This is far from a new topic. The subject has a way of continually haunting us.
Back to basics. Combustible material, kindling temperature and oxygen. Remove any one = no fire.
My belief is rather simple. If your cooking method is too greasy to cook in your oven @ home it can very well be too greasy to cook on you pit.
What's your take?
Don't agree! Your conclusion is logical but logic and fact are often different. You do want a fire, but want it isolated to the fire pit, and you want grease diverted away from the flame area. In the house you can do this with a drip pan, and moderate to low heat. So yes you can do low slows in the house oven, but sorry, no smoke. But if you don't control the oven temp you can have a nice oven fire from excess temp with no flame. (not as likely but better to have it outside). You can do the same outdoors with a drip pan as well. But my point recently has been that modern pellet smokers have been designed to divert the grease properly into a safe place with goal of reducing fires to a minimum. Most brands have done so with proper design, many of which are similar. Is it perfect? No, and not likely, since other variables come into play, i.e. amount of grease produced, often unreliable temp control, pitt not level, drip tray not clean or in the right position, etc. On the other hand, some consumers report more frequent fires with some brands which suggests to me that there may be design flaws present in them that increase the risk. I believe it is worth the effort to sleuth them out for the safety of their owners, and the companies who make them (if they are open to advice).
We are all aware of the design flaw in a recent entry into the pellet grill industry. Grease was actually diverted toward the fire pit, and mixed with ashes so it would not drain well. Many reports of grease fires occurred. I had the opportunity to see the result of such a fire. Scary. Pitt destroyed.And it belonged to a local fire station.
2. O2ebz06; Good advice and easy to do.