Smoking With Plastic?

dbCooper · June 2023

Time to clean ash out. Normally the KAB has some encrusted remains that easily come off using a bristle brush. This time it has what looks and feels like melted plastic in numerous spots on it. They do not just scrape off, planning to attack using a drill and wire brush. Pics of underside...

Topside...

Running with the High-Que grate until I get the KAB cleaned up. Remind me be careful of dislodging it when stirring used coals...

I quit using one major brand of charcoal after finding braided nylon rope in a couple bags. This gunk here is from a brand I wouldn't have expected it from. Giving a rethink to my dump/light method of loading the Egg. Do any of you inspect the contents in your lump bags before using it?

HeavyG · June 2023

I never pour directly from a bag. I always empty bags into storage bins. That enables me to pick and choose which pieces I want and avoid any odd items (tho I haven't seen anything weird in a bag in many years).

stlcharcoal · June 2023

That doesn't look like plastic to me.....just gunk and ash. Scrape it off and carry on.

But you are right to be concerned with plastic rope or threads being in charcoal......mostly a problem with imported brands as a lot are bulk shipped in polywoven "super sacks". In US-made charcoal, there shouldn't be much plastic in production downstream from the kilns (so if a piece of plastic did find it's way into a wood bundle, it wouldn't last the many hours at 1500F+ in the kiln.)

briwald · June 2023

I usually pour directly in and give it a little rake to get the small bits/dust to fall through. I've found a few hunks of stone/ceramic (probably from the kiln during production) over the years and once a solid chunk of unburned wood, but never any plastic or metal.

dbCooper · June 2023

@stlcharcoal - Thanks for the insights. I'm familiar with crusted ash and food gunk on the basket. This is not that.

To add, grilled steaks last night. Knowing the ash was due to be emptied I left the Egg running at 600F or so until remaining charcoal was gone, an hour or so. That should have taken care of any food gunk. It did on my grids that I left in to clean them up.

Couple pics after hitting with a scraper and wire brush, it's on there solid.

stlcharcoal · June 2023

briwald said:

I usually pour directly in and give it a little rake to get the small bits/dust to fall through. I've found a few hunks of stone/ceramic (probably from the kiln during production) over the years and once a solid chunk of unburned wood, but never any plastic or metal.

Yes, unfortunately, the rocks and kiln pieces are common......metal is not UNcommon even though most companies have magnets to hopefully grab it before it gets in the bag. Either way, all of those stuff has been through the inferno of the kilning process, so you're hopefully not going to get anything bad out of them. Definitely keep an eye out for plastic though--that's bad stuff.

I had a customer send me an email about a melted blob of plastic he found after lighting his egg--talked about the black smoke that was bellowing out. He sent me a picture and I could see AA batteries and what looked to be a magnet, a hood, LEDs, etc. Turns out he knocked his grill light off the bracket and it fell in the firebox. Hahaha. But good move on his part of stopping when he saw the black smoke. Black smoke means hydrocarbons (i.e. plastic, petroleum, etc.)

stlcharcoal · June 2023

dbCooper said:

@stlcharcoal - Thanks for the insights. I'm familiar with crusted ash and food gunk on the basket. This is not that.
To add, grilled steaks last night. Knowing the ash was due to be emptied I left the Egg running at 600F or so until remaining charcoal was gone, an hour or so. That should have taken care of any food gunk. It did on my grids that I left in to clean them up.
Couple pics after hitting with a scraper and wire brush, it's on there solid.

Yeah now that you knocked the crusty stuff and zoomed in.....yeah could be. I'm surprised it still on there if it was that hot though.

lousubcap · June 2023

Regarding loading the lump charcoal-I dump the bag into storage bin(s) then from there to the BGE. If going L&S I will use a few larger pieces angled to the bottom (helps with air flow) then pour the remaining in. FWIW-

Canugghead · June 2023

Not saying you did this but just reminded me of this PSA boo boo I made...
I almost put a chicken or roast on the grill with the absorbent pad still stuck to the bottom

fishlessman · June 2023

just dump it in and wait for the plastic to burn off

MaskedMarvel · June 2023

I have a fire pit in the backyard that gets used more for melting propolis from queen extruders and such than anything else.

Throw the basket in the fire outside the egg.

Legume · June 2023

Hit it with a weed burner

Langner91 · June 2023

I thought the rocks were in there so the plastic stuff didn't stick to the grill parts.

alaskanassasin · June 2023

MaskedMarvel said:

I have a fire pit in the backyard that gets used more for melting propolis from queen extruders and such than anything else.

Throw the basket in the fire outside the egg.

Don't get me started on queen excluders. fwiw if they are packing it with propolis they probably don't like it.

dbCooper · June 2023

Can you guys clarify what you're doing to queens (bees, I hope), are you Excluding them or Extruding them? And why?

Epilogue to my "plastic gunk" on the KAB: hit the gunk with propane torch until ashed over, then scrubbed with a wire brush. Calling it good...

Smoking With Plastic?

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