Ash and Grease System Comments

NDJon

New member
Joined
Feb 15, 2020
Messages
3
Reaction score
3
Points
3
Location
North Dakota
Can anyone comment on how the ash and grease collection system works? It looks like only Weber and Camp Chef may have the ash systems that make cleanup easier. I like Weber's solution, my only concern is the risk of a grease fire with the ashes dropping into the same pan.

Any comments or experiences would be nice to hear. Thanks!
 
Can anyone comment on how the ash and grease collection system works? It looks like only Weber and Camp Chef may have the ash systems that make cleanup easier. I like Weber's solution, my only concern is the risk of a grease fire with the ashes dropping into the same pan.

Any comments or experiences would be nice to hear. Thanks!
Along this same note (I still don't have mine yet)... Many have said that there is a lot of ash flying around and getting on their food... I thought that the whole idea was for the ash to stay below the cooking surface... So it will be interesting to know how much ash even makes it down that far vs. how much still flies around. I look forward to hearing more on this subject too.
 
My ash tray has a decent amount in it after a seasoning burn and making some steaks. About 2/3 bag. I did notice that the pan reflects the fire pretty darn good. So if it sticks out 1/4 inch it looks like the pan is on fire.
 
I'm no grease fire expert but something about all this paranoia over grease fires due to the ash system doesn't make sense to me. So i did a bit of quick googling. From what i can see, grease and oil fires don't start at the liquid phase. Once the liquid grease/oil reaches a boiling point it releases vapour. The vapour is what ignites. This temperature is often well above the smoke point of the grease/oil.

So in order for the grease/oil in the tray to ignite you would need a few conditions. The grease/oil would have to be well over 400F (often 600F). Secondly an ember would have to fall into the grease, ignite the oil and continue to smolder to maintain ignition as the fire won't continue to burn at that temperature without sustained ignition source. The oil/grease would have to be even hotter than 600F for sustained ignition.

I see a number of problem reaching this scenario. First i don't think that the oil in the tray would ever reach that temp. It would be worth checking. Second, if an ember or even a fully ignited smoldering pellet fell into a pool of oil and grease, would it not immediately be suffocated and extinguished thereby removing the source of ignition? If it were so easy for grease to ignite in a pellet grill, every bit of grease on every surface in ever pellet grill on the market would be constant igniting from ash falling on grease on the deflector shield.

I'm not saying its impossible or my logic above is complete or sound, it just doesn't seem to me that this product is any more or less dangerous than other pellet grills.

This is one of the articles i read.
 
I'm no grease fire expert but something about all this paranoia over grease fires due to the ash system doesn't make sense to me. So i did a bit of quick googling. From what i can see, grease and oil fires don't start at the liquid phase. Once the liquid grease/oil reaches a boiling point it releases vapour. The vapour is what ignites. This temperature is often well above the smoke point of the grease/oil.

So in order for the grease/oil in the tray to ignite you would need a few conditions. The grease/oil would have to be well over 400F (often 600F). Secondly an ember would have to fall into the grease, ignite the oil and continue to smolder to maintain ignition as the fire won't continue to burn at that temperature without sustained ignition source. The oil/grease would have to be even hotter than 600F for sustained ignition.

I see a number of problem reaching this scenario. First i don't think that the oil in the tray would ever reach that temp. It would be worth checking. Second, if an ember or even a fully ignited smoldering pellet fell into a pool of oil and grease, would it not immediately be suffocated and extinguished thereby removing the source of ignition? If it were so easy for grease to ignite in a pellet grill, every bit of grease on every surface in ever pellet grill on the market would be constant igniting from ash falling on grease on the deflector shield.

I'm not saying its impossible or my logic above is complete or sound, it just doesn't seem to me that this product is any more or less dangerous than other pellet grills.

This is one of the articles i read.
Thanks for sharing. I am more concerned about the ash staying in the drawer and not circulating onto the food. Any thoughts on that?
 
Thanks for sharing. I am more concerned about the ash staying in the drawer and not circulating onto the food. Any thoughts on that?

Simply put , there is a fan moving air, ash is light and easily dispersed therefore ash will circulate. I don't think ash is a solvable problem with any combustion process using wood as fuel. However once there is a coating of oil and grease on the surfaces of the bbq the ash will start to stick and be less easily distributed. It will look worse initially and after first cleaning.

I don't think ash is a big problem in general, its part of the process. BBQ is a bit of a rough and dirty process no?
 
Simply put , there is a fan moving air, ash is light and easily dispersed therefore ash will circulate. I don't think ash is a solvable problem with any combustion process using wood as fuel. However once there is a coating of oil and grease on the surfaces of the bbq the ash will start to stick and be less easily distributed. It will look worse initially and after first cleaning.

I don't think ash is a big problem in general, its part of the process. BBQ is a bit of a rough and dirty process no?
Good answer on that and it makes perfect sense... so for example watching a video of the SmokeFire at the CES show... so much ash floating around.... and most likely on fairly new units. Also on that initial burn in with no food whatsover I imagine it would magnify things. I had a Traeger Texas Elite 34 and I never really had any issues with ash on the food there... and I expect maybe even less of an issue here. Thanks for your insightful reply! So what's for dinner? hehe
 
Airplane food sadly. Headed to Mexico and my bbq won’t arrive until after I leave.

I think these grills are being over hyped . I don’t say that in the sense that it’s bad advertising or they are inferior products. I say it in the sense that people seem to unjustly expect the bbq to solve problemsthat can only be mitigated.

as a result all the problems that are being displayed on the internet are being scrutinized under a microscope. These are legitimate problems, but honestly should we be that surprised by a consumer product ? Sure it’s Weber but there is no such thing as a zero failure rate in manufactured products. Are these problems actually so severe as to warrant the outrage? Ya it’s a lot of money but it’s release week on a new product for a company with no experience in web connected and pid controlled equipment market.
 
Airplane food sadly. Headed to Mexico and my bbq won’t arrive until after I leave.

I think these grills are being over hyped . I don’t say that in the sense that it’s bad advertising or they are inferior products. I say it in the sense that people seem to unjustly expect the bbq to solve problemsthat can only be mitigated.

as a result all the problems that are being displayed on the internet are being scrutinized under a microscope. These are legitimate problems, but honestly should we be that surprised by a consumer product ? Sure it’s Weber but there is no such thing as a zero failure rate in manufactured products. Are these problems actually so severe as to warrant the outrage? Ya it’s a lot of money but it’s release week on a new product for a company with no experience in web connected and pid controlled equipment market.
I like your attitude! Have a safe trip and get back and tell me about that new SmokeFire!
 
Good points earlier on the lack of fire risk. Still curious on how people think it works functionally over time. I work with a couple of big Camp Veg fans who can't say enough good things about their Woodwinds. Pre-Weber they were the only ones who I think had an advantage for cleanup of ashes.
 
I had an issue with flying ash in the beginning, but I think one of the firmware updates fixed that because I haven't noticed any ash floating around in the past 6 months of using my EX4. I had one grease fire but that was my own fault for not making sure the bottom of the barrel was clean. I use a drip tray now whenever I'm cooking fatty meat.
So... my usual startup/shutdown ritual goes like this: 1: Clean grates, 2: push ash and extra pellets into the bottom tray, 3: make sure the fire pot is cleaned of old pellets to prevent smoldering.
 
Back
Top