Basic Questions - Dry Run


 
E

Eugene A

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Hello, Everyone:

I'm in the middle of doing a dry run. I loaded the charcoal chamber to the top, added about 10-15 lit coals to the center on top of the unlit coals, added water to the pan, and I didn't add any wood chunks. It's been about 35-35 minutes and the temp is up to 196 as of this writing. There's a lot of smoke coming out from the top vent, and a little bit from the door, and a little bit from around the lid and from the thermometer in the lid.

Is there supposed to be such a large amount of smoke when I didn't use any wood? The color of the smoke appears to be a light gray -- I don't know if the color of the smoke means anything.

Thanks for your input.
 
Lump charcoal or briqs? Charcoal does smoke on its own, some more than others.
New WSM? If so, most of those spots will seal up with some use.
As for color, black smoke is really bad! Otherwise, white to light grey is OK, but you don't want allot of it. In fact by this time it has probably settled down to not much more than a heat signature coming off the smoker.
 
Lance; Greg:

I'm using Kingsford Blue. The amount of smoke has subsided a bit; but, there's still quite a bit coming out of the vent. I bought the charcoal at Publix, and the bag had a logo from the 4th of July...maybe the stuff has been around for a while which is the reason for the large amount of smoke.

When I used my kettle to do beer can chicken I didn't get that much smoke. But, then again I didn't use that much charcoal, either.

I accumulated different brands of briquettes, and different types or charcoal (lump, briquettes). I decided to start out with KB. Once I get rid of the newbie jitters I'll try one of the other brands.

BTW, it's been about an hour and twenty minutes as of this writing, and it seems as though the temp has leveled off at 262. I had closed the bottom vents half-way and left the top vent completely open...so far, so good.

One more question -- I generally shoot for 250 degrees. Does it really make a difference as to the actual temp as long as I'm in the zone of 225-275?

The temp just blipped up to 266.
 
What are you using for a thermometer? If you've been around this forum much you know the dome thermo is generally off some.
Smell your smoke. I know, sounds strange, but if it smells bitter then your food will taste bitter. If the smoke smell is pleasant, your food will be OK.
Your temp range is fine, the food won't care as long as you're in the ballpark.
A picture of the smoke would be helpful, what you call a lot might be a little to me or visa-versa
 
To me it doesn't matter as long as it settles within those temps. 225-275. My smoker usually settles at 235-245.
 
I'm using an ET-732. The smoke has subsided considerably at the 1:45 mark, and now there's just "wisps" of smoke coming out of the top vent, and virtually nothing from the lid, door or anyplace else. The temp seems to be fluctuating with the weather, i.e. when the sun goes behind a cloud, it drops 5-10 degrees, and when the sun comes back out again, the temp goes up -- but it's still within the smoking zone.

As for the smell of the smoke, it smells like charcoal, not funky and not sweet, but like charcoal. I guess if I added wood chunks there would be a "flavor" to the smoke, and if there was actually meat on the grate, there would be an aroma. But for now it's just the smell of burning charcoal.

Another question -- is it necessary to "jog" the charcoal, to knock off the ash? And as for adding water, I used a milk jug and added two gallons at the beginning. What about adding water during the cook?

Thanks again for your help.
 
Last edited:
Greg Powers said:
What are you using for a thermometer? If you've been around this forum much you know the dome thermo is generally off some.
Smell your smoke. I know, sounds strange, but if it smells bitter then your food will taste bitter. If the smoke smell is pleasant, your food will be OK.
Your temp range is fine, the food won't care as long as you're in the ballpark.
A picture of the smoke would be helpful, what you call a lot might be a little to me or visa-versa
Click to expand...







 
That smoke isn't bad at all from what I see. Close the bottom vents a little more if you wanna drop the temp some more. Also I find it helps if I close the vent all the way on the side that the wind is blowing on. You have a lot of control with those 3 vents. You can also use just about anything to make a wind block.
 
You got some great advice. Your smoke in that photo looks fine and some good advice on vent closure as well. Like the fellas said: temp range - anywhere 250+\-25*F is good. I've heard of guys kick the legs if using briquettes if the temps fall off.

For giggles, when you have time, put your Mav in your kitchen oven and set it to 250*F. When it's at temp, every 15 minutes write down what the temp is. I think you'll be interested in the outcome.
 
Eugene A said:
And as for adding water, I used a milk jug and added two gallons at the beginning. What about adding water during the cook?
Click to expand...

I have rarely added water mid-cook. On the off chance that I do add water, it's because I'm doing a series of different cooks (i.e. pork shoulder, followed by ribs, followed by... you get the point) and am between meats. I'll typically use the same "milk jug" (or whatever I used in the first place) and carefully pour the water from the top of the smoker. Since I'm between meats, there usually isn't anything on the cooking grates and I may have even removed the top grate to make for an easier water pour.

More often than not, I'll just make sure the water pan is mostly full from the beginning and I don't have to worry about adding water.
 
Dwain Pannell said:
You got some great advice. Your smoke in that photo looks fine and some good advice on vent closure as well. Like the fellas said: temp range - anywhere 250+\-25*F is good. I've heard of guys kick the legs if using briquettes if the temps fall off.

For giggles, when you have time, put your Mav in your kitchen oven and set it to 250*F. When it's at temp, every 15 minutes write down what the temp is. I think you'll be interested in the outcome.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that, but at 350. The oven temp, according to the 732, went as high as 363, and as low as 340, which brings me to a similar but different issue (yes, it's a joke). Mixon gave a recipe for Boston Butt for the grill and for the oven. The recipe oven temp is 350. Given the fluctuations as I noted, do you think that he REALLY means 350, and not the average oven temp, given the fluctuations? I know that when I do anything on the grill, either charcoal or gas, I get as close as possible to the recommended temp, and I just check for doneness after the minimum time.
 
Eugene A said:
Another question -- is it necessary to "jog" the charcoal, to knock off the ash? And as for adding water, I used a milk jug and added two gallons at the beginning. What about adding water during the cook?
Click to expand...

From what I've read in this thread --- everything seems to be normal. Yes, you'll see a lot of white smoke during the first hour of fire up. Try to use this time to let the meat come to room temp, the smoker up to temp, and get a 'clean burning' fire going.

If you're using charcoal such as Kingsford Original, you'll get an ash build-up over a period of hours. For short cooks such as ribs and chicken - it isn't a problem. For an all day pork butt - it can be a problem. Yes, you might have to stir the coals to knock off the ash. If you're using lump charcoal, it burns cleaner so there isn't much ash leftover. The downside is lump burns a bit hotter and doesn't last as long. I put an entire 20 pound bag of lump into my WSM and had to add a chimney of lit charcoal in order to finish the cook.

I used water during my first back-to-back cook, then moved on to the clay saucer instead.
 
OK, thank you all for your input.

Here's what I learned, having finished my dry run about an hour ago: the sun wreaks havoc with the cooking temp, causing the temp to fluctuate up/down by as much as 15-20 degrees. The food probe, which was just lying on the table (plastic) registered 111 degrees, while the grill probe gave a reading of 284 or thereabouts. When the clouds blocked the sun, the food probe showed a temp of 90 degrees while the grill probe gave a reading of 241. These were the extreme readings (high/low); but the average move up/down was 15-20 degrees as I noted. The WSM holds the temp well, in that there wasn't any extreme drop-off of temp, except as noted, such that it would ruin the cook. I also learned that I don't have to put the lower food grate in place if I'm not using it, as its placement makes it a bit difficult, it would seem, to add water or fuel if either is necessary. The difference between the temp from the digital and the lid thermometer grew with time, but got bigger/smaller as the sun played hide and seek with the clouds. Still, even using the lid thermometer as a proxy, keeping in mind that there's a difference, the reading was in the smoking zone as was the temp at the grate. The amount of smoke being given off did finally dissipate to the point where there was an occasional wisp of smoke from the lid vent, so what I thought was a problem turned into a non-problem.

My test run went from around 10am to 2pm. I checked the fuel before I closed the vents, and it looked like not much fuel was spent. I'll find out later when I clean out the smoker and retrieve any unburned coals for the next cook, which will be a real one. I guess that this test run was a success. Now, it's time to take off the training wheels, but keep the helmet, and to give it my best shot. When that happens, I'll let you know and I will post pics.
 
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