BBQHQThe world of cooking over fire

Fire safety — read this first

Stop and deal with this first

If flames are coming from accumulated grease rather than from the food, or if the fire is spreading beyond the cooking area, stop cooking. Turn the gas off at the cylinder if it is safe to reach, keep the lid closed, never use water on a grease fire, and call the fire service if it is not immediately controllable.

Troubleshooting

Flare-ups

Fat and juices reach the fire and ignite, throwing flame up around the food and blackening the outside long before the inside is done.

Work out which one it is

Each cause below lists the signs that point at it rather than at the others. Start with the signs, not with the fix.

  1. Rendering fat is falling straight onto burning coals or burners.

    common

    Signs it is this one

    • Flames appear a few minutes into the cook rather than at the start, and follow the fattiest food.
    • The food is directly above the fire with no gap.

    Why it happens: Fat is fuel. Cooking fatty food directly over the fire drips it onto the heat source, where it vaporises and ignites — which is why the problem worsens exactly as the food starts to render rather than at the beginning of the cook.

    What to do

    • Move the food to a part of the grate with no fire beneath it and let the flames die before moving it back. — during cook, reliable

      This is Weber's own instruction for an uncontrolled flare-up, and it is better than closing the lid: starving the fire of air also stops the cook, and reopening can reignite it. Note that the lid advice reverses if what is burning is accumulated grease rather than the food's own fat.

    • Set up two zones from the start so there is always somewhere to move food to. — next time, reliable

    Next time

    • Trim heavy external fat where the cut allows, and keep a fire-free zone available throughout.

  2. Old grease in the cooker is burning rather than the food's own fat.

    occasional

    Signs it is this one

    • Flames come from the bottom of the cooker or from the drip tray rather than from directly under the food.
    • The cooker has not been cleaned since several fatty cooks.

    Why it happens: Grease that has collected on the bars, in the bowl or in a drip tray ignites at temperature and burns independently of the food. This is the version of the problem that becomes dangerous, because the fuel is not under the cook's control. Weber attributes recurring flare-ups to exactly this: grease left on the cooking grates, and a dirty cookbox that is no longer letting grease drain away.

    What to do

    • If flame is coming from accumulated grease rather than from the food, turn off the gas or close the vents, keep the lid closed, and let it burn out. Do not use water. — during cook, mitigation only

      The lid instruction is the reverse of the one for a flare-up, which is why the two have to be told apart first. Water on a grease fire spreads it, and Weber states that prohibition in its front-cover danger notice rather than in its troubleshooting table. This is the point at which the cook stops being a cooking problem.

    Next time

    • Clean the bars and empty the grease trap between cooks.
    • Keep the cookbox clean enough that grease drains away instead of pooling where it can catch.

What this covers

This is BBQHQ’s diagnosis for it caused flare-ups, on the foods below.

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