Share youre bbq fails

  • ok we all try to help people but admit it, we all have had some epic fails!

    Ill get it started.

    I have turned a $150 wagu brisket into a rock hard metorite. One too many drinks on a long cook and fell asleep.

    Then theres the time I got distracted when I put the Saffire into full burnout mode and walked past my sliding door to see a 4ft jet flame shooting out the top of it. I had to use welding gloves to shut the thing down :D

    Share youre stories guys

  • I get the feeling this could turn out to be the longest thread on the forum.

    I've had heaps of them, mainly with pork ribs not turning out how I want.

    I haven't stuffed a $150 wagyu brisket though, that's got to be up there with the best (or worst?)

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • The great thing about BBQ fails is there's no better learning territory.

    My most soul destroying was buying a fancy-pants temperature monitor which connected by bluetooth to my phone. Did an overnight cook, set the low and high temp alarms and went to bed. Phone disconnected, alarm never went off, fire died, raw pork resulted. :D:D:D

    ~ Kamado Joe ~ Weber Smokey Joe ~ Weber Baby Q ~

  • Not had anything as monumental as stuffing a $150 brisket... I think I'd cry...

    I haven't had any cooks yet that haven't been salvageable. My worst cook was probably a pork belly I did on the weber. Not sure if it was just bad luck with a tough cut or if I just stuffed the cook up, but it came out super dry and a bit tough. Nothing a bit of extra gravy couldn't help handle but I remember being super disappointed as I love a good tender pork belly. The people we had over ate it all up, but I think they were just being polite ^^

  • Ohhh I was upset SilentBoB but had no one to blame but myself. I was trying to push the wagu brisket naked through the stall and it took forever. I had just topped up the hopper on the JB and fell asleep at 9pm. It was already a 275f to speed things up and I woke to the low pellet alarm. Cue was cold, brisket was cold. It had to go in the bin

  • I had a massive brain fart on one of my first high temperature cooks on the Dragon kamado. I was cooking burgers and had the fire near to steel smelting temperatures - I had to use welding gloves just to get close enough to flip the burgers. The burgers came off and looked great, so I closed down the vents and took them inside.

    Then my wife asks “are you going to give the buns a quick toast?” See where this is going…..?

    Buns were sliced and taken out to the Dragon. The lid was lifted on freshly oxygen-starved 600 degree coals. A puff of smoke was emitted, then drawn back in to the kamado in really pretty laminar streams……time stood still……….

    The penny dropped and I dropped the lid and jumped backwards as the fireball erupted. I picked the buns out of the garden, changed my underpants and decided that maybe we could try untoasted buns this time.

  • Last fail was last week. Had done a roast pork in the Akorn, I cut the skin off to finish crackle while the rest of the meat rested. I put in on the upper shelf of the akorn, then got distracted.

    Well obviously the fat rendered, dripped onto the deflector then ran into the coals and flamed up. What I think happened next was the skin actually melted and ran down onto the main grill and deflector before the flames turned it to charcoal.

    By the time I remembered I had this spider web like charcoal running from the upper shelf, through the main grill onto the deflector.

    Another time, steaks on a plate on the side table of the bbq. I got distracted (seems to be a theme here), came back to the bbq and half the steaks were missing along with the Labrador.

    There are MANY more, but none involve a $150 brisket.



    Traeger - Weber Family Q - Ziggy Twin Burner - Charcoal Grill - Akorn Kamado - Hark Tri Fire - Jumbuck Pizza Oven - Go Anywhere - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Hibachi Grill - Anova Sous Vide x 2

  • That could have been very serious. A good lesson for newbies.....burp your kamado.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Another time, steaks on a plate on the side table of the bbq. I got distracted (seems to be a theme here), came back to the bbq and half the steaks were missing along with the Labrador.

    I had a similar incident to this back in my uni days. Left a nice juicy steak out on the counter to come up to room temp before cooking.... heard a noise in the kitchen and walked out to my housemates cat attempting to drag the raw steak off the counter... I still cooked and ate the steak though... so not as bad as the Labrador incident 8o

  • a few weeks ago when I finally bought some better (non-matador) charcoal I did on last cook to use up what was in the pit.

    Opened the vents when I was done figured I'd let it get hot for a while, burn off some fats to make it easier to clean the next day.

    Forgot about it and when I finally remembered I cod see it glowing red through the daisy wheel. Too hot to touch on the outside, and the enamel inside is... not blistered but it's formed some weird patterns.

    Glad I didn't do it with a ceramic.

    As for meat - don't even know where to start. Nothing as bad as that $150 wagyu brick from Geoffo though. That hurts just thinking about it.

  • Yeah no $150.00 ones for me either....thank god. But geez like us all I have had many a stuff up here & there along the way.

    From the plain silly I forgot my brain day ones to some classics like my first way to salty ham I produced.

    Z Grill MINI.....Aldi Gasser.......Thermoworks Smoke...., Masterbuilt portable Charcoal Grill.

  • So this is the six burner gas plus radiant inrared gas BBQ, with loveley rotiery attachement.

    This is know, and that is to get crackle right, you need to get the BBQ hot, like the fires of Mt Duin hot.
    So on goes the pork roast onto the rotisrey , and everything lights up brighter than mt Vesuvus, just for a short while while the crackle forms, then you turn it all down low, to cook through. Well that is the plan anyway.
    TV series goes on, and sit comfortably on the couch, allowing the gas BBQ to catch fire, break the glass in the hood, and ruin everything in sight.
    The BBQ was replaced by insurance, and we did not have pork roast with crackling for dinner that night.

    Now I have the broil king gasser, and I am a wiser man now.

    Sorry no photos were recorded of the fateful events.

    Primo XL :bbq: - orange 1986 Webber Kettle - Broil King Royal Gas BBQ - Coolabah Pantera Gas BBQ - Webber go Anywhere - Cobb cooker. One or the other will be in use sometime soon. Loves using cast iron. :thumbup:

  • That story reminded me...

    Years ago, I think early or mid 2000s before all the kids/wife etc, I was over at a mate's place one evening. A few of us were having beers, talking crap, playing music etc inside while a pork roast was happily cooking in his bbq outside.

    My mate was living in the downstairs part of his mum's house, and we forgot about the pork until his mum called his phone and asked if the bbq was meant to be on fire. The fat had pooled and caught alight - flames were shooting up past the windows of the upstairs floor.

    We all raced outside, watched it stupidly for a moment and then 2 of my mates decided the only way to stop it was to tip the entire bbq upside down on the lawn. So then we had a smoldering bbq, an oil fire on the lawn and a really black, rolled pork roast. Which was actually cooked pretty good once we peeled off the ruined crackling. I do remember that much.

    Don't drink and bbq folks (yeah right - lesson not learned haha).

  • ohh I have more. Back in the early days My only cue was an Outdoorchef kettle. They have a funnel shaped metal deflector.

    So I had invited quite a few people around and was cooking a rather large pork leg (5kg+)

    So towards the end of the cook I loaded it up with fuel and let it sing to finish the crackle. Had many guests at the time.

    I was watching it a couple metres away and it just lit up, flames out of the vent. All the pork fat on the now very hot deflector lit up. I had to drag it out from under the patio, got the lid off, saved the roast and shut it down in the middle of a party. Wasnt a good look.

    Did save the roast though.

  • Worst one I have seen was just the aftermath. We for a while had an early Christmas lunch with the in-laws (first gorging), then drove up to the farm for dinner (second gorging).

    The roast lamb was in the 4 burner gasser. Anyway, the gas pipe where it went in the back of the BBQ cracked and gas was being sprayed into the bottom of the bbq. This thing went up very quickly and very spectacularly from all accounts, to make it worse it was one of those Jarrah frame jobs that were popular for a while, so yes all the timber flame was alight.

    My brother was able to shut off the gas and get the hose off the bottle very quickly, but there was no saving the BBQ. I simply saw the remains. From memory he was also able to save the lamb.



    Traeger - Weber Family Q - Ziggy Twin Burner - Charcoal Grill - Akorn Kamado - Hark Tri Fire - Jumbuck Pizza Oven - Go Anywhere - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Hibachi Grill - Anova Sous Vide x 2

  • Had a lamb on a spit for a bucks do many years ago..

    We decided to put some ducks into the belly cavity and tie it up.

    Once the belly shrunk and the tie wire cut through, the ducks fell into the coals and the whole thing went up =O

  • I just remembered a classic fail of mine: some years ago I had one of those coolabah upright gas smokers. It leaked so much smoke that I thought I'd be clever and add a seal around the door.

    One day I was using it and noticed the temperature dropping. I opened the door to find the gas had gone out (obviously due to the seal depriving the burner of oxygen). Without thinking or hesitation I went and clicked the ignition and received a nice fireball on my face. Fortunately I was far enough that I still had eye lashes and brows, albeit a little shorter.

    I cancelled my manicure and smelled well done for the rest of the day.

    Masterbuilt Gravity 800 | Maximus Pizza Oven | GMG - Daniel Boone | Cyprus Grill | Big Steel Keg | Blackstone Griddle | Fire Pit | Weber Genesis |

  • Had a lamb on a spit for a bucks do many years ago..

    We decided to put some ducks into the belly cavity and tie it up.

    Once the belly shrunk and the tie wire cut through, the ducks fell into the coals and the whole thing went up =O

    If this wasn't so tragic it would be very funny. All that duck fat in the coals, that's a real duck up.



    Traeger - Weber Family Q - Ziggy Twin Burner - Charcoal Grill - Akorn Kamado - Hark Tri Fire - Jumbuck Pizza Oven - Go Anywhere - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Hibachi Grill - Anova Sous Vide x 2

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