# Pellet grill in apartment



## hinds90 (Jun 28, 2018)

I have been using my Weber since December of last year with no issues from landlord. Several people have various different grills/smoker on their balcony but I'm pretty sure I'm the most frequent user. 

Now my issues is the start up of the pellet grill (pit boss). It creates a crap ton of smoke on start up from looking at video. When I used my kettle with slow n sear and lump it creates minimal smoke mainly thin blue. Lol I guess I'm just afraid of ruining a good thing

Just for the record I monitor my temps the entire cook, I don't do over night cooks or leave the house, and have 2 fire extinguishers.


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## Rings Я Us (Jun 28, 2018)

If other people next to you want to have their Windows or doors open and your smoke goes in their apartment all day, that would suck.


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## hinds90 (Jun 28, 2018)

True but neighbors are cool and it's way too hot to have a window open.


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## WaterRat (Jun 28, 2018)

My PitBoss also smokes quite a bit when starting, after it gets going, not nearly so much. I wonder if the manual ignition procedure would be better? Worth a try?


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## hinds90 (Jun 28, 2018)

I was kinda thinking the same thing last night when I was reading the manual. I've had really smokey start ups with my Weber kettle using a chimney and briquettes but switching to lump has cut down the smoke tremendously.

 I'll be doing the first smoke tomorrow so I'll have first hand knowledge. 

About how long does the thick smoke last.


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## Blue Kettle (Jun 28, 2018)

Camp chef user here. I cannot imagine a pellet smoker under any sort of covered patio area. now if it's open above it could conceivably work.


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## muskyjunky (Jun 29, 2018)

hinds90 said:


> I was kinda thinking the same thing last night when I was reading the manual. I've had really smokey start ups with my Weber kettle using a chimney and briquettes but switching to lump has cut down the smoke tremendously.
> 
> I'll be doing the first smoke tomorrow so I'll have first hand knowledge.
> 
> About how long does the thick smoke last.



My Pitboss 700 smokes heavy for about 5 minutes at start up, once the cycling starts its not nearly as much smoke coming out as start up. Past the start up, I would think you would be ok for apartment balcony smoking..... Depending on how touchy your neighbors are I guess.


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## mmorris_56 (Jun 29, 2018)

Blue Kettle said:


> Camp chef user here. I cannot imagine a pellet smoker under any sort of covered patio area. now if it's open above it could conceivably work.



This. I’ve never really looked at how hot the ambient air gets but most grills state “do not to use under a covered patio” in the manual. As far as the smoke during startup, my 820FB smokes like a SOB for 5 minutes and then clears out. But that 5 minutes could choke a donkey.


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## radio (Jun 29, 2018)

I'm betting the manager or other apartment residents will call the fire department every time you fire it up.  My GMG smokes like a locomotive when it first starts and not something I would want to do on a balcony with lots of neighbors.  It would be very difficult for anyone to determine if there was an actual fire, or you smoking again.  You will get P.O'd, they will get P.O'd and the Fire department will get P.O'd and you will either move, or have to get rid of the smoker.


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## mike243 (Jun 29, 2018)

Heee heee some body with a cell phones gonna save the world lol maybe not this time but its going to happen ,lotta smoke building up to ignition not so much when its up to temps,watching for results :)


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## hinds90 (Jun 29, 2018)

Well I guess a pellet grill isn't for me at this moment. I wanted to try one out and the pit boss was such a good deal (220$). I believe it would be okay doing a manual start up based off of the video link below but then once it's lit there's another problem it's LOUD. My kettle makes no noise and the way I light it doesn't produce thick smoke.:(


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## hinds90 (Jun 29, 2018)

Well I tried the manual lighting method and it was a success. No bellowing thick white smoke. Did 2 hand full of pellets and 3 cap full of rubbing alcohol. Let it burn for 3 minutes turned it on to smoke and it was good to go.


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## bregent (Jun 29, 2018)

hinds90 said:


> Just for the record I monitor my temps the entire cook, I don't do over night cooks or leave the house,



For me, the real benefit of a pellet grill is that I can leave it unattended for a long periods, overnight, or if I'm away from the house. If not for that, I stick to the weber - which I still use for shorter 2-5+ hour cooks.


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## dreadylock (Jul 25, 2018)

i live in 4 plex apartment on second floor on startup it smokes a lot for about 5 minutes and after that little smoke my landlord don't want charcoal but lets us use electric smoker, gas grill or pellet grill no one complain about smoke i have already smoked brisket from 3am for 14 hours


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## cukoo bbq (Jul 11, 2020)

I hope people will smell it before they see it. And when they smell it. They will know- thats the smell of a professional BBQ. And therefore will NOT report it. Even if I have to bribe a couple people with a snack or two... lol


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## bill1 (Jul 15, 2020)

Is there a shared patio area you could wheel the pellet grill down to?  (Use a bike lock to connect it to a gate, etc, if you fear it being stolen while you're cooking.)  That could be your Plan B in case you find neighbors complain too much. 

Are you on the top floor?  If people live above your balcony, I can't help but believe you're _eventually _going to get complaints.


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## dreadylock (Jul 15, 2020)

I'm on top floor my grill only smokes for first 3-5 minutes during startup then at max smoke setting it'll smoke but thin blue smoke my nearest neighbor is my son in law(next door)
I've been using it now for two years no one has complain yet(knock on wood) i have a camera watching it on long smokes a fire extinguisher nearby


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## forktender (Jul 15, 2020)

bregent said:


> For me, the real benefit of a pellet grill is that I can leave it unattended for a long periods, overnight, or if I'm away from the house. If not for that, I stick to the weber - which I still use for shorter 2-5+ hour cooks.


Not a good idea and not a very responsible thing to post.
Every single pellet grill because of the forced air is a fire waiting to get out of hand.
Never leave a smoker unattended.........never!!!
The only time I will bend that rule is if I'm right inside the house and I have a remote thermometer that has a very loud high temp alarm, that being said there is no way in hell that I would ever leave a smoker burning while I was away from the house. I've personally seen 4 different brand pellet poopers burst into flames at comps when the team members were taking a break. The fire gets out of hand quickly because of the forced air fan feeding the flames, 2 of those fires made it to the hopper with in a few seconds and that is really bad news if you aren't right there to unplug the unit, turning it off remotely wouldn't help a thing because they go into shutdown mode where the fan is running to cool off the smoker.


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## dreadylock (Jul 15, 2020)

forktender said:


> Not a good idea and not a very responsible thing to post.
> Every single pellet grill because of the forced air is a fire waiting to get out of hand.
> Never leave a smoker unattended.........never!!!
> The only time I will bend that rule is if I'm right inside the house and I have a remote thermometer that has a very loud high temp alarm, that being said there is no way in hell that I would ever leave a smoker burning while I was away from the house. I've personally seen 4 different brand pellet poopers burst into flames at comps when the team members were taking a break. The fire gets out of hand quickly because of the forced air fan feeding the flames, 2 of those fires made it to the hopper with in a few seconds and that is really bad news if you aren't right there to unplug the unit, turning it off remotely wouldn't help a thing because they go into shutdown mode where the fan is running to cool off the smoker.




i wanna believe it's because they don't ever clean out the grill , i clean mines before every smoke, vacuum the ash out of entire grill wash the racks and grease drip tray,once per month i scrape and de-grease drip tray run of to bucket wash grease bucket and make sure chimney is grease and sooth free  . Because the camp chef grill gods say it helps prevent fires but i still on long cooks have camera watching and my xr-50 monitoring  temps and my ww is wifi so i have backups


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## bill1 (Jul 15, 2020)

I agree you shouldn't leave a smoker unattended, as in "gone fishing" unattended.  But with remote thermometers monitoring ambient temperature (and doneness of the meat inside) pellet smokers do allow you to go about other household chores so that they are "minimally attended".


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## JWFokker (Jul 18, 2020)

forktender said:


> Not a good idea and not a very responsible thing to post.
> Every single pellet grill because of the forced air is a fire waiting to get out of hand.
> Never leave a smoker unattended.........never!!!
> The only time I will bend that rule is if I'm right inside the house and I have a remote thermometer that has a very loud high temp alarm, that being said there is no way in hell that I would ever leave a smoker burning while I was away from the house. I've personally seen 4 different brand pellet poopers burst into flames at comps when the team members were taking a break. The fire gets out of hand quickly because of the forced air fan feeding the flames, 2 of those fires made it to the hopper with in a few seconds and that is really bad news if you aren't right there to unplug the unit, turning it off remotely wouldn't help a thing because they go into shutdown mode where the fan is running to cool off the smoker.




Nonsense. Almost certainly USER ERROR in every instance. Keep your pellet burner clean and that doesn't happen.


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## bill1 (Jul 19, 2020)

JWFokker said:


> Almost certainly USER ERROR in every instance...


Perhaps, but _THIS _user does commit errors, not all the time, but I may be close to the 1% error rate that safety professionals use for "cognizant individuals" when studying product safety.  To err is human.  

And failure to clean before each cook is not the only error that can lead to fire hazards.  Most pellet cookers include inclined trays and external grease buckets that can also fail in multiple ways and lead to hazardous conditions...even if you verified a clean machine beforehand.    

My only point is that in considering many people, over a long time, _both _inspecting your gear beforehand AND maintaining some level of awareness of what's happening inside of it, is safer than just doing one or the other.  

Doing neither is, of course, never a recommended practice.


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## JWFokker (Jul 19, 2020)

Thanks your your input. Maybe you should stay far away from pellet grills and you'll feel safer. The rest of us will continue to use them without being scared for our lives. You sound like a paranoid housewife.


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## bill1 (Jul 19, 2020)

Caution is not the same as fear.  I don't fear high voltage, high explosives, nor even automobiles,  but I respect them.  
To whom much is given, much is required.


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## Extexer (Dec 1, 2020)

In general, the smoke from the kettle is small. I don't think the neighbors pay attention to this. You don't smoke right under their windows. So I think your neighbors don't pay attention to the smoke at all. It would be different if you smoked every hour right under their windows. This is terrible. Believe me.


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