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How to Prevent BBQ Grill Grease Fires
In general there are a few reasons why your grill may catch fire, but the most common reason is due to the build-up of old grease on your grill.
If your grill isn’t cleaned regularly or thoroughly, grease can accumulate on the burners and in a lot of other places on your grill.
When you heat your grill up, the grease turns into vapor and can ignite, causing a fire. Let’s take a closer look at a few different causes of grease fires, steps you can take to prevent them, and ways to put one out if it does occur.
1. What are some of the common causes of grease fires?
- Grease Buildup on the Surface of Your Grill
When you grill outdoors often, grease can build up on all the surfaces near the meat you cook. Greases drip from the meats you cook while grilling. The meat heats ups, the fats melt, and the the melting fats drip all over the place. Once you are finished, the grease solidifies as it cools on the surface of your grill.
It doesn’t take long or many uses before the grease can build up, liquify, vaporize, and then potentially be ignited by the flame of your grill. This results in what we call a grease fire. If you happen to be cooking super fatty meats, the dripping from that alone may be enough to start a grease fire.
- Grease Buildup in Your Drip Pan
You should never forget the drip pan on your grill. This can be easy to do because it is something you can’t see and thus not something you may remember, but you shouldn’t make this mistake. Dirty, grease-filled drip pans are another cause of grease fires.
If your drip pan catches fire, the situation could be even more dangerous for you. The reason for this is that your firebox (which could help hold in a grease fire) is separate from your drip pan. If a fire begins in the drip pan, the firebbox won’t be able to help contain it.
- A Few Other Reasons For Fires Happening in Your BBQ Grill
When it comes to gas grills, the most often reason for a fire to start is directly related to grease build up. Other causes of fires are much less common but they can be as dangerous as a grease fire, if not more so.
Some of these reasons are:
→ Mechanical Issues. A Rusty burner is an example which could result in more gas than normal flowing, creating a larger than necessary fire.
→ Leaving combustible materials near a grill is another reason. You don’t want your grill near anything flammable items, structures, etc.
→ Another reason for a fire could be a leak. This reason is one of the most dangerous gas grill fires. A gas leak that causes gas accumulation could lead to an explosion or fireball when the grill is lit up.
2. How do you stop a grease fire?
Gas grill fires can be scary but can be calmly dealt with if you know how. If a fire is large than a regular flare-up, remember to stay calm and don’t panic. Keep these tips on putting out a grease fire.
- Water is a No-No
A simple rule of thumb is to always remember that you should never use water to put out an oil-based fire. Never try to put out a grease fire with water. Instead of putting the fire out, water can cause the fire to spread, and flash steam everywhere.
- If Possible, Shut the Gas Off
If you can get close to the grill without being burned, quickly click the burners off. If possible, cut the supply of gas to the grill from the tank itself.
- Should You Remove or Put the Lid on the Grill?
When it comes to grease fires, one of the best ways to put out the fire is to smother it by taking out its source of oxygen. In the kitchen, you would do this by throwing a lid on your pan or covering it with another pan.
This would work on a charcoal grill because they have vents you can close, but most gas grills have vents and openings that just can’t be closed. For this reason and as long as there isn’t anything nearby that is combustible or flammable, you should go ahead and leave the lid off so the remaining grease can burn out.
Whatever you do, though, just be smart and never try to move a grill that is currently in use or currently on fire.
- Baking Soda and Salt Are Good Alternatives
Letting a fire burn itself out may seem crazy to you and you don’t want to wait to see what happens. In that case, you can use salt or even baking soda to put the grease fire out. Baking soda can only be used in the case of small grease fires and salt only for a moderate-sized fire.
- As a Last Resort, You Can Use a Fire Extinguisher
When all else fails, the absolute best go-to is, of course, a fire extinguisher. You can use a Class B fire extinguisher which is made specifically for usage on flammable liquids. The fire extinguishers should be a normal part of your kitchen safety measures.
3. How can you prevent grease fire?
It’s easy to understand when you should be doing more to prevent grease fires in your grill. First, you’ll likely be having more flare-ups than normal. Second, you likely haven’t had your grill deep-cleaned in a long time, if ever. And thirdly, if you can actually see excessive surface grease build-up, you need to take some preventative measures ASAP.
- Clean Grates Before Use
One thing you can do is to pre-heat your grill on high for approximately 10 minutes. This will burn off the residue from your previous cooking on the grates and other grill surfaces.
Once it is heated up, you will just need to clean the grates thoroughly with a stiff-bristled grill brush. Make sure you dip the grill brush in water before using it so that you can steam clean the grates as you go and before using it to put food on again.
Make sure you check below the grates to see if there is any other residue or grease build-up. If there is a lot of grease or residue, you likely need a more in-depth cleaning very soon.
- Check Drip the Pan Frequently
If you use your grill to cook often, you should check your drip pan regularly. The best rule of thumb is to check it each time before firing up your grill. It quite literally only takes a few seconds and you may find other things inside aside from grease. Rodents like to get into drip pans, sometimes knocking them out of place, so checking them is a smart move. Keeping your drip pan clean will also discourage those rodents in the future.
If you don’t want the hassle of cleaning drip pans regularly, you should consider disposable drips pans. They aren’t very expensive, they are easy to change out, and you can throw them away rather than deal with the hassle of cleaning the grease out of them.
- Check Your Grill for Leaks
Check your grill for gas leaks. This can help prevent one of the most dangerous types of grill fires you could ever have. If you ever break the connection in the gas supply line, you should perform a leak test.
All you have to do is:
- Apply soapy water to the connections and turn the gas off.
- If you see any bubbles forming, shut the gas off, fix the connection, and re-do the leak test.
- Be sure you perform this test after each deep cleaning of your grill.
- Hire Empire BBQ Cleaning to take care of Cleaning Your BBQ!
At a bare minimum, you should have your grill professionally cleaned a few times a year. If you use your grill more frequently, you may want to increase that number as well.
Besides the fact that having your grill cleaned by a professional regularly will significantly cut down your odds of having to deal with grease fires, it is also a good idea for a few other reasons. Making sure your food tastes great and keeping toxins out of your food are several Reasons You Should Have Your BBQ Grill Professionally Cleaned
Fires can be scary while cooking on your BBQ grill. But, as you can see above, they are easily preventable.
And if you do see that flare-ups and fires are occurring more than they should, you likely have grease build up somewhere in your grill.
