How to smoke ribs not neighbors?


 
A

AndrewD

New member
So I fired up my new WSM last weekend for the first time to test it out on a few slabs of baby back ribs.

Added one chimney of unlit and spread about 20 briquettes of lit on top. I wasn't sure where to start with wood, so I just added a couple of chunks each of oak and cherry that I came across in the BRITU recipe. Foiled the water pan, did not add water. Kept the temps at around 250F. At around 3.5 hours it was late and I was hungry so I pulled the ribs off. Perhaps a little less tender than I would want ideally, but delicious none the less. Will wait longer next time.

Anyway, while the ribs worked out better than I had expected, the problem was the amount of billowing white smoke that made its way over to the neighbors. Probably an hour of white/grey smoke flowing out of the top vent in great quantities. They mentioned how their garage and cars ended up smelling like smoke.

Our garden/patio is fairly small and I am worried that if I cannot find a way to control the clouds of smoke my WSM experiments might have to meet an early demise.

Any suggestions for keeping the smoke in check? Lighting up was no problem in a chimney but once I added the chunks to the coal ring the smoke onslaught began.

Chips/pellets in foil perhaps? Trying to figure out what to try next and I need to choose carefully because my number of attempts is limited.

Thanks,

Andrew
 
Andrew, I feel your plight. My 1st thought is to redirect the smoke. Either a fan to blow it away from the neighbors or a physical shoot of some design to redirect. Some other suggestions. When you first place your hot coals in the smoke ring, leave the middle section off the smoker for a few minutes, 10-15. Then reassemble. This should help with the smoke but may have some negative effects with the ring formation on the meat. That is all dependant on when you put your meat on the grate. Also you can try to let the WSM temp come up and stableize before adding wood. Then only add small chunks of wood 1-2 at a time.

If I were you I might practice in a park or in my driveway or somewhere where the smoke will not bother people. Another thought, how about a mister system above the smoker. The moisture in the air may keep the smoke down closer to the ground. Oh and then there's inviting the neighbors over for a BBQ, tell them also to close all their windows and seal their garage when you smoke, no, don't do that.
Let us know how it works out.

Mark
 
They mentioned how their garage and cars ended up smelling like smoke.
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Did you tell them they didn't have to thank you for the great smell of BBQ smoke?
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Try just putting one chunk at a time on next time. If you think that is too offensive try the chips in foil method.
 
Startup is always a bit smokey but "an hour of white/grey smoke flowing out of the top vent in great quantities" isn't good.

Ideally, you want wisps of bluish-white smoke, not "billowing white smoke".

As MK suggested, you should probably start with less wood.


For my neighbors, the smell was their signal to come over for samplers in a few hours.
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I have never had any complaints. But my neighbours do not have the habit of sniffing on their cars or garage, either.
Invite them over for BBQ dinner, and discuss the problem. I doubt there is no way you can remove the "stink" completely. By the way- are you allowed to install a wood burning stove in your house? That would cause the same problem, but for much longer periods.

To be frank, I think your neighbours makes a fuss of this, but it's always smart to be friends with the ones next door.
 
I think your neighbors are being a tad bit crabby about the smoke. Delicious BBQ smoke is absolutely nothing compared to what I have experienced from neighbors in the 20+ places I have lived...

Tom
 
Try just using the cherry.

I have used oak a few times in the past and it created a lot of white smoke. The cherry I use quickly turns into the bluish wisps I'm looking for.
 
Chips/pellets in foil perhaps?
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You can do that. You can also forgo large chunks. I dislike 'fist-sized' chunks. I take those and cut them into 5 or 6 pieces each. For a rib cook I might use about 10 of those, roughly one-and-a-half fist-sized chunks. With a Minion start (something I always do) and loading the meat in immediately (something I always do), the wood is spread, the lit are spread, combustion is staggered, smoke is minimized.
 
Just a couple more thoughts

- be aware of wind direction. I have close neighbours so I tend to move my smoker depending on weather.

- Perhaps try lump. From personal experience I find it burns with much less "smell".. especially at the start.

- Start with fewer briqs but let them get GOOD and well lit in the chimney. Having a hot fire can burn off those volitiles.
 
Wow, thanks for all of the suggestions. I will be firing up my smoker for round two this weekend and from the pointers above I will try with cherry wood only in smaller pieces, less total quantity and added gradually with lit coals very hot before starting and then if all else fails make a peace offering of ribs. Will report back in a couple days...
 
I get a lot of smoke when I start my charcoal chimney but never a lot after I assemble the WSM. Something ain't right. Too much wood? I use Kingsford charcoal and it burns very clean.
 
Round two today. I used cherry wood only, one small chunk at a time. What a difference. Instead of the clouds of smoke from the previous attempt there was just a small white/grey plume lasting maybe 10 minutes and reappearing briefly when new chunks went in. I also got hold of a small propane torch and used that to light a few coals directly in the coal ring - this in itself was far less smokey than the previous chimney starter.

The ribs turned out better this time. Baby backs again with a good sprinkling of Byronn's rub. About 4 hours at 250F and I nearly lost one slab that fell right off the bone as I lifted it from the grate.

Thanks again for the help.
 
Originally posted by Greg C.:
They mentioned how their garage and cars ended up smelling like smoke.
Click to expand...

Did you tell them they didn't have to thank you for the great smell of BBQ smoke?
icon_wink.gif


QUOTE] I have a lot of Lebanese neighbours. The smell of BBQ pork ribs is not something they consider to be great.
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I thought the smiley face indicated I was only joking. However, as the X once pointed out to me, things I think are funny are not always funny to others.
I have my doubts Andrew's neighbors could tell he was cooking pork by the smoke smell coming out of his smoker. If they could, they have better noses than me and my neighbors. My neighbors always have to ask what I'm cooking.
 
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