hinge grease?

[Alphonse]

Lots of the hinges that you can buy off eBay and elsewhere have zerk grease fittings.

Anyone found a high temperature grease that really can withstand the heat of a fired pit?

I have had luck with nickel anti seize on threads and hinges but you would not want to put that in a grease gun.

[missionsusmc]

I just Googled "hi temp food safe grease" and it popped up with a bunch of listings. Here is one from Timken (I've used their bearings before, and like them, so I figure they know a little about lube too.)

http://www.timken.com/en-us/products/lubrication/products/industrial/pages/foodsafe.aspx#

Only goes up to 300* so you probably wouldn't want to use is on FB hinges.

Here is one from Schaeffer's. It goes up to 500

http://www.schaefferoil.com/synthetic-food-grade-grease.html

Good luck!!!
_________________
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[k.a.m.]

I just use my bearing grease it is rated well over what my cookers run.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[Alphonse]

Most high temp wheel bearing greases are going to have a high temp limit of ~350F with some slightly above 400F. Of course the closer you run to these limits, the shorter its life.

My experience with my grills is that they can and do get hotter than that. Particularly when I am starting them up or burning them out.

The normal range near the fire access door for mine gets hotter than that. Therefore my quest for something affordable in a grease cartridge and to use a zerk. But I am not sure there is such an animal that is readily available and/or affordable.

The answer may be to simply stick with the use of copper or nickel anti seize. Nickel anti seize can tolerate temperatures above 2000F but I have not found that in a grease gun cartridge that is affordable. That means you have to have your hinge layouts where you can get to the pins so you can mop it on.

[k.a.m.]

The two hinges on my firebox get regular high temp bearing grease. They have been doing fine for close to five years. The average heat on that area of the firebox is around 450°.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[Alphonse]

[k.a.m.]

No apologies necessary Alphonse.
Have you ever measured the temps around the hinges to see what temp they get to? I have never had a firebox get hotter than around 750° and that was at the top not the sides. On that particular day I was seasoning my new cooker and the cooking chamber was running at around 375° way hotter than I cook at.
I am just trying to maybe help with your problem not argue.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[Alphonse]

KAM,
My son and I are fans of cooking over fire (direct fired) and we both like the pit long enough you can move to an unfired end for finishing or low and slow cooks. So I build direct fired grills, not offset smokers. Last one I had coked the grease in the hinges and they became problematic.

We are early in building two new pits. So for these two new builds, I am wondering if I should put zerks on the hinges or not. It appears that ultra high temp, affordable grease in cartridges is not readily available.

Alternatively I could:
1. Lube the hinge pins by removing the doors and putting the nickel anti seize on the pins from time to time.
2. Put zerks on the hinges, use bearing grease out of the gun, and pull the doors as needed for cleaning degraded/coked grease off the pin.

So I was looking for experience and insights here and appreciate what you all have to offer. Your specific experience is much appreciated.

[k.a.m.]

If you use the SCH 80 1/2" pipe and 1/2" hot roll round for the pin you will not need a grease fitting because there is enough play to not seize up.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker