WSM and child safety

[Damo]

Hi Chaps,

I'm tempted to get a smoker for next summer, either a WSM (22" or 18") or a ProQ Excel. But currently favouring the WSM 18", maybe the 22" but worried I'd end up spending a fortune on fuel the 22".

I have two young children, lad is four, youngest girl isn't walking yet. My lad LOVES the BBB ribs I've been doing

When it comes to our kids I think I have OCD regarding their safety I've drummed into my eldest how dangerous BBQ's are and he is good, the same will be drummed in to our youngest when shes moved beyond slathering. And we ensure that our lad is never left in the back garden alone when the BBQ's are on (Weber Spirit 310 and Weber charcoal 57).

I was looking at youtubers using the WSM and I noticed you just stick the main body on top of the charcoal area and it isn't secured on to the base in any way- it just sits on top. And the main body contains boiling hot water. How easy are these things to knock over? I don't want a child, ours or a guests, running around enjoying themselves one minute on hot summers day only for the next minute ending up sitting on a hot bed of coals and having boiling water all over them. See, I told you I've got OCD

But, not having ever used one, these things do look to me to be more more hazardous than a normal gas or kettle BBQ.

I think if I did get one I'd put it in a corner of the garden maybe so it would never need to be passed but only deliberately approached.

Any advice would be warmly welcomed, especially if you have kids yourself.

Cheers, and sorry for the dumb question.

Damo

[Swindon_Ed]

I might not have any kids but i have BBQ'd around enough drunk people over the years to know a bit about BBQ safety.

First of all don't cook with water in the water pan, fill it with a clay saucer instead as this will give you the stable temp', no hot water to spill over & with weigh down the main chamber a bit more to make it more stable.

Another thing to do is wrap it in a fire blanket, as this will stop any burns from the hot metal and also insulate the cooker further and give you better fuel consumption as well.

[MrJaba]

What sort of fire blankets are good? I was looking for one to insulate mine over xmas with but read a few things about fibreglass threads coming off and tainting food?

[slatts]

Hi

Ive got 2 and 4 yr old boys that don't stop running about, my Pro Q Frontier has latches for each section and I don't use water in my pan, having said that both my boys recognise the smoker as something hot and something to never touch.
I also do a lot of my cooks over night, in the summer if im doing ribs while everybody is round and we have a garden full of kids then us men stand around the smoker and gas bbq until the food is done then I shut them down and move them away from where the kids are playing.

Ive had 10-15 bbq's this summer and the smoker hasn't been touched once by a kid, don't know if its luck but they just don't seem interested in it.

Not sure if the Pro Q Excel has latches and to be honest when I see the Smokey Mountain I didn't look for any.

Maybe you could get some wind breakers or something to put up a bbq area to keep it contained from the kids if your worried about them.

Slatts

[robgunby]

My youngest never learns from you telling her not to touch something because it's hot. Barbecues, pans, grills, whatever. She has burnt herself on them all and now knows not to touch.

The other one is a little wiser and listens

ymmv