I’ll preface this and say that I always vacuum and scrape out my smoker before I use it, but yesterday I after I pulled out a brisket, I ended up having a grease fire start inside the smoker. Eventually the fire spread down into the drip tray and then quickly melted the controller and the handle of the grease tray itself. This would’ve been a minor incident if it weren’t for that happening.
I think the fire may have started from the brisket being in contact with the wall of the smoker when I was cooking it, leading to it getting too close to the burn pot.
Do you think it’d be worth it to try replacing the components, or is it better to just toss the smoker at this point? I feel like it’d be a huge pain to try and get the controller out of the unit, same with the melted drip tray due to the handle. I’d be concerned about residue from the burnt plastic and electronics too. I’ll honestly probably just get a different smoker at this point.
On the bright side, i did finally smoke a brisket that turned out perfectly! Just in time for the smoker to melt itself though.
by lacrosse1991
8 Comments
Now is the time of year to snag a Pitboss on clearance for 50-70% off a Lowes, menards, etc
Yes it happened to me with a pork butt. I was lucky enough to catch it early and it only slightly melted my controller lasted a good while before it finally played out and I was able to get it replaced.
Mine it still going strong. Just depends on how much money it costs to replace the parts vs a whole new rig.
How long have you had it?
Yes. A hole in brisket wrap allowed tallow to leak in a stream onto hot drip pan and ignited. I now use a drip tray under each rack. Also spliced in a RecTec controller. Much better and no fires.
Yeeahhhh…. so I was doing a long smoke in mine (~16hr) this last weekend after I had just cleaned it – always do before a long smoke. Scary stuff woke up at 2am to add more water in the tray and it was a 5 alarm fully involved fire. If it had been closer to my house that would have been too (which is why it wasn’t). Best I can tell same thing happened but not sure why after 2 years and probably 100+ smokes later. RIP to the brisket and pork shoulder that were in it.
I’ve been smoking for many years and have had to deal with smaller incidents from time to time, but never seen anything like this… even if mine were salvageable I wouldn’t ever trust it again. I’m currently shopping for something a bit upgraded… looking at Yoder… Lone Star…
Toss it. I’ve burned mine out before. It wasn’t this bad though.
I didn’t know this could happen. Thanks very much for letting people know this could happen
What part is the drip tray? That thing that’s right above the water tray? It doesn’t look like it can hold a lot.. I usually end up putting a foil tray on the rack right above it full of extra water anyway and that ends up catching the drippings.