I’m an American. As an American, a dark, black part of my soul derives a certain measure of amusement from the stories every November of people burning their homes down by deep-frying turkeys. In the most recent incident, a USD $4M home went up in flames in Connecticut thanks to a garage fry gone wrong.
Is that awful of me? Likely. I can’t help it. Deep frying turkeys and burning down your home symbolizes, in a concise and darkly humorous way, the overweening hubris that I feel is the hallmark of my people.
I live in Japan now – a country not known for its turkeys. It is, however, known for yakiniku, or barbecuing over a live flame. While traditionally reserved for specialty shops with the proper ventilation, some people think they can recreate the experience at home with an aluminum duct and some elbow grease.
The Tokyo Fire Department has a message for those people: please don’t. Because, like your US counterparts and their grease-soaked turkeys, you’re probably gonna burn your house down.
Go to an actual yakiniku shop, please
The trend isn’t new. On social media site X (RIP Twitter), one can find posts going back to 2019 with people showing makeshift vents they’ve wired up that funnel smoke from above their kitchen table to the outside. Some of them – like this one with plastic strapped to two sides to keep the smoke out of the room – scream “death trap.”
However, the setup seems to be gaining traction on X and other social media sites recently. People are proudly posting photos of their “home yakiniku” setups.
As we’ve written before, outdoor BBQing at your home is generally frowned upon in Japan, as your neighbors will likely regard the smoke as a nuisance. Given that, the setup may be appealing to some in cash-strapped Japan, where prices of everything are rising. With a one-time investment, you can save thousands a year on trips to a dedicated yakiniku restaurant.
Not so fast, says the Tokyo Fire Department. The agency took to its website on February 14th to warn people of the dangers of DIY duct setups.
“Grease that accumulates in the indentations of the duct can catch fire and become a conflagration,” the Department warned. It included a picture of a burned-out husk of a kitchen that it told withnews was a picture of one such fire.
A firefighter on Yahoo! News JP backed up the Tokyo Fire Department. “I spent a lot of time responding to fires at yakiniku restaurants that appeared to start from ducts. (That’s my theory from seeing the scene. Not confirmed.) They didn’t use this accordion-style duct but rather a smooth duct made from sheet metal. Grease accumulated even in those. If you’re gonna do this at home, you should be super careful and, as a precaution, change out the duct each time.”
Bottom line: don’t try this at home. Some culinary feats – whether it’s an in-home BBQ or a deep-fried turkey – are probably best left to the pros.
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