# Smoker burning coating off.. food ruined??



## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

Ok, I got a char griller deal... yes I'm new.

I'm a touch concerned. Today on my first real smoke its burning the coating off the firebox. It does not smell pretty at all. 

Is this gonna ruin my cook??

3.5 hours in








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## davidhef88 (Aug 17, 2013)

Did you season the smoker for a few hours empty?


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

Yes. I coated everything In vegetable oil and cooked almost a whole bag of charcoal also practicing heat control. Yesterday. 

I also already grilled on the grill section. 

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## davidhef88 (Aug 17, 2013)

I think it should be alright.


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## bama bbq (Aug 17, 2013)

Are you sure its the coating and not just carbonized grease flaking off?


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## daveomak (Aug 17, 2013)

JAX, morning....  usually, the first run with the smoker is *"as is"* or after a soap and water scrubbing, *and at a high temp*...  as high as you can get it....   say 450-500 deg.... or on a gas grill 700 ish....     That burns off all the stuff the manufacturer used to form the metal etc.....     Then coat with veggie oil and run the smoker/grill at regular operating temps for a couple hours to season it....    

Not being sure what temps you achieved, in your test practice burn, there could be fumes from paints, oils and your veggie oil you are smelling...   You have to decide what you are doing from here...

Dave


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

Thanks Dave. 

I didn't measure the box temp.  Just the grilling area. Which I tried to maintain 225-250 range. 

The stuff that's burning off today is on the outside of the firebox. 

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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

This is where its happening. 








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## bama bbq (Aug 17, 2013)

OUTSIDE the fire box.  That builds character.  No problem with the food.  If it bugs you, once it cools take a wire brush to it and hit it with some high temp grill paint.


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

Is it my grill or does everyone smell real Terrible when that stuff starts burning off?

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## daveomak (Aug 17, 2013)

Jax, It looks as if the smoker got hotter on the cook than it did during the "seasoning" run....   You have to decide whether the food got tainted with something from the oils/paints inside the smoker....   ain't worth you or your loved ones getting sick over $20 worth of meat....   the hospital bill could be a lot more than that...


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

For $hits and giggles I stuck a temp probe in the fire box. Its over 450 at my 225* grate temp which is where I cooked it in last night. A few times it was over 300 inside my grill. So it had be over 500 In the box for awhile. 

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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

DaveOmak said:


> Jax, It looks as if the smoker got hotter on the cook than it did during the "seasoning" run....   You have to decide whether the food got tainted with something from the oils/paints inside the smoker....   ain't worth you or your loved ones getting sick over $20 worth of meat....   the hospital bill could be a lot more than that...



Dave if I go get another butt how quick is too quick to get it done?  Its 9:16am now. Can I get it done by 6pm tonight you think? 

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## daveomak (Aug 17, 2013)

If you pull the bone and cook two halves.....   Foil at 150 ish after a good smoke... then finish at 300-350 ish in the smoker of in the oven, you stand a good chance of getting it done.....    The key is removing the bone and cooking 2 halves....      Dave


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

This fire box has me worried now too.  It doeat appear to be burning off coating any more. Should it cool down and re oil it before firing it again,? 

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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

I know I can't Get Another one ready in time. Looks like it was a very expensive lesson in grill seasoning.  Gotta get it catered now.... yippie

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## fwismoker (Aug 17, 2013)

Your food is fine.. Yes just use your oven


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## davidhef88 (Aug 17, 2013)

I'll take the one you're cooking now.


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

Na.  I agree with above. It don't smell kosher my family won't eat it. I'll take this oppurtunity to crank the heat to hell and back and take care of whatever else is still lingering. Maybe do some ribs tomorrow. 

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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

I wrapped it up and its in the oven. I'll decide this afternoon on what I'm doing. 

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## raastros2 (Aug 17, 2013)

i think its just fine....just taste test it first......"the experts" say smoking and grilling is unhealthy anyway so


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## raastros2 (Aug 17, 2013)

anything on the outside is not gonna ruin the inside


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## daveomak (Aug 17, 2013)

There seems to be a lot of "go ahead and eat it" responses on here......   

For those recommending JAX eat it, and feed it to his family and possibly little kids..........

*Would you feed it to your child ?????*


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

For discussion sake, lets talk about why it would be bad...

The paint on the exterior is what was baking. It had 400+ burn inside the box for a couple hours the previous day. Then I oiled it and everything down over night. 

It wasn't until hour 3 that it started burning off.

Its my understanding a lot of people experience this with these grills because the cheap ass paint. 

I am concerned and will likely just go down to city BBQ and grab 5lbs of pulled pork. 

Just for discussion. 

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## raastros2 (Aug 17, 2013)

i WOULD feed it to people at my house....but if it makes you feel more comfortable to go get some from your local joint later this afternoon thats cool too cant knock ya for being safe


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## raastros2 (Aug 17, 2013)

especially since it wasnt till hour 3....your had already started to form a little bit bark and had gotten close if not to 140 IT by then


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## daveomak (Aug 17, 2013)

I guess one point that could be made is.......   If the smoker wasn't hot enough to burn off the paint on day one......  It could have not been hot enough to completely burn off the stuff still inside the smoker.....   

Now, with the elevated temps today, the paint burns off, possibly burning off stuff inside the smoker...  

I'm not saying that is a fact, just guessing at what is going on...  

Each time I fire up my smokers, I take them to max temp to burn off anything that could have "grown" inside.... and if I re-oil it, I take it to max temp to be on the safe side....   

This forum is not just about making sausage etc.....   We do attempt to keep our members safe, with a fair amount of food safety....   Erring on the side of "caution" is part of keeping folks safe....    

Sooooooo.......   I will continue to err on the side of caution, regardless of the general consensus..... 

Your humble friend Dave, whom is still trying to give you the best advice I know, to make your smoking adventure as safe as it can be.....


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

I appreciate the replies guys. I told the wife hours ago I was gonna go to the local place.  I finished it in the oven just to tear it apart and see how the cook went anyway. 



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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

Guys I wanted to take a second to tell you all how my cook came out!

Aside from it going in the trash lol.  I took the time to cook it through and check it out and pull it like i would to see the cook.

Holy crap, this was my first time smoking anything and it was amazing!

Pulled very nice, the smoke penatrated very well and it had a nice pretty bark, super moist in side, just real great shoulder! Aside form my mishap with the firebox and bad fumes, the cook was perfect i think!

I didnt take any pics but trust me, it was beautiful!  I tasted a piece from the middle and my juice that injected made some very nice flavors.  I used apple juice, vinegar, some worsestorshire, brown sugar and a couple spices.  This was an incredibly juicy cook guys! 

I gotta tell you, the pork i just picked up from the local joint is not near as pretty or tasty. lol 

Oh well, we live and we learn, i now have two hobbies that are not cheap!  Drag racing and smoking!  However, i can drag the rig to the track and make some cash back maybe? HAHA


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## raastros2 (Aug 17, 2013)

haha better than safe than sorry


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## davidhef88 (Aug 17, 2013)

DaveOmak said:


> There seems to be a lot of "go ahead and eat it" responses on here......
> 
> For those recommending JAX eat it, and feed it to his family and possibly little kids..........
> 
> ...


Yep


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## aarondunlap (Aug 17, 2013)

Same thing happened to my chargriller on my last cook (baby back ribs). They were delicious, and no one got sick. It's just the cheap paint that chargriller uses on these things getting a little too hot. It's all on the outside though. No worries.


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## aarondunlap (Aug 17, 2013)

Also, it's clearly stated on their site that you should not exceed 400 as it will do this to the paint. Strip it down and paint it with proper high temp paint. 
http://www.chargriller.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10


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## jax04 (Aug 17, 2013)

400* today didn't get me at 225. It got me about 200*

I think I posted some times earlier or in my other thread. It was over 400* to get low 200s at 75* ambient. 

Its all good. I'm planning to strip it and then coat it. 

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## hotnspicy (Aug 17, 2013)

JAX your experience sounds a lot like my neighbor's first smoke.  His family bought him a nice Brinkman offset but he had a hard time wrapping his head around what was really going on with his temps.  Of course the best temp information you need is grate temp.  Get that figured out & you will be good.  We are going to modify the neighbor's offset & make it a reverse flow for more even heat.  Looks like you could do that too.  Enjoy your new obsession....hahahahahahahahaha!


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## jax04 (Sep 3, 2013)

Just thought I'd check back and let everyone know I did another shoulder Sunday night for lunch labor day. 

Things went far better. Used less then a bag of charcoal, only one bag of wood. 

Cooker worked well. Meat was very moist. Made great pulled pork and everyone loved it. 

It smoked for about 5 hours and then in oven for another 6.   This is right from the oven. 







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## dummy que (Sep 3, 2013)

JAX04 halveing owened  propabley 5 or 6 chargriller of sets i would not wory about smell it is the paint  burning of the firebox stinks like hell but will not afect the meat had same problem when doing  first couple of cooks on my LANG 60 turd out to be some sort of shipping lable on bottom of firebox


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