Is this safe?

[chrisr]

Hello everyone. My first smoke is rapidly approaching, and I am super excited.

I have been thinking about something though. I live in a townhouse. Our "back porch" is a screened in and tiled area about 12'X15' with a 9' or 10' roof. I regularly grill inside the screen enclosure with temps up to about 450. These temps rarely go for more than 2 hours though. I am wondering if it is a bad idea to smoke in there as well. I know the temps are not as high, but they will be lasting much longer. I have a one door Brinkmann vertical so it doesnt come anywhere near the roof of the enclosure, and I can position the smoker in the middle of it so that I dont run the risk of burning the screen sides.

My gut says that as long as I light my coals outside of the screen, and keep an eye on everything through the sliding glass doors (especially for the first smoke)it should be fine. I have a hose and extinguishger close by in case of emergencies (althought I would really like to avoid those).

I could do it in my driveway, but we have a bunch of kid's in the neighborhood, so that would mean I would be babysitting it all day to make sure that no one accidentally gets hurt.

What do you think?

(I'm not sure that this is the right section for this question. Sorry if it is in the wrong one.)

 

[the dude abides]

If you grill on it, and you think you can safely light the coals outside and somehow bring them inside without dropping hot pieces as you bring them in and you've got a hose ready to go...I'd think you'd be ok.

But then again, that's a lot of "ifs". Always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[pepeskitty]

I would say you would be fine as long as your smoker is not too close to something. Radiant heat would be your biggest concern. So no closer than say 18 inches or so to something then you should be fine. Just put your hand on anything near by and see if it's getting warm. The smoke should leave through the screen so no issues there.


Of course, have a fire extinguisher near by is always a good idea.

 

[jirodriguez]

I have a covered wood porch off the back of our house. Only thing I have to watch our for is when I transfer the lit chimney from my weber kettle to my offset firebox. I wet down the boards well right before and right after I do that -just to be safe.

 

[chrisr]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It seems like I should be ok. Luckily the ground that I could possibly drop hot coals onto is all grass (which I will wet down before all of this and tile. With someone on the hose, I think the transfer should work out ok. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes. This is a great forum!

 

[gnubee]

You could also use one of those woodstove platforms made of sheet metal to put your smoker on. We had a woodstove in our house while I was growing up and the walls near it were sheeted with tin, the stove itself sat on the small metal platform.

I put a 4ft x 4ft deck of 12" tiles on the floor under my woodstove to catch any coals that dropped on the floor.

 

[alx]

At competitions we light our charcoal funnels over a standard size metal garbage can with a cheap grill/screen that fits circumference of can.

Will hold mucho ash before emptying and putting the lid on gives a safe area for the ashes/coals from cooker to snuff out....

 

[jirodriguez]

Also forgot about those BBQ mats they sell at most home improvment stores. Basically a fireproof rectangle that you can put down under your BBQ, also keeps any drips from messing up your tiles. I wanna say they run $30-$40.... but not sure.

 

[got14u]

Usually if you are questioning something about safety it is not...only you will be able to know if it's safe. Wood will not "normally" combust until around 800 degrees or so if i remember right. but prolonged exposure to high temps will also light it up. Is your floor wood ? Sorry I see it is tile..I would do it...but that's me. It really sounds like you all the necessary precautions in place....only other one would be fire insurance..lol...good luck on your first smoke

 

[alx]

Yep-i set a lit funnel on one at a comp in august and burned a hole right threw it....

 

[DanMcG]

You might consider a piece of cement board under your smoker just for another layer of safety. it's relatively cheep and it would be worth it

 

[mballi3011]

To me it sounds like you have taken an alot of preconstions to make sure that nothing will go wrong. But there is always the unseen dangers involved in everything. But I if you plan on keeping a very close eye on the smoke then you should be finr in my book but I don't own the apartment complex so. Go For It

 

[chrisr]

Thanks for everyone's replies. Unfortunately, I got crazy bust this weekend and didn't get to do my first smoke this weekend

. I was thinking about it though, and came up with another question. When you guys and gals are done with your smoke, do you extinguish your coals? If so, how do you do it? I am thinking a garden hose is the easiest, but will that make a huge mess?? Is this even an issue? Thanks!

 

[phreak]

Be prepared to talk to the property "manager".

 

[beer-b-q]

If you are in a duplex town home or apartment you may be breaking the law... Here it is against the law to have a grill or smoker on an apartment or duplex town home deck I believe that would also include a screened in porch...

i would check with the complex management before doing it otherwise it could get you evicted...

 

[meateater]

I live upstairs in an apartment. I have a UDS and smoke all the time now. I use those fire starter packs and start my fire right in the UDS. I dont use lighter fluid so no chance of a mishap. When I'm done I just close the valve, put the lid on tight and let it set a day or three. That way I know theres no hot coals. I did the same method on my old ECB. Hope this helps.