Smoke advice

rolling coal · May 28, 2012

Hi there, here's my set up- horizon classic 20 RD with charcoal basket in the fire box. I've been doing the minion method with some fire bricks in the basket to slow down the fire. It makes it burn in a "S" shape. I'm using a mixture of brickets and lump. 70% brickets 30% lump. the wood I'm using is seasoned wood that I buy at the store made by weber. I have been using apple and tried oak this past weekend with apple mixed in.

So here's the question now that you know my set up. I start the fire in the chimney with 10 coals. I then dump them in the basket and let it start coming up to temp. Once it's up to temp I put two chunks of the wood on. It starts to give a very thick white smoke then clears up shortly after. When I look in the fire box through the vent you can see that the wood is on fire with flames. If I want it to smoke again I need to close the vents to choke out the fire but I'm back to the thick white smoke. The pork tenderloin I cooked was really strong smokey tasting. Like kind of over powering. I did add another chunk of wood at the end of the cook. This is also the first time using oak with apple. So how do I get blue smoke? Am I doing something wrong with the chunks of wood on the coals? When the wood catches fire is that enough smoke?

southernsausage · May 28, 2012

Hello...I'm not familiar with your cooking apparatus and do not know about your blue smoke question. However, I learned on charcoal and wood and know that if it was too strong then i would use more coal and less wood or older/drier wood. Hope this helps! Keep on Smokin'...

daveomak · May 28, 2012

Rolling Coal, evening and welcome to the forum...... First, the smoke.... Bury the chunks under the briquettes.... no air, no flame....

Second, you have entered the land of the best smoking forum on the web.... Great folks willing to share recipes and ideas to make your life easier.... This place will become addictive with all the great tried and true recipes etc that are here.... Have a problem ?? No problem... Just ask and many folks will help you out..... Hang on for the long smokey ride... Dave

rolling coal · May 28, 2012

So if I bury the chunks in the unlit coals they will smolder and give smoke but won't that be the same as me choking out the fire box with the vents? I was told before to throw the chunks on top of the coals. But with the vents open to supply air for the coals the wood goes up in flames.

For those of you not knowing what kind of smoker this is it's a offset horizontal smoker.

daveomak · May 28, 2012

So if I bury the chunks in the unlit coals they will smolder and give smoke but won't that be the same as me choking out the fire box with the vents? I was told before to throw the chunks on top of the coals. But with the vents open to supply air for the coals the wood goes up in flames.

Rolling Coal..... So.... throwing the chunks on top doesn't work because they burst into flame because of the air supply..... So you choke off the air with the vent.... the flame goes out... all is good...

Burying the chunks cuts off the air supply..... chunks smolder and make smoke..... No Flame... All is good.... And burying the chunks at different depths allows for smoke at different times during the cooking cycle....

So, now it is being suggested to bury the chunks for an unattended smoking cycle that will provide smoke throughout the entire smoke with no flames..... Dave

rolling coal · May 29, 2012

Yes I understand that but that's when I get the real heavy white smoke. I'm trying to get the blue smoke so it's not such a strong/bitter flavor.

daveomak · May 29, 2012

Southern sausage gave some very good advice.... Have you tried it ??

southernsausage said:
Hello...I'm not familiar with your cooking apparatus and do not know about your blue smoke question. However, I learned on charcoal and wood and know that if it was too strong then i would use more coal and less wood or older/drier wood. Hope this helps! Keep on Smokin'...

Rolling coal, morning.... How many chunks are you using ??? One chunk is all that is necessary.... to produce smoke.... 2 chuncks, twice as much smoke.... etc...

Dave

bruno994 · May 29, 2012

DaveOmak would be considered more of an authority on this than I, but my opinion is less chunks at a time, maybe spread out more during your smoke, but seems to me your real problem is poor combustion of the wood. Lack of air flow will cause poor combustion, causing thick white smoke out the exhaust and nasty tasting or overpowering smoke taste. Personally in my smoker (not being familiar with your mind you), I load the charcoal basket with 20# Kingsford then after it gets burning good, I start putting splits of wood, a mix of oak and mesquite or hickory on top of the hot coals. If the wood does not combust properly and flame up at first, it will start sending out white smoke. So typically during a cook when I add wood, I will crack the firebox door to get the proper air flow for combustion to the fresh wood until it gets going good, then I will close it off and all is good. A side effect of the cracking the firebox door is that the pit temp will rise a bit. I usually let it go up about 15 degrees or so then close the door. This gives it enough time to get the wood going and to keep producing thin blue smoke. I probably haven't answered all the questions, if any, but keep on trying and experimenting, especially with the air flow.

jrod62 · May 29, 2012

Bury the chunks works great. Another thing i do in my off set smoker
Is put the chunks on the edge of the basket. The heat will get them smoking
but won't catch on fire. If you still have to much white smoke then cut back
on how much wood in the smoker at same time. You can start with one piece
then add another when you don't see smoke anymore.
Just try it different ways until it works for you.

rolling coal · May 29, 2012

Thanks for the responses guys! I'm a little confused now. DaveOmak is saying you need a clean burning fire with good air flow. I've got that working no problem. When you add the chunk it catches fire and produces next to nothing for smoke while it's burning. Is that what I'm trying to get is that tiny bit of smoke while the wood is burning?

Jrod62 says to put the wood at the side of the fire basket or bury it and that way it won't catch fire. If it smolders that's when I get the heavy white smoke.

One thing I should mention is when I do the minion method I always have a fire where the new coals are catching from the lit coals. This is a new setup I have. I've only had it about a month. Before that I had a cheap offset smoker. No basket and was a much smaller unit. I was always having to add coals to it because the airflow was not there. They were alway lit before adding them. I bought the bigger smoker with the basket to do the minion method. I had read that this would increase my burn times with less babysitting.

So am I wanting the chunk to burn with flames or smolder with no flame?

southernsausage · May 30, 2012

Sounds like an easy fix. Maybe try starting ur fire with charcoal...let it go for about an hour before adding any wood...then add approximately 1 pound of aged(at least a year)wood right on top of your burning coals and see how like the taste. Then you will have a base starting formula. I have found that it is not an exact science...so many factors, i.e., outside temperatures, age and type of wood, different cuts of meat absorb smoke and taste differently...thats what i like about it using wood amd charcoal. It rarely tastes exactly the same and that keeps it from getting boring.

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Smoke advice

rolling coal

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daveomak

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daveomak

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