Well...the ol’ Smokefire did me well

[Bruno]

Given the couple mentions of smoke rings and comps, thought I'd share this little reminder...
Smoke rings can be created artificially, therefore are not to be considered when judging...

Dang my wife just lowered my score!

 

[TimA]

Given the couple mentions of smoke rings and comps, thought I'd share this little reminder...
Smoke rings can be created artificially, therefore are not to be considered when judging...

I see. Didn’t know if that may be part of the “presentation” that some comment on, bed of lettuce and such. Thanks

 

[Bob Bass]

Hi Tim,
While there are organizations which do judge presentations, kcbs does not. We only judge appearance, tenderness and taste of the meat. But during the appearance stage, we also judge for legality, ie incorrect meat, foreign object, incorrect garnish (IF PRESENT), etc...

 

[TimA]

Appreciate the info Bob!


So, one of the things that you tend to hear regarding Smokefire is that it is super picky about being clean. Now, I don’t recall when the last time I cleaned mine was, I would guess middle of December. And it’s used at least 2-3 times a week (sometimes something quick like trying chicken nuggets for the kids, and others are burgers and steaks) and has done a pork butt, brisket and two slabs of ribs in that timeframe. I cleaned it this morning....

 

[TimA]

The ash in front of the burn pot was at least 1/2” thick and there were big chunks of grease all over.

Not a flaw. No fire. No clogged drains. No nothing. Just good food. Impressed, very impressed.

 

[Lew Newby]

The ash in front of the burn pot was at least 1/2” thick and there were big chunks of grease all over.

Not a flaw. No fire. No clogged drains. No nothing. Just good food. Impressed, very impressed.

I clean my EX6 about as often as you do and the used EX4 was treated the same way. They both just keep on keepin on. Try as I might I can't figure out why some of these grills only perform with meticulous cleaning and others don't need cleaning to perform. Big mystery.

 

[Darian Hofer]

I clean my EX6 about as often as you do and the used EX4 was treated the same way. They both just keep on keepin on. Try as I might I can't figure out why some of these grills only perform with meticulous cleaning and others don't need cleaning to perform. Big mystery.

Humidity could play into this, even with grill being covered. It’s not just the effects it has on fresh pellets in the hopper but also the ash in the bottom of grill. Humidity causes it to set up harder and not burn and blow out of the fire pot the same way. Doesn’t seem to hinder the lower temp cooks.
Just threw on a pork butt with no issues and no cleaning prior.

 

[Rich Dahl]

I don't have a SmokeFire...yet, but I do clean my camp chef after every cook. Not so much that I'm a clean freak but mostly to make sure I don't have any issues to deal with. So far so good.

 

[BobH-SCW]

I don't have one either-but as Rich I make sure I clean out my Traeger after each cook and start out the next with a clean firepot. Don't need any headaches.

 

[Lew Newby]

Humidity could play into this, even with grill being covered. It’s not just the effects it has on fresh pellets in the hopper but also the ash in the bottom of grill. Humidity causes it to set up harder and not burn and blow out of the fire pot the same way. Doesn’t seem to hinder the lower temp cooks.
Just threw on a pork butt with no issues and no cleaning prior.

I can't say that humidity doesn't play into it but I haven't seen proof of that. The guy I bought my EX4 from has had it for 21 months and lives 1/2 mile from the Intracoastal Waterway and 1.5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. I live 30 miles west of him - in central Florida - and my grill is 19 months old. Neither grill received much cleaning.

In August 2020 I ran a 30 day test with Weber and Pit Boss pellets in uncovered containers in my garage near the door. Every 5 days I did an integrity check and a burn test. The 30 day burn ran as good as the first one so I terminated the experiment. I do not claim that my experiment was sufficiently rigorous to prove anything. However, it did satisfy my curiosity.

 

[Darian Hofer]

I can't say that humidity doesn't play into it but I haven't seen proof of that. The guy I bought my EX4 from has had it for 21 months and lives 1/2 mile from the Intracoastal Waterway and 1.5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. I live 30 miles west of him - in central Florida - and my grill is 19 months old. Neither grill received much cleaning.

In August 2020 I ran a 30 day test with Weber and Pit Boss pellets in uncovered containers in my garage near the door. Every 5 days I did an integrity check and a burn test. The 30 day burn ran as good as the first one so I terminated the experiment. I do not claim that my experiment was sufficiently rigorous to prove anything. However, it did satisfy my curiosity.

Living near the water doesn’t always translate into high humidity in the air. Sister lived in Cape Coral Florida on the water for years but it was actually pretty dry. Especially compared to our humidity here in Galveston.
When I fire up my BGEs, if I’m burning existing lump in the Egg, I have to allow extra time to burn off the moisture in the Egg.
Even if it doesn’t rain, everything outside is normally wet in the morning from humidity. This could be part of the intermittent issues I’m having.

 

[Lew Newby]

Living near the water doesn’t always translate into high humidity in the air. Sister lived in Cape Coral Florida on the water for years but it was actually pretty dry. Especially compared to our humidity here in Galveston.
When I fire up my BGEs, if I’m burning existing lump in the Egg, I have to allow extra time to burn off the moisture in the Egg.
Even if it doesn’t rain, everything outside is normally wet in the morning from humidity. This could be part of the intermittent issues I’m having.

When I was stationed in Corpus Christi we drove up to Galveston and noticed the humidity up there. Galveston is like St. Louis Mo. in the summer. Our humidity doesn't compare to the many August days I spent in St. Louis.