Sear Plate Freezing

rdgray6382

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OK.. Two cooks in on my new Laredo. Noticed an issue.. 1st cook was some baby back ribs.. 3-2-1 sauced at end.. Ribs came out really nice. never used sear plate. Smoker was really clean afterward.. even grates took hardly any cleaning, I didn't touch anything else in cooker. Last weekend decided to smoke some chicken halves.. getting things together immediately noticed the sear plates frozen shut. Easy enough, figured it was oil or sauce that had it stuck.. fired it up and after is was hot the plates unfroze.. so started the halves.. smoked them to temp... sauced them. And cranked the heat up to finish 10-15 mins later wanted to give them a quick sear and the plates were frozen solid.. at 300 degrees yet? I figure I know what's causing this? But is there some tips or tricks to keep this from occurring.. would have sucked had I been reverse searing some steaks which I intend to do soon. Thanks for the help.
 
I have the Lockhart. Have had that problem.
Usually caused by sauce sticking them together.

During my "heat-up/burn-off" at end of a cook, i usually open and close the sear plate a few times.
This usually avoids sticking.
 
Thanks for suggestions.. I'm thinking I may start covering it with foil when not using.. Should help with next cook and clean up Not sure why you couldn't cover in any cook and just rearrange food and pull the foil when ready to use it? Any concerns about using foil to cover the heat shield/barrel (not sure what it called) & sear plate?
 
Last edited:
Should not be a problem.
There are others that do it.

I heat up the smoker to @400 after I finish cooking and cut it off.
The sauce and grease char up on the sear plate.
Then before I cook the next time, scrape it off and vacuum out the cabinet.
Cook again!
 
Thanks for suggestions.. I'm thinking I may start covering it with foil when not using.. Should help with next cook and clean up Not sure why you couldn't cover in any cook and just rearrange food and pull the fill when ready to use it? Any concerns about using foil to cover the heat shield/barrel (not sure what it called) & sear plate?
I never use the sear feature and almost always use foil to make clean up easier, no problems.
And yes I have had mine freeze up too, from the drippings and sauce when I don't use the foil, I just give it a good smack and it loosens up.
 
I have had that happen in my 1150 i always thought it was from the Apple juice and cider vinegar spray I use. I have a habit of checking it at the end of long cooks and it’s usually stuck shut. I always tell myself good thing I wasn’t reverse searing lol. So after I clean it and plan on doing wings or chops or steaks while it’s coming up to temp I open and close it a few times and while cooking too and it was always able to be opened at the end for some searing. I was gonna try a long regular screwdriver to free it up if I ever had any issues while making steaks but never had to use it yet.
 
After my last cook I did as suggested above.. ran it up to 400 degrees and opened and closed it several times after it was shut down.. Next day I went out to clean it up and it was not stuck and working freely.. This was my third cook so I gave it a through cleaning. I may start covering the drum with foil on long slow cooks that I don't intend to use the sear plate.
 

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