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[Canadian John]

 Just had to add: "Test of Fire". Seems appropriate. Sorry okie, couldn't pass on that one.

 BTW: This thread in evolving to a long one with a lot of good info that applies to novice on up.

[02ebz06]

Well my BS is now well broken in. I did not intend to have it this well broken in but here goes:
Decided to do some thick bacon and was going to use a drip pan under it. But changed my mind and decided to do it on the grates, but not to exceed 350*. You guessed it! Grease fire!. When grill got up to 350 and was stable there, I opened it and placed 12 strips of thick bacon across the grates being careful not to let any overlap the drip tray edges.Closed the cover and watched the grill catch up to 350* and go on up to 450 and thought it was just over shooting and would come quickly down. Apparently, that is when it caught fire.  After I looked and confirmed the fire, I put it in shut down mode with the lid closed and waited for it to burn out. Took about 15 minutes. Spent the last 2 hrs cleaning it up. Only damage I can find is that two of the lower grates are warped, one minimally, and one enough to replace.  They are well seasoned tho!.  There is some permanent stain on the upper lid and some "freckles" here and there. Also, not all the stain came off the inside, although I got most of the soot cleaned off. Otherwise I believe I am good to go.  Think I'll pass on bacon in the smoker. Maybe later with a pan under it? Not a necessity for me. 

If you are going to do bacon in a grill, and only going to 350 temp, I suggest having foil on the drip tray and spread baking soda on it. You wouldn't need a pan.
The baking soda soaks up the grease.
Then just roll up the foil and toss.

[okie smokie]

Thanks for all the good info. I go for the quarter depth baking pan and cooling rack. Should be large enough. I would now add the foil and baking soda as an extra precaution. I did do a test run today and found it working and tracking temps well set at 225*, 375*, and 450*.  Averages: 238*, 361* and 444* respectively. Will retest again on a nice quiet day in the 70-80's as it was quite windy and gusty today. Will do a repeat clean up now and consider the SS polish as well.(not sure how long a shine would last) Time for more cooking!

[02ebz06]

FYI - The foil melts when you get up to 500ish.

[okie smokie]

FYI - The foil melts when you get up to 500ish.

Yup it do. 

[okie smokie]

Well my BS is now well broken in. I did not intend to have it this well broken in but here goes:
Decided to do some thick bacon and was going to use a drip pan under it. But changed my mind and decided to do it on the grates, but not to exceed 350*. You guessed it! Grease fire!. When grill got up to 350 and was stable there, I opened it and placed 12 strips of thick bacon across the grates being careful not to let any overlap the drip tray edges.Closed the cover and watched the grill catch up to 350* and go on up to 450 and thought it was just over shooting and would come quickly down. Apparently, that is when it caught fire.  After I looked and confirmed the fire, I put it in shut down mode with the lid closed and waited for it to burn out. Took about 15 minutes. Spent the last 2 hrs cleaning it up. Only damage I can find is that two of the lower grates are warped, one minimally, and one enough to replace.  They are well seasoned tho!.  There is some permanent stain on the upper lid and some "freckles" here and there. Also, not all the stain came off the inside, although I got most of the soot cleaned off. Otherwise I believe I am good to go.  Think I'll pass on bacon in the smoker. Maybe later with a pan under it? Not a necessity for me. 

Now you can get down a really start using your grill/smoker   

In reality - sorry for the fire - it catches most of us at one time or another.  BarKeepers Friend, along with a little elbow grease really does a nice job working out those 'stains' in the stainless..  Follow up with some stainless steel polish afterwords.

On the warped grates - they are pretty tough and can be straightened easy enough. In the mean time - of the 4 grates - just arrange the worst to the outside.  I ended up making my extra upper grates for my pro - and seldom use them like I thought I would.

And above all - Keep Cooking

You said the grates could be straightened easy enough.  How?

[okie smokie]

This is the combination I normally use for cooking bacon on the grill.  Cooling rack set in  half size baking pan - usually lined with a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil - makes clean-up much easier.

What temp? I like that setup.

[Canadian John]

 Grate warp. Doesn't sound right to me!  Have you contacted Memphis ?

[okie smokie]

 Grate warp. Doesn't sound right to me!  Have you contacted Memphis ?

Yes! Was sent a reply that someone would call me in 2 working days. That was Friday-----so---Monday I should hear from them. 
So I thought I would ask TravelinMan how he would straighten the warps. 

[02ebz06]

I don't know if you can straighten them.
Two working days probably means Tuesday, but you might get lucky.

[TravlinMan]

This is the combination I normally use for cooking bacon on the grill.  Cooling rack set in  half size baking pan - usually lined with a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil - makes clean-up much easier.

What temp? I like that setup.

Same temps you were using - 350-375  The grease never touches the inside of the grill, only drips into the cookie/baking pan. If baking pan is lined with a sheet of heavy foil, once cooled - easy cleanup. I normally only cooked 2 batches of thick sliced bacon per round as to not allow the grease to build up too high in pan.

[TravlinMan]

You said the grates could be straightened easy enough.  How?

I, personally, do not see how the heavy Memphis grates would warp enough to visually notice. Even after experiencing some fires here, as I am sure others here have as well. I believe many have used a Memphis for a very long time and have experienced serious fires and the grates have not significantly warped.

With that said, The heavy grates can be straightened in a hydraulic press fairly easily, especially with an experienced person at the press.

Example of a press below.

[okie smokie]

You said the grates could be straightened easy enough.  How?

I, personally, do not see how the heavy Memphis grates would warp enough to visually notice. Even after experiencing some fires here, as I am sure others here have as well. I believe many have used a Memphis for a very long time and have experienced serious fires and the grates have not significantly warped.

With that said, The heavy grates can be straightened in a hydraulic press fairly easily, especially with an experienced person at the press.

Example of a press below.

Out of my realm of capability. I did measure temps in the grill during the fire. Highest I got was 555* but that may have been after the peak. Also discovered that the some of the fat dripped off the back of the grates and down the back to the fire box area to start the flames, then the top ignited from that.  I did not have the grill in the right spot. My fault. If I had it in the usual place it would have stayed inside the drip pan. (90% change in position)  I learned that from my RT590.  Drainage of my porch slab is minimal but enough to allow the oil to follow the grate rods to the lowest end. 
Won't (should not) happen again. Gonna go with cake pan and wire grates.

[02ebz06]

That is how I had my auger fire in the Elite at other house.
Brisket was too far to the back and grease dripped past the drip tray and onto the pellet ramp.
Caused pelleted to stick to the ramp , eventually catch fire and burn back up to auger.
My fault.

[Bar-B-Lew]

Yeah, I don't understand how those thick grates would warp from a fire.  I would think the drip pan would warp before the grates would.