Fire question

[Candy Sue]

After all the cooking's over at a competition, do you snuff the air or put the coals out with water? Thanks!

[Candy Sue]

I meant to add -- I LOVE my Fatboy!!! Practiced chicken today. I'd've been proud to turn this in at a contest anywhere! I'm just trying to figure when & how to shut him down to be able to load up after last turn-in.

[RiverCityRub]

Candy it really depends on the last time I added fuel. I mean if it's almost gone I'll just close down the air dampers but if there is a lot left I'll dump it in an aluminum pan with water and put foil on top of that.

[Candy Sue]

That's a neat trick, Theron! I'll remember that one for sure. Managing charcoal's a bit more work than shutting the pellet cooker off & opening the door...

[Captain-que]

What's wrong with the tried and true, shovel the coals into a pan and make a made dash for the ash barrel as flames flare up at your nose!

I've done a pretty good job of learning to judge my charcoal use. I guage my refuelling by the time left to cook and most of my coals are burnt by the end of the cook time. The few coals left, I shovel out into a bucket. I like the water in a pan idea Theron!

[Ed Embry]

I empty the ash pan into an aluminum pan and shut off the intakes and exhaust.

[ique]

I have a couple full size sheet pans,

http://www.instawares.com/full-size-alu ... ln.0.7.htm

I place these in front of my fatboys to catch basting sauce and coal if I'm refueling. At the end of the cook I just pull the firebox out and dump any excess coal and ash onto the sheet pans. Open up the doors, dump the water and i quickly have my cooker cooled down and ready to be packed in the trailer.

-Chris

[Captain-que]

I do like Chris and have the sheet pan in front of my cooker to collect ash and drippings. I also add a sheet of foil when cooking at home to keep the doors cleaner. In the pic below, you can see how much burnt on grime I prevented on the firebox door after only a couple hours of ccook time.

[j5709]

Excellent idea! I ordered 2 full-size sheetpans today! My driveway & back porch thank you!