First couple smokes....too much charcoal flavor.


 
I too struggle with this issue and more specifically this question…I understand waiting for the thin blue smoke before putting the meat on, but how do you do that when lighting with the minion method as you continually have “new” charcoal lighting as the fire spreads out from the center? I really love my WSM but my wife and kids aren’t big fans of the strong charcoal taste I seem to always get with it.
 
It may well take an hour for the heavy white smoke to ease off. Don't put food on during this time. The heavy smoke is from the intense startup flames, the slow continual starting of adjacent coals does not cause this (that I've seen). Put plenty of charcoal on to start so you don't have to add fresh charcoal ( though I haven't seen issues from doing so). When your cook is done, close all vents to choke off the fire -- reuse any left over for the next cook after shaking out the ash.
 
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Coming back to this post a few years later after making a switch to lump charcoal about a year ago. For me, I’ll never go back to KBB briquettes. I’m no longer getting the bitter taste I was getting with briquettes and I find the lump leaves hardly any ash to clean up when I’m done. Was one the verge of getting rid of my WSM before making the switch and now the whole family is always asking when I’m going to break out the WSM again!
 
I was also frustrated by all the white smoke and wait time with my WSM and eventually got a Masterbuilt Gravity and was amazed at how fast and clean it it. I was cooking at 250 in about 15 minutes instead of like 45 minutes to an hour using anything from briquets to wood.
However I missed playing with fire and started playing with smoking smaller cuts on my WGA and Charbroil Patio just for fun. I use wood chunks, lump, and briquets.
For me the big take-away was to stop using the minion method and just use a lighter cube and blow torch. A mall hot fire is better than a larger cooler fire, so starting off with just the blow torch and cube is way easier to stay low and slow than a half of chimney thrown into a whole ring of unlit coals and having to quickly choak off the air to stop it from getting too hot. If more coals are needed I carefully place them instead of just throwing them on and that continues the clean burn.
I usually put the re-used coals and lump by the starter cube to further decrease the time for smoke to clear. I like lump but find the huge size difference between pieces makes it let say fun to place the smaller pieces;-)
 
Joe Anshien said:
I was also frustrated by all the white smoke and wait time with my WSM and eventually got a Masterbuilt Gravity and was amazed at how fast and clean it it. I was cooking at 250 in about 15 minutes instead of like 45 minutes to an hour using anything from briquets to wood.
However I missed playing with fire and started playing with smoking smaller cuts on my WGA and Charbroil Patio just for fun. I use wood chunks, lump, and briquets.
For me the big take-away was to stop using the minion method and just use a lighter cube and blow torch. A mall hot fire is better than a larger cooler fire, so starting off with just the blow torch and cube is way easier to stay low and slow than a half of chimney thrown into a whole ring of unlit coals and having to quickly choak off the air to stop it from getting too hot. If more coals are needed I carefully place them instead of just throwing them on and that continues the clean burn.
I usually put the re-used coals and lump by the starter cube to further decrease the time for smoke to clear. I like lump but find the huge size difference between pieces makes it let say fun to place the smaller pieces;-)
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I agree with the “small start” concept! I use Enrico Brandizzi’s sidewinder method and assemble the whole smoker and light through the door with a torch, about three minutes or less to get a fire started and maybe fifteen for it to “catch” enough to begin the slow crawl across over smoke wood. I place smoke wood on the bottom (admittedly stolen from Harry Soo) drop the protein on, button it up and adjust vents then generally go to bed! No acrid “fuel” flavor just Smokey goodness the next day!
I’m expecting my Cajun bandit “No drill vent handles” today I might have to do a smoke between raindrops this week!
 
Joe Anshien said:
I was also frustrated by all the white smoke and wait time with my WSM and eventually got a Masterbuilt Gravity and was amazed at how fast and clean it it. I was cooking at 250 in about 15 minutes instead of like 45 minutes to an hour using anything from briquets to wood.
However I missed playing with fire and started playing with smoking smaller cuts on my WGA and Charbroil Patio just for fun. I use wood chunks, lump, and briquets.
For me the big take-away was to stop using the minion method and just use a lighter cube and blow torch. A mall hot fire is better than a larger cooler fire, so starting off with just the blow torch and cube is way easier to stay low and slow than a half of chimney thrown into a whole ring of unlit coals and having to quickly choak off the air to stop it from getting too hot. If more coals are needed I carefully place them instead of just throwing them on and that continues the clean burn.
I usually put the re-used coals and lump by the starter cube to further decrease the time for smoke to clear. I like lump but find the huge size difference between pieces makes it let say fun to place the smaller pieces;-)
Click to expand...
Any excuse to break out the blowtorch! I use it exclusively to light the WSM. Question: Why do you use a cube and a blow torch?
 
Rick P said:
Any excuse to break out the blowtorch! I use it exclusively to light the WSM. Question: Why do you use a cube and a blow torch?
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Timothy F. Lewis said:
Well, there is that simple joy of hitting the torch!! Yes, good question! Why do you do that Joe?
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Because I stack the coals on top of the cube trying to leave a few gaps so the blow torch flame can still get to it, as I like to set it all up before I light it. I use one of these types of torches so the coals are also getting heated up and a little started. How do you guys do it?
1727184556882.png
 
I just fill the ring to absolute maximum capacity and touch off the “BERNZOMATIC” and point it in the ring, no cube needed.
Last time, I think I took maybe two minutes to get good ignition.
I will admit, I snagged one of those torches when they were a great deal but, have not used it very much…yet!
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I just fill the ring to absolute maximum capacity and touch off the “BERNZOMATIC” and point it in the ring, no cube needed.
Last time, I think I took maybe two minutes to get good ignition.
I will admit, I snagged one of those torches when they were a great deal but, have not used it very much…yet!
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That is when I got mine. I think I paid about $12. With a lighting cube I do about 20-30 seconds and then just leave it. I have also used the torch for searing steaks and burgers. Works really nicely but have to keep it moving and on low or it will char instead of sear very quickly. I love my gravity feed but unless I have a lot of low and slow to cook it is more fun to play with fire.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Because I stack the coals on top of the cube trying to leave a few gaps so the blow torch flame can still get to it, as I like to set it all up before I light it. I use one of these types of torches so the coals are also getting heated up and a little started. How do you guys do it?
View attachment 100659
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A sustained blast of fire at the center of the charcoal until it's lit..which takes all of a minute. I use one of those Harbor Freight flamethrowers that Mrs. Skinsfan got me for Christmas a few years ago.👊 A cube would get incinerated in a few seconds.

1727211929528.png
 
Rick P said:
A sustained blast of fire at the center of the charcoal until it's lit..which takes all of a minute. I use one of those Harbor Freight flamethrowers that Mrs. Skinsfan got me for Christmas a few years ago.👊 A cube would get incinerated in a few seconds.

View attachment 100666
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I like it but, I don’t have one! I go from the side for no greater reason than it’s the way I started on about my third cook and I’ve never seen the need for the central ignition, if it was good enough for Enrico, it’s good enough for me.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I like it but, I don’t have one! I go from the side for no greater reason than it’s the way I started on about my third cook and I’ve never seen the need for the central ignition, if it was good enough for Enrico, it’s good enough for me.
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Yeah...I would've never bought one...but the wife saw me admiring it at Harbor Freight a few years ago and it ended up under the Christmas tree. I didn't really start using it until last year. It's a lot faster, and fun, than chimney starters or cubes.

I finally succumbed to temptation and ordered one of those blowtorches after I saw a buddy of mine use it at a tailgate to fire up a smoker tube. They're on sale right now, IYRC
1727279542771.png
 
For everyone using any of the blow torches available, it's a good idea to get one of these:
filler adapter.jpg
and/or one of these:
adapter hose.webp
The 1 lb. cylinders have gotten really expensive. Refilling them from a larger cylinder or just using a larger cylinder will lower your propane cost substantially, especially if you use your blow torch for things other than just lighting your smokers/grills. I use mine for lighting smoke tubes, roasting peppers, quickly melting cheese, searing meats and sometimes even burning weeds from cracks and seams in slabs & walkways. Been using the same 20# cylinder for about 10 months and it feels like it's still almost full.
 
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