Thin blue smoke from Smokefire, is this impossible?

[Joseph K]

Hi All,

I have had my EX4 for one year and half now. I like it a lot. It produces awesome flavor. But, there is just one thing. I think I am getting too much smoke. I like smoked product but not too much to the point when I taste food, it is a bit bitter.

In fact, I think I never got thin blue smoke out of Smokefire. Always white. Sometimes, really thick. So, to all Smokefire gurus, how do I produce thin blue smoke from an Smokefire?

When was using WSM 14, I was able to get thin blue smoke all the time. I miss my WSM 14. Seeing very light blue smoke chugging out of the cooker, I was literally amazed at the science and engineering behind the small bullet. Now, I am looking at my Smokefire and scratching my head wondering if I can ever...

 

[LMichaels]

Is air flow correct? Is your fan running correctly. Excess/dirty smoke usually is result of too much fuel not enough air for proper combustion.

 

[Joseph K]

Is air flow correct? Is your fan running correctly. Excess/dirty smoke usually is result of too much fuel not enough air for proper combustion.

I have no control on how the fan functions but I think it is running fine since I am getting to the temperature I set. I set it to 250F. I can accept the fact that initially it will produce white smoke in the beginning but while maintaining, I see thick white smoke continuously coming out with very short period of minimized white smoke but never thin blue smoke.

 

[Lew Newby]

I'm an admin on a Smokefire Facebook group with over 9000 members. In my 3 years of ownership this is the first time I've heard of this and I have no doubt that you have a problem. It's a head scratcher. I get blue smoke every cook. Smoldering pellets give white smoke. If your fire pot grate is clogged that will cut down on airflow. Some folks check the fire pot for a blockage every time they start the grill. If your pellets are damp they will smolder. Give a couple of them a snap test. If you hear and see a sharp snap, the pellets are good. If your fan isn't cycling speeds that can cause the problem. To check the fan start the grill at 305F or hotter. When the grill temp gets around 100, the fan will kick into high speed and stay there. If set temp is below 305 the fan will continue to cycle speeds. You might contact Weber through their Facebook page. Folks seem to get help from that.

 

[Darian Hofer]

Just to clarify. You are consistently getting a bitter taste in your food for over a year?
The reason we like the Smokefire is the consistent mellow smoke flavor.
I used a WSM for a couple years and understand the blue smoke. Same goal I use with my Big Green Eggs. Let the fire burn clean before putting the food on the grill. Similar look I shoot for with my offset.
Since the pellets are the smoke source and the heat source forced by fan driven air the exhaust is never going to have the same look as your WSM.
The disadvantage of using a pellet grill is you can never get a pure, relatively smokeless cook like you can on WSM burning only good lump or Kingsford.
On our Smokefire, the lower our cooking/smoking temps the more smoke taste our food has.
My first suggestion would be to replace your glo plug and make sure it has a solid connection to the wire. Then do a software update if you don’t do this already. Then of course call Weber and talk to a human.
Would also help to know more details on what foods and cooking temps you feel produce the strongest bitter taste? What is your pellet of choice? And most importantly, have your fiends and family also complained about a bitter taste? Only asking because some people have very sensitive taste. Wife refuses to eat most food from my offset. Granted, some of that is my poor fire control.
One las thought, grease and excessive ash build up around the burn pot can slow burn during your cook and put off a bad taste on your food.
Hope you get it figured out because we believe the smoke profile is one of the best of any of your cookers.

 

[Lew Newby]

My first suggestion would be to replace your glo plug and make sure it has a solid connection to the wire. Then do a software update if you don’t do this already. Then of course call Weber and talk to a human.
Would also help to know more details on what foods and cooking temps you feel produce the strongest bitter taste? What is your pellet of choice? And most importantly, have your fiends and family also complained about a bitter taste? Only asking because some people have very sensitive taste. Wife refuses to eat most food from my offset. Granted, some of that is my poor fire control.
One las thought, grease build up around the burn pot can slow burn during your cook and put off a bad taste on your food.
Hope you get it figured out because we believe the smoke profile is one of the best of any of your cookers.

The glow plug isn't a factor in this. Once the fire starts the glow plug de-energizes.

 

[ChuckO]

What pellets are you using? Seems like you’re using pellets designed for heaters. Is your burn pot clean, free of ash and pellet dust. Is the bottom of your grill covered in grease drippings? I would check for cleanliness, I would check the fuel and I’d crank that bad boy up as hot as it’ll go for at least 10 minutes. I really would like to know what pellets you use

 

[LMichaels]

Seems like you’re using pellets designed for heaters.

Interesting thought. I'm with something bothering the combustion process though. BTW just because you reach temp does not mean the fan is working correctly. I made that mistake on my Member's Mark

 

[TimA]

If you’ve got bitter taste, something is definitely wrong.

I would say my smoke is typically more white than blue, but is never bitter. I can Smokeboost for hours and it’s not overwhelming or bitter. Of course depends on the meat; beef is hard to over smoke but chicken and pork are fairly easy to.

 

[Darian Hofer]

The glow plug isn't a factor in this. Once the fire starts the glow plug de-energizes.

Faulty or poor connection with main temperature probe causing poor fire control?

 

[Joseph K]

Just to clarify. You are consistently getting a bitter taste in your food for over a year?
The reason we like the Smokefire is the consistent mellow smoke flavor.
I used a WSM for a couple years and understand the blue smoke. Same goal I use with my Big Green Eggs. Let the fire burn clean before putting the food on the grill. Similar look I shoot for with my offset.
Since the pellets are the smoke source and the heat source forced by fan driven air the exhaust is never going to have the same look as your WSM.
The disadvantage of using a pellet grill is you can never get a pure, relatively smokeless cook like you can on WSM burning only good lump or Kingsford.
On our Smokefire, the lower our cooking/smoking temps the more smoke taste our food has.
My first suggestion would be to replace your glo plug and make sure it has a solid connection to the wire. Then do a software update if you don’t do this already. Then of course call Weber and talk to a human.
Would also help to know more details on what foods and cooking temps you feel produce the strongest bitter taste? What is your pellet of choice? And most importantly, have your fiends and family also complained about a bitter taste? Only asking because some people have very sensitive taste. Wife refuses to eat most food from my offset. Granted, some of that is my poor fire control.
One las thought, grease and excessive ash build up around the burn pot can slow burn during your cook and put off a bad taste on your food.
Hope you get it figured out because we believe the smoke profile is one of the best of any of your cookers.

Hi Darian, thank you so much for the reply. To answer some of your questions, I use only Weber pellets. Either Hickory or Grillmaster. Yes, I notice stronger bitter taste on slower cooks but cannot ignore on high temps (550F) either. And yes, my family members mentioned the same. I clean my grills quite often and quite thoroughly but not the burn pot nor the glow plug. Perhaps, I should clean and replace them? Again, Thank you.

 

[Joseph K]

Interesting thought. I'm with something bothering the combustion process though. BTW just because you reach temp does not mean the fan is working correctly. I made that mistake on my Member's Mark

Oh, really? I will check my fan tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[Joseph K]

What pellets are you using? Seems like you’re using pellets designed for heaters. Is your burn pot clean, free of ash and pellet dust. Is the bottom of your grill covered in grease drippings? I would check for cleanliness, I would check the fuel and I’d crank that bad boy up as hot as it’ll go for at least 10 minutes. I really would like to know what pellets you use

Only Weber pellets. I am sure my grill is on the more cleaner side than most of the grilling youtubes.

 

[Darian Hofer]

Hi Darian, thank you so much for the reply. To answer some of your questions, I use only Weber pellets. Either Hickory or Grillmaster. Yes, I notice stronger bitter taste on slower cooks but cannot ignore on high temps (550F) either. And yes, my family members mentioned the same. I clean my grills quite often and quite thoroughly but not the burn pot nor the glow plug. Perhaps, I should clean and replace them? Again, Thank you.

Thanks for the added info. Definitely clean your burn pot to make sure you get a clean airflow. Similar to a camp fire in a bed of thick ashes. Much more smoke.
I have used the Weber Grillmaster blend and really like it. The hickory, as with other brands, are one of the stronger profiles in smoke woods.
There are milder pellet wood choices. Apple and Alder are 2 milder types. But maybe try another blend by another company. I definitely don’t get billowing white smoke unless I’m aggressively changing my cooking temps or drippings from fatty foods. Usually once my target temp is fairly stable it burns fairly clean. Never as clear as my WSM or my Eggs. But they require so much less airflow it’s not really a fair comparison.
The little indented grease/ash ramps on each side of the fire bowl can slowly fill in with time. The accumulation of grease can put off smoke and odor but your description of bitter taste is pretty spot on with a poor burning fire, smoldering or damp pellets. A buddy of mine really likes strong smoke flavor and insists on soaking his wood chips and chunks in water and then tossing them on his coals. His food is always very bitter. But his beer is cold.lol
The first couple times I used my Smokefire I was expecting totally over smoked food because of the amount of smoke coming out the vents. But the smoke aroma around my grill smelled mild and pleasant, just like the taste on the food.
I normally use the B&B Comp blend as it’s about half the price of the Weber pellets. The Pit Boss blend is also one I like. I hope cleaning out the fire bowl and under the pellet grate in the bowl takes care of most of your excess smoke issues.

Also, you haven’t mentioned anything about keeping your controller software updated. I can honestly say mine burns much better now than when I first used it. The updates improved the temp control and pellet feeding.

 

[Joseph K]

Thanks for the added info. Definitely clean your burn pot to make sure you get a clean airflow. Similar to a camp fire in a bed of thick ashes. Much more smoke.
I have used the Weber Grillmaster blend and really like it. The hickory, as with other brands, are one of the stronger profiles in smoke woods.
There are milder pellet wood choices. Apple and Alder are 2 milder types. But maybe try another blend by another company. I definitely don’t get billowing white smoke unless I’m aggressively changing my cooking temps or drippings from fatty foods. Usually once my target temp is fairly stable it burns fairly clean. Never as clear as my WSM or my Eggs. But they require so much less airflow it’s not really a fair comparison.
The little indented grease/ash ramps on each side of the fire bowl can slowly fill in with time. The accumulation of grease can put off smoke and odor but your description of bitter taste is pretty spot on with a poor burning fire, smoldering or damp pellets. A buddy of mine really likes strong smoke flavor and insists on soaking his wood chips and chunks in water and then tossing them on his coals. His food is always very bitter. But his beer is cold.lol
The first couple times I used my Smokefire I was expecting totally over smoked food because of the amount of smoke coming out the vents. But the smoke aroma around my grill smelled mild and pleasant, just like the taste on the food.
I normally use the B&B Comp blend as it’s about half the price of the Weber pellets. The Pit Boss blend is also one I like. I hope cleaning out the fire bowl and under the pellet grate in the bowl takes care of most of your excess smoke issues.

Also, you haven’t mentioned anything about keeping your controller software updated. I can honestly say mine burns much better now than when I first used it. The updates improved the temp control and pellet feeding.

Darian, again, thanks for the elaborated response. Will definitely clean the pot tomorrow. Yes, hickory is definitely stronger than other flavors I tried. Regarding the software, I thought the updates were automatic. That’s what I observed last time when I checked but things might be different now? What are the versions you have? I will definitely check that as well tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[Bruno]

I would say my smoke is typically more white than blue, but is never bitter.

This is my experience as well.

 

[BFletcher]

Hopefully you get this sorted out and can enjoy your cooks! The smoke exhaust behaves differently on my SF than it does on the WSM or a stick burner; it doesn't waft like what I see on a manual smoker but I attribute that to the fan that thrusts a larger volume of air/smoke through the exhaust.

 

[ChuckO]

Seems like much has been eliminated. I would try dumping the pellets in the hopper and adding new pellets from a fresh bag or at least certainly do the snap test Lew spoke of. If everything tests out, the one last thing to do is do the factory reset. Weber put the option in the menu, they must have figured a need for it, sounds like maybe your need might fit that bill. Good luck!

 

[timothy]

Do you all wait for it to come up to temp before you load the meat?
Seems like the heaviest amount of smoke is at startup. ( I've only done three smokes )
On my WSM's I loaded immediately with a minion start.

 

[Joseph K]

Do you all wait for it to come up to temp before you load the meat?
Seems like the heaviest amount of smoke is at startup. ( I've only done three smokes )
On my WSM's I loaded immediately with a minion start.

Hi Timothy, I learned a lot from the forums and yes, I load the meat only after the super thick white smoke subdued. Even with my WSM. The thin blue smoke from WSM is something I get amazed at. I even hear some chugging sound from the WSM. I check again and there is no mechanism to produce that sound. Simply amazing. I like Smokefire, too. The ease of use is no compare but the white smoke, I want to stay away from. Chris had one video in which he mentions that too much smoke is not good, I tend to agree, especially when it is thick and white.