Hey! I'm new here and just got my MAK 1 Star yesterday. I did the post warm up for 30 minutes and seasoned it. Today I jumped in with both feet to do a brisket! About 2 hours into it the pellet cup caught fire! It was set to 225, the fan was running and smoke had been coming out of the vents in the back. I pulled everything off and looked into the cup and yup, there was a fire in the cup and in the end of the tube where the pellets were coming out. Ideas? I cleaned it all up and started it back up again...we'll see I guess.
fire alarm
- Thread starter barry40
- Start date
TentHunter
Moderator
If you're talking about the cup with holes, at the end of the tube where pellets come out, it's suppose to catch fire. That's the fire-pot where the pellets catch fire to provide the heat for cooking.
A Brinkman style electric smoker uses a heating element to provide heat and the wooden pucks or wood chips only get hot enough to smoulder and provide smoke. In a pellet grill, the hot-rod inside the firepot heats up only long enough to ignite the pellets and then shuts off.
Think of the firepot like a little blacksmith's forge. Pellets are the fuel and the fan is like the bellows blowing air through the holes in the firepot for combustion.
Hope this helps clear up any confusion!
Cliff