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ice_mf_mike
07-04-2018, 08:12 AM
Planning on smoking today but we have a chance of thunderstorms later today. Do smokers attract lightening? Any risk here? Im not worried about the rain. Just curious if there is any extra risk doing this. :roll:

SMOKE FREAK
07-04-2018, 08:48 AM
Lightning will likely strike you before it does your smoker...But a great question...

ClintHTX
07-04-2018, 08:54 AM
No questions if it’s lighting/thundering. I try to stay inside as much as possible. No fan of it.

Czarbecue
07-04-2018, 10:38 AM
I've done it before. It wasn't the rain or lighting that concerned me... it was the wind. It stoked my fire quite a bit and I had a hard time adjusting the temps on my WSM. And that was with a wind break built with plywood. Wind is a bitch.

Lynn Dollar
07-04-2018, 12:08 PM
I did this two weeks ago. Though my smoker sits under the edge of a covered patio, so I was not as concerned about lightning.


But the rain hitting the back of my cooking chamber cooled the cooker temps down below 200* and I had trouble getting them back up above that till the rain stopped.


That's steam coming off the smoker, not smoke.


https://i.imgur.com/MdLEVRq.jpg

hurricanedavid
07-04-2018, 12:57 PM
My smoker is under a giant umbrella during summer months. I live in the Lightning capital of the World so down here you learn how to deal with it. Stay inside as much as possible during a storm and if outside move quickly to shelter. Neitherr myself nor smoker have been struck to date but some very near by trees have been smoked along with several TV’s and appliances over the years.

PnkPanther
07-04-2018, 12:59 PM
Not sure, but I've done it and am still here

JEStucker
07-04-2018, 01:50 PM
More than anything rain (Cooling the smoker down rapidly) and wind (same issues as rain, plus add in draft control and fire management) are the prime concerns.


But who am I to judge, I've managed to run the UDS in a blizzard, so it's all good.

Kmm
07-04-2018, 05:56 PM
No sense in risking a lightening strike to a perfectly fine smoker. Should it turn stormy, it seems the only truly sensible Solution would be to have your favorite in-law hold a big aluminum framed golf umbrella over it.

m-fine
07-05-2018, 05:18 AM
No sense in risking a lightening strike to a perfectly fine smoker. Should it turn stormy, it seems the only truly sensible Solution would be to have your favorite in-law hold a big aluminum framed golf umbrella over it.

That seems perfectly reasonable to me.

ModelMaker
07-05-2018, 06:47 AM
Don't you people own a garage?
Bonus, great smelling for weeks.
Ed

sudsandswine
07-05-2018, 07:04 AM
I've cooked in thunderstorms quite a few times with my Shirley, usually with part of the cooker under an easy up. Weather happens, but I try not to spend too much time underneath the tent when it happens.

m-fine
07-05-2018, 08:33 AM
Don't you people own a garage?
Bonus, great smelling for weeks.
Ed

If your smoker fits in the garage, you need a bigger smoker.