Pellet grill in apartment

[hinds90]

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.

 

[Rings Я Us]

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.

 

[hinds90]

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

 

[WaterRat]

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?

 

[hinds90]

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.

 

[Blue Kettle]

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.

 

[muskyjunky]

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.

 

[mmorris_56]

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.

 

[radio]

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.

 

[mike243]

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 :)

 

[hinds90]

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.:(

 

[hinds90]

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.

 

[bregent]

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.

 

[dreadylock]

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

 

[cukoo bbq]

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

 

[bill1]

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.

 

[dreadylock]

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

 

[forktender]

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.

 

[dreadylock]

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

 

[bill1]

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".