the issue and will do everything you can to be safe. As long as you don't get complacent about it, you'll probably be okay. Don't go to the store for a forgotten spice while the egg is going. Don't buy a temp controller so you'll be tempted to go play a round of golf while the protein cooks. Try turbo cooks so don't have to do overnight cooks. I started a butt the other day at about 10 AM. Finished about 4 or 5.
Firemats are pointless as far as I can tell. @Nature Boy supposedly lost his house because an ember popped out of his egg and flew 10 or 15 feet into his garage. Got a mat that big?
And don't think that replacing the egg with a gasser is necessarily the answer either. Little Steven had a couple of eggs and a gasser on his deck. Guess which one caused this...
Best choice, put the egg down by the lake.
I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!
MichaelCentral Connecticut -
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Any ember that pops thru the lower spark screen isn't going to have enough energy to set off a fire unless you surround your grill with piles of dry tinder.
Pro tip: don't surround your grill with piles of dry tinder.
I've only seen an occasional ember shoot out the top when the whole vent was removed and it was running 800°F+. Never seen one shoot out the top when running a low and slow with the daisy wheel hole barely cracked open. I'm sure it happens tho. A simple solution might be to cut a circle of stainless mesh and place that under the daisywheel to prevent a spark from flying away.
An even easier solution might be to use a chinois placed over the top vent/daisy wheel.
Give your Egg a dunce cap!
https://smile.amazon.com/New-Star-Foodservice-38057-Reinforced/dp/B00LV31U3Q/ref=sr_1_13?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1504226225&sr=1-13&keywords=chinois
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk -
Michael, I've seen the photos and stories; that's why I'm bummed.
Put the egg by the lake? It's a steep, bumpy hike. Walk down a flight-and-a-half of steps, except I have to hold the bannister due to a wonky knee, so can't carry food. But if I could (backpack?), then make my way across the yard, down a steep, uneven path through the trees since our steep brick steps way way down to the lake don't have a railing. Stay there for the entire cook and huff my way back up the hill but what about the food... you get the idea.
Plus there are trees and plants and wood duck boxes (the boxes being wood, not the ducks), dry leaves more than ankle deep at times, which can catch on fire and blow to neighbors' homes...
So a couple questions, if you/others don't mind -
What caused Little Steven's fire?
What are embers popping out of, whether Chris' into his garage or other peoples' - the chimney or the vent? If the vent, was the screen closed? And if the chimney, is the daisy wheel or ss cap on but open some, or off?
Our vent screen is always closed and the daisy wheel always on except when I'm right there. What's the risk of an ember flying out and doing harm at that point? If an ember sailed up out of the chimney and landed somewhere I couldn't get to...
It seems that even if I'm around, how could I prevent an ember from sailing away.
So to be safe sell it?
@Carolina QEx LBGE owner and current BGE liker -
BTW, article about the type of synthetic lumber we used, aka fake wood. Not Trex, 100% plastic.)
http://www.newswise.com/articles/recycled-plastic-lumber-invented-by-pioneering-rutgers-professor
Ex LBGE owner and current BGE liker -
I don't know what caused Steve's fire other than he said it was the gasser. If he elaborated, I never saw it. @Little Steven
As for Chris' fire, I understand an ember popped out of the bottom vent and into his garage from 10-15 feet away in his driveway. This supposedly happened either before the bottom vent came with a screen or he had left it open. @Nature Boy
Perhaps they'll chime in.
FWIW, Steve and Chris both still have eggs. I think Steve has seven or eight of them. And Chris is a dealer! If you sell yours, you will probably be the first. Or certainly in the minority.I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!
MichaelCentral Connecticut -
Your pro tip is definitely one to be considered. ; )HeavyG said:Any ember that pops thru the lower spark screen isn't going to have enough energy to set off a fire unless you surround your grill with piles of dry tinder.
Pro tip: don't surround your grill with piles of dry tinder.
I've only seen an occasional ember shoot out the top when the whole vent was removed and it was running 800°F+. Never seen one shoot out the top when running a low and slow with the daisy wheel hole barely cracked open. I'm sure it happens tho. A simple solution might be to cut a circle of stainless mesh and place that under the daisywheel to prevent a spark from flying away.
An even easier solution might be to use a chinois placed over the top vent/daisy wheel.
Give your Egg a dunce cap!
https://smile.amazon.com/New-Star-Foodservice-38057-Reinforced/dp/B00LV31U3Q/ref=sr_1_13?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1504226225&sr=1-13&keywords=chinois
I was thinking about rigging something to put over the chimney. I like your idea, whether mesh or a dunce capped egg. I'd think the ss cap might also offer better protection than the daisy wheel since there are no holes at the top? But maybe I'm wrong.
Ex LBGE owner and current BGE liker -
I'm not sure what you mean by "ss cap".“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk
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Our egg dealer introduced us to Dizzy Pig rubs - raved about Pineapple Head - and told us Dizzy Pig was about 45 minutes away, so we went to visit, taste rubs, buy stuff, and I took a class. It's great. Their many classroom eggs are outside on a nice big concrete pad, of course.Carolina Q said:I don't know what caused Steve's fire other than he said it was the gasser. If he elaborated, I never saw it. @Little Steven
As for Chris' fire, I understand an ember popped out of the bottom vent and into his garage from 10-15 feet away in his driveway. This supposedly happened either before the bottom vent came with a screen or he had left it open. @Nature Boy
Perhaps they'll chime in.
FWIW, Steve and Chris both still have eggs. I think Steve has seven or eight of them. And Chris is a dealer! If you sell yours, you will probably be the first. Or certainly in the minority.
Ex LBGE owner and current BGE liker -
Sorry, the stainless steel Smokeware cap. We have one, just not on yet.HeavyG said:I'm not sure what you mean by "ss cap".Ex LBGE owner and current BGE liker -
Sounds like you have taken all the right steps regarding safety.
As a side question, could never understand why "we" go with tables. Why not use a large steel table like the one you use with a Lodge camp oven? A regulat table nest is all you need to get it up off the surface and it has sides to keep the wind out and a stray ember in.Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad! -
Easy solution: make a mat WITH 3/4 plywood then checkerboard then outdoor tile of your choice . The odds of an ember flying out past 4 x 8 area are remote at best. Artificial decking would melt not burn.LBGE, and just enough knowledge and gadgets to be dangerous .
Buford,Ga. -
Backerboard, sorryLBGE, and just enough knowledge and gadgets to be dangerous .
Buford,Ga. -
I think you're worrying too much. Sure, be smart and take precautions, but don't sell your egg just because there's a slim chance a fire might start. If we only did the things that carried zero risk, we'd never do anything. Just MHO.Jefferson, GA
XL BGE, MM, Things to flip meat over and stuff
Wife, 3 kids, 5 dogs, 4 cats, 12 chickens, 2 goats, 2 pigs.
“Honey, we bought a farm.” -
Got it. That cap doesn't incorporate any sort of screening so I don't think it would afford any more or less protection from the one-in-a-million flying ember.bjeans said:
Sorry, the stainless steel Smokeware cap. We have one, just not on yet.HeavyG said:I'm not sure what you mean by "ss cap".
I think I'd still use a dunce cap over it.
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk -
PVC will burn......it's more fire retardant than other plastics, but it'll burn if it gets hot enough.bjeans said:
The deck is 100% PVC aka solid plastic lumber, no wood filler. It can't burn; it could melt.
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You're right, of course. I should have said it won't flare up quickly like dry wood.stlcharcoal said:
PVC will burn......it's more fire retardant than other plastics, but it'll burn if it gets hot enough.bjeans said:
The deck is 100% PVC aka solid plastic lumber, no wood filler. It can't burn; it could melt.Ex LBGE owner and current BGE liker -
Beth, I feel that since your are appropriately afraid - that makes you safer. Be smart. Stay close, avoid the overnight and unattended cooks, etc. I'm in the camp that we can't live in rubber rooms. Use good judgement and you'll be ok.
The problem is that I'm not in your shoes. My eggs sit on 2 1/2 inches of limestone surrounded by rock that is sitting on concrete that's covered with a metal roof at least 100 feet from the house. I don't have your worries. Everyone has to do their own risk analysis.Coleman, Texas
Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
"Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
YukonRon -
While it wouldn't help with the Flying Ember problem (which I think is covered with the bottom screen and dunce cap) you might look at installing a side mount fire sprinkler head on your deck railing right where you park your Egg.
Wouldn't cost a lot to run some pex pipe under your deck to feed the head.“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk -
Beth, I don't have anything to add, except to say your cooking spot / view looks to be spectacular.
Phoenix -
If you haven't bought a mat yet, I've been a big fan of this one so far.
https://www.thebluerooster.com/catalog/blue-rooster-flexible-fire-resistent-chiminea-pads-p-78.html?osCsid=shfrucpkt3iep3amalkmk8sn13
Large BGE
Huntsville, AL
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