Billowing smoke?......Updated


 
Bill S.

Bill S.

TVWBB Pro
Ever run into this? I've had it happen a a few times in the past. Start up today, got the usual smoke cloud until she calms down around 230. I bring it up to 250 with a nice little wisp of smoke and go inside to watch the game. Went out a few times to check the temp and all was well. This last time I went out, was still at 250 but smoke was pouring out. Looked like a forest fire...lol. Popped the door to look and there wasn't any flames.So it wasn't that. Ended up taking the wood out since I couldn't get it to calm down. Any ideas?
 
I've taken to burying the wood in the unlit.
I use the MM for longer cooks, I'm asking for 8 hours on todays cook.
I figure the buried chunks won't flame, but still release the flavor I want.
so far, no 'forest fires'.
 
Generally if you see to much smoke your not having a clean burn. To much wood or green wood will have this effect. I find when I open my lid for 5 minutes or more this happens as well. However with the lid back on in about 10-15 minutes it all seems to settle down. What are you using for fuel?

A few weeks ago I reused some blue bag K that was in the smoker with some fresh mixed in. I did my normal minion start and did not add wood at this point. It seemed to be smoking quite a bit for not having any wood mixed in yet. I let the wsm go until it seemed to settle down and then added my food and then a couple chunks of apple. This took about a half hour before I could see the nice blue smoke. The only thing I could figure was the old K must have sucked up some moisture.

Normally for longer cooks I use four large chunks. I will sit two on the charcoal rack then start adding coals. Once covered I add two more in between the ones on the bottom. Then fill with coals until the ring is full with the two top pieces of wood slightly exposed. Picture 12-3-6-9 positions with 12 & 6 on one level and 3 & 9 on another. Then I place my lit coals (15-20) on top of all of this with a lit coal on top of each piece of wood. Then I assemble my cooker right away. My wsm runs hot(air leaks) so most of the time I have my vents for the most part closed.

Not sure if this helps at all but this is how I run mine. Might be something to try. Vince
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by James Harvey:
Is it a white smoke or more of a bluish or see through? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Good point this morning mine seemed kind of heavy however it was kind of cold here. In the low 40's. After a few deep breaths into the air I figured it was steam.

White heavy smoke is a sign of a dirty burn while the sweet blue is what we are after! I see where your going with this. Vince
 
Nah, it was a white heavy smoke. Was only using one small chunk of maple. I even took that chunk out and tried a smaller chunk and had the same result. Like I said it started out good.
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IMO, this is ideal ...
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More than this is bad ...
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If it started out good and you just have one chunk of wood, I'd suspect damp fuel.

If you have a big brisket or butt on, it may not be an issue.
 
Was a bit more than your top pic. Which is a lot for me....Could be damp fuel, with all the rain we've had.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Cole:
what type of charcoal? briqettes or lump? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Regular Kingsford briquettes. I don't why this happens from time to time. I end up pulling the chunk out. I'm wondering if it has something to do with my vent settings. I pretty much run with two closed and one I adjust as needed. Usually the one is closed or at 10% or so until later in the cook. Top is always open of course.
When people say "you are getting a dirty burn", well how? What causes it.
 
I've never used K for long smokes, so I don't have advice for clean burns with it, but with lump you often find un-charred pieces or bark that will smoke a lot. Sometimes you can find tar pieces in lump that will ruin a cook too. I always dump it in slow and inspect it. Not much help for K though. I put wood chunks directly on the hottest coals and let it start burning clean before adding food to smoker, which can take a little while. Make sure it's seasoned, dry and not punky.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I put wood chunks directly on the hottest coals and let it start burning clean before adding food to smoker, which can take a little while. Make sure it's seasoned, dry and not punky. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've been thinking about about pre burning some chunks. Actually just had a helluva an idea. Maybe throw the chunk in the chimney when I'm starting the briquetts. That should do it.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bill S.:
Was a bit more than your top pic. Which is a lot for me....Could be damp fuel, with all the rain we've had. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Obviously it goes without saying: to each their own. I'll also point out that I only have 10 or so smokes under my belt, so no expert here.

That said...looking at that top pic, you said yours "was a bit more". For me, it smokes a lot more than that, at least for 5-10 minutes or so. I was under the impression that was just what it was supposed to do. I'd personally be a bit surprised to see anything else. I mean...it is a "SMOKER" isn't it?
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Sorry for the sarcasm, but my impression is just that is what it's supposed to do. I'm not sure there's much you can really do to change that. How about just trying a wood with a lighter smoke flavor to it? Some are stronger than others.

Good luck!
 
Much better results today. This is it how it should look, Imo anyway. Poorly run experiment though. I changed the wood and I pre burned, so I don't know which it was.

One chunk of cherry today.
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preburn.jpg


The normal start up smoke
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The camera couldn't even pick up the blue haze in the last two picks. So it's a toss up. It was either the wood, this wood was chunked up around Xmas, or it was pre burning it.

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Left to right. Cherry, apple, maple, oak. Figure one chunk at a time, I'm set for a while...lol.
 
That is an awesome collection of smoke wood! Maybe I'm confusing start up smoke with smoke from the smoke wood. I think what you were saying was that it was smoking a lot even after the smoker had been going a while,not saying that it was smoking a lot at the beginning. My mistake.

Anyhow, glad it worked out.
 
It had nothing to do with the kind of wood. Wood simply won't smoke to any degree if pre-burned to coals, and it won't do much for a smoke flavor, either, especially if you're only using one or two chunks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell:
It had nothing to do with the kind of wood. Wood simply won't smoke to any degree if pre-burned to coals, and it won't do much for a smoke flavor, either, especially if you're only using one or two chunks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not the kind of wood, the age of the wood. I'll have to disagree with you on the smoke flavor though. I mean, with the amount of smoke I'm seeing today I'm sure it will have enough smoke flavor. Just a slight flavor is perfect for me. I'll let you know in a few hours...lol.
 
Gotcha, Bill...

Well, they say you can't get clean smoke from unseasoned wood since the moisture will cause creosote....or something like that.
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(I've smoked plenty of butts using hickory and GREEN peach wood chunks on charcoal with fantastic results, though.) I don't think there's any moisture to matter if the wood is truly burnt down to coals, though. If green, it just takes longer, right?

Regarding "smoking" with wood burnt down to coals OR lump, I've tried each method, and in my assessment, any smoke flavor was neglible at best. I guess I'm not alone since most folks smoke with wood, but I do think there's both right and wrong ways to do it.

Don't misunderstand me though. I'm open to the notion that some folks have more sensitive tastes, and if you get the flavor you want with only coals or lump...
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