First, let me start by clarifying that I do love my Memphis Pro. I'm just looking for tips and ideas to be able to reverse sear beef without tossing a coin on the odds of starting a grease fire.

I've had my grill for less than a year and think I've had 6 grease fires now. Two on Prime Rib (4-5 pounders), two on chuck roasts at medium cooking temps like 325 or 350, others doing steaks. I don't clean my pit to Trooper's described detail, but before I start a fatty beef cook, I always make sure the grill is scraped down and there's no grease in the catch pans. Though on at least two of the fires I had just finished a burn off, scrape down, vacuuming out and drip tray change right before starting the cook (so it was Trooper clean). Essentially, the grease from the cook I'm doing is starting the fire. I usually start at 200-250 until a temp of 120, then try to turn up the grill to 500 until meat gets to 135 (we like medium).

I've had fires on the drip tray and in grease pans. I love to reverse sear Prime Rib and steak, so would like to hear others methods to do this without having a fire and ruining our dinner or my grill. I've even tried GrillGrates (I had some already from a past grill that ended up being full fit for my Pro). I used those on my last Prime Rib, thinking that another layer between the Fire and the meat might help. That ended up causing a fire on the GrillGrates instead of lower in the grill and charred the xxxx out of my ribeye roast even though I was right there and removed it pretty quickly.

The one thing I have not yet tried is cooking on the middle shelf with a pan under the meat on the main grate so I can remove that pan when I turn up the heat. I'm not totally opposed to this, but if there are any other ways that don't take away cooking space I'd love ideas to try.

Hmm...this is interesting/concerning.  I am in the market for a grill and was considering a Memphis Advantage.  I do like reverse searing steaks so I look forward to the responses.

Probably the reason I don't use my Elite for high heat cooks anymore which is unfortunate.  You may try the pan underneath technique as that was the first thought that came to my mind.  gtsum may be able to help here because I think he does a lot of high heat cooks.

Do you keep the lid open or closed when you are doing the high heat searing?  What temp are you setting the grill to?  Does the grease fire start while the grill is heating up to temp or when you put the meat back on the grill?  Any other insights you can share may be helpful for me and others in troubleshooting or helping us use our Memphis for high heat cooks too.

One of the main things I like about my Pro is doing high heat searing of steaks.  I have not had a grease fire for some time.  I  usually do New York Strip and do them at 600°.  I do not use the Direct Flame insert when I do them (I did have a grease fire with that once - which is why I don't use it - I hate that sooty smoke taste in my steaks).

If I do Ribeye Steak I usually trim off some of the outside fat.  I did six of those at one time with no fire on my Select at 550°.

Z

Hmm...this is interesting/concerning.  I am in the market for a grill and was considering a Memphis Advantage.  I do like reverse searing steaks so I look forward to the responses.

Send a PM to Trooper and ask him about his Advantage.

Z

Probably the reason I don't use my Elite for high heat cooks anymore which is unfortunate.  You may try the pan underneath technique as that was the first thought that came to my mind.  gtsum may be able to help here because I think he does a lot of high heat cooks.

Do you keep the lid open or closed when you are doing the high heat searing?  What temp are you setting the grill to?  Does the grease fire start while the grill is heating up to temp or when you put the meat back on the grill?  Any other insights you can share may be helpful for me and others in troubleshooting or helping us use our Memphis for high heat cooks too.

Lid closed, setting to 500 and I don't pull the meat. I'm just raising the temp to brown it up and that's usually plenty sear for us, especially on rib roasts. Steaks sometimes are done before the grill makes it to full set temp.

One of the main things I like about my Pro is doing high heat searing of steaks.  I have not had a grease fire for some time.  I  usually do New York Strip and do them at 600°.  I do not use the Direct Flame insert when I do them (I did have a grease fire with that once - which is why I don't use it - I hate that sooty smoke taste in my steaks).

If I do Ribeye Steak I usually trim off some of the outside fat.  I did six of those at one time with no fire on my Select at 550°.

Z

I haven't had any issues if I just 'grill' anything with a clean grill. Works great there. It's only when I try to reverse sear.

Also, for full disclosure, one of the two steak fires I've had was when thought I had both a chuck and a petite sirloin roast and the sirloin actually ended up being 2 sirloin steaks when I opened the package. Since it was all already thawed, I smoked the chuck at 250 and when it was almost done, threw the sirloins on at 250 until they hit 120-125. By this time the chuck was done and off the grill, so I raised the temp up to 450 (not super hot since I had just cooked the chuck too) and wham-o, another fire on the drip tray. It was only a single 2-3 pound chuck roast.

I don't do reverse sear on my Memphis, partially because of the fire potential, but also cause I don't like to wait while the Elite is heating up to high temps. If I'm doing reverse sear, I'll finish on the gasser or in a cast iron pan on the gasser's side burner. I understand why you want to use a single appliance to get the food cooked, but for fattier meats it just doesn't work great - I think any pellet grill - with the exception of the PG500/1000 - will have this problem.

One thing to consider is doing a sear first. When reverse sear became all the rage I was convinced it was superior and produced more uniformly cooked meat. But I occasionally over-seared using reverse sear and ended up with bands/bullseyes anyway. And after experimenting with both forward and reverse sear on Sous Vide steaks,  I came to realize that both can produce similar results. As long as you pay attention, you won't get any banding. So crank the grill high, let it preheat and then sear. Remove, lower the temp and leave the lid up till it cools sufficiently, and then cook till done.

GREAT LOOKING STEAKS!     

Z

I guess I have always been able to deal with the flare ups so it is a non issue!  Once the flame burns the grease off it is no longer a problem.

Probably why you have no hair on the back of your hands