Ammonia Smell

TechnoBob · August 2009

Used our BGE for the first time last Saturday to do two pizzas. Best we ever had. Used Wicked Good Charcoal. When we were done, I just shut down all the vents. Today, I cleaned it out (yes, after just one use, but it IS new), put in a mix of new and leftover charcoal from the same bag. I thought I noticed a smell when I started it (MAPP gas), but thought it was my imagination. After I let it get to around 225-250 (pork butt time), when I opened the top to put in the meat, there was a rather strong odor of ammonia. The meat is cooking, but there is still the odor. If you hand fan the gases coming out of the top vent, you can still smell it. Has anyone every heard of such a thing? Could it be a bad match of charcoal with a high mineral content? Never have run into this is all my years of non-BGE charcoal grills. Hope somebody has some insight. Have left messages with BGE and Wicked Good Charcoal, but no replies yet. Thanks for any help.

Mainegg · August 2009

my first thought is the meat... but you say it was there before you put the meat on... All we use is wicked good. buy by the pallet and have not run across this hmmm. maybe some one else will chime in. Julie

Grandpas Grub · August 2009

Have not experienced any ammonia smell, possibly what you used to light the lump?

If you have an odd or bad smell when lighting don't put food on. That aroma will infuse into the food.

Many times folk will not allow the lump to burn clean and there is a little bit of an acrid aroma. The food will often have that acrid flavor.

If the smoke smells pleasant, so will the food.

GG

Big Papa · August 2009

I am slow cooking my Brisket today and I am using wicked good charcoal as well. I had smeled a hint of ammonia myself. I thought it was just me this morning.

Might be something Wicked Good Charcoal People should know about.

stike · August 2009

it couldn't have taken very long to get to 250. sounds like you put the meat on before the "bad" smoke of the new lump has had time to be driven off.

new lump has a lot of VOCs (volatile organic compunds). that's the faint petro-chemical smell, and it would be acrid like ammonia.

you need to let the fire cruise for a half hour to an hour at 250 before it's ready to go. give time for it to burn clean.

smell the smoke before putting meat on. the nose knows.

you didn't notice this the first time with the pizzas maybe because you didn't put any pizza on until it was very hot. by then the heat and draft have driven off the remaining VOCs

vidalia1 · August 2009

If you read Naked Whiz's reviews of lump charcoal he mentions ammonia smell several times. I only use RO and have noticed a slight ammonia smell from time to time. However it goes away quickly. I found this to share at another site:

Lump charcoal give off all sorts of compounds when burned, including sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrous oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and gases that have no taste or odor like carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Perhaps it was the SOx and some of the VOCs coming off the fire in the early stages of lighting that people find objectionable. However, as the fire intensifies, the heat of the fire consumes some of these compounds, which explains why the smell diminishes once the fire gets going.

In other words this smell should go away quickly

stike · August 2009

i'm with you. he said he "waited" until it got to 250 before putting the meat on. that's maybe a four minute wait... that fire was brand new and hadn't cleaned itself off yet. ...dollars to donuts

Unknown · August 2009

I get more of a ammonia smell when lighting Wicked Good when compaired to other brands of lump. For me it usualy dissipates shortly after lighting.

TechnoBob · August 2009

I want to thank everyone for the quick replies - EggHeads are the best :laugh: I think the problem is VOC's. I should have waited about an hour after starting the egg. I started it in the middle with lg pieces on the bottom, mids in the middle, and fines on top. As it burned, it basically was only heating up the larger lumps and releasing the VOC's. The egg has been going for 2.5 hrs and there is no longer an smell coming from the stack. Next time I do low/slow, will allow the egg to burn for an hour or so once it reaches temp and will use the "nose" test to know when to start cooking.
Thanks again for all the feedback. Will post a pic of my cart, made of Ipe with a dark granite top.

fishlessman · August 2009

i think you will still be fine with the butt though, with the long cook its usually not as important to have it really burning clean. now if this were chicken or bugers, you wouldnt like the results at all, be real careful with clean burning lump and chicken.

FlaPoolman · August 2009

Hopefully your not storing the lump near the litter box are you?? :pinch: :pinch: :pinch: :P

aoa · May 2011

I've gone through about 8 bags of WGC and it pretty consistantly gives off ammonia smell.

I light the grill, bringing to 375*, wait 45 mins to an hour. Put baked potatos on for an hour, then finish steaks at sear temps (~550*).

I can detect this smell even after burning for 2 hours. I try to load enough lump to get me through all this w/o loading too much.

Never had the happen with the BGE lump coal

Ammonia Smell

Comments

Categories