Porch grilling

[unbelman.livejournal.com]

I know having a gas grill, or worse a charcoal grill, on a porch is unsafe, and I assume illegal. I've see George Foreman indoor/outdoor grills advertised as being safe where other grills are not. Does anyone know if this is true for the ubiquitous triple decker porches that are around these parts (trying to make the relevance to this community clear).

Comments

[firepail.livejournal.com]

Well, they are safer in that there is no open flame as George Foreman grills are electric. The flavor isn't as good, but if all you want is to cook outside without getting evicted, get out the extension cord!

=)

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

General rule of thumb- if it uses a flame, it's bad. I'd take a wander down to you local firehouse or call the Somerville hotline number and ask.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

It doesn't. It's electric.

[duffless2323.livejournal.com]

You are doing the Electric Slide now aren't you?

[islandofzilan.livejournal.com]

From the Somerville webpage:

Question: Can I use a chimenea or outdoor fireplace in my yard or on my deck?

Answer: The simple answer is no. These are considered by the Sate Fire Marshall to fall under the outdoor burning laws of the Department of Environmental Protection. These laws specifically do not allow any outside burning in the city of Somerville, except for cooking fires under specific guidelines.


It would seem that grilling for purposes of cooking food is permitted. Assuming of course you are on an open deck, not an inclosed porch. Just call up one of the local fire houses to be sure...

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

No, grilling with fire on decks (open or enclosed) is not permitted. Check out "SOMERVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT BAR-B-QUE GRILLS" at
http://www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/forms/BBQ%20Safety.pdf. This doesn't answer the OP's question about an electric grill (my guess is it's fine, but a call to 311 or the fire dept. should answer definitively).

[nalz.livejournal.com]

While that PDF has very good rules of thumb - I was under the impression the actual law (vs common sense when dealing with gas) is not on decks with no exit stairs to ground level. I mean, you may indeed be correct about the deck part, but where the PDF mentions correct utensils - I doubt that part is actually against a law.

random note about the grill

[spaz-i-mota.livejournal.com]

I know someone who has one of those for the same reason.

It seems like they pull a lot of electricity, because it constantly trips his circuits when it's in use. I know your house may be wired differently etc.. but just a friendly heads up.

Re: random note about the grill

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

It looks like the George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Grill uses 1600 watts, which is comparable to a nice hair dryer on "high". (I don't know why hair dryers use so much wattage, but they are always the biggest power draws in the house, except for the big ticket items.)

That would mean it pulls around 13 amps, and lots of breakers/fuses are rated for 15. So I would look for a circuit you can plug it into all by itself. Alas, there's usually know way other than trial and error to know what is on what circuit, since accurate labeling of breaker boxes seems to no longer be the done thing.

Re: random note about the grill

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

FYI, according to some irate reviews I read, the docs for it claim it requires a 20amp circuit.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

We use our countertop Foreman inside. We use our propane grill, the little portable kind people take to the beach, out on our sidewalk.

Foreman Grill

[toastygw.livejournal.com]

I have a foreman grill setup outside. It's really great - mostly because it's quick, clean and does the job - I'll sacrifice some authenticity for ease of use. I picked mine up at Costco a few weeks back and it was something like $50-60. These normally sell for $90~$100 online.

This is what I have.
http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1351563