"How to" question (s)

retired lawman · Sep 19, 2012

I have an Oklahoma Joe offset, been using it for a couple months now. By using I mean I've been running wood through it and tossing out a lot of practice meat. Being slightly OCD, this makes me nuts :)

Anywho, I welded up my air leaks, placed a cookie sheet at an angle in the smoke chamber to deflect heat, ran a piece of metal duct work from the smoke stack to about halfway across the smoke chamber, and still get creosote on my meat of choice. I keep my stack cover wide open.

I have been using a large foil pan of water against the wall between the smoke chamber and the fire box, I'm thinking about not using this next time. Any thoughts? Ideas?

daveomak · Sep 19, 2012

Keith, morning..... Is your wood properly seasoned ??? Too much wood and not having a hot bed of coals might cause creosote... You will see billowing white smoke which is not good.... Below is an example of good vs bad smoke.... Dave

smoke good vsevil.jpg

daveomak
Sep 19, 2012

retired lawman · Sep 19, 2012

I use year old oak, but I have been getting it rolling then closing it up with plenty of wood in it. So ya think what I'm doing wrong is not letting it burn down first?

pineywoods · Sep 19, 2012

What size is your firebox and what size wood splits are you using?

boykjo · Sep 19, 2012

I have a braunfel offset and I use 2 lit chimneys of charcoal and throw a few chunk of wood on the coals for a nice thin blue smoke...... and add more chunks as the wood burns up. IMHO these smokers are to small to burn just wood or if you do it really has to be bone dry.........

Joe

retired lawman · Sep 19, 2012

I would guess the firebox is 1/3 of size of the smoker? Wood splits vary on size, usually I put two fairly big ones on the bottom, build the fire on top of them, and then add smaller splits or round limbs on top, but I do fill the box pretty much up.

retired lawman · Sep 19, 2012

...and I tried using charcoal the first few times I used the smoker, and it would burn up a whole bag in just a few hours. I tried several ways to get longer burn time, but either it burned too hot too fast, or didnt burn hot enough (spreading the coal out in lines so it burns longer). So I went with all wood

frosty · Sep 19, 2012

Welcome Retired Lawman, thanks for your service.

You might do a search (above) on the"Minion Method" that might help you. It might give you details on how to moderate your temps and allow you to use more contstant temps, while lessening the billowing white smoke and possible creosote build up. You will never like the taste of creosote.

Lots of helpful ideas and people to get you headed toward perfection.

Good luck, and remember "eat your mistakes and the evidence goes away".

cliffcarter · Sep 19, 2012

Retired Lawman said:
I would guess the firebox is 1/3 of size of the smoker? Wood splits vary on size, usually I put two fairly big ones on the bottom, build the fire on top of them, and then add smaller splits or round limbs on top, but I do fill the box pretty much up.

You are using too much wood to start. You should not fill the fire box but instead light a small fire with charcoal.(most will use a chimney of lump charcoal) and put 1 or 2 splits(I use 10"-12" long by3"thick,YMMV) on top. Add 1 or 2 splits at a time to maintain temps, you will need to tend the fire. Your creosote problem comes from all that smoldering wood in the firebox IMHO.

so ms smoker · Sep 19, 2012

What cliffcarter said. I also use a water pan to help moderate the heat. Use a good thermo to keep a check on the temp at the grate level close to the meat. The one in the lid can be accurate, but is not at the cooking level. Hope this helps you out.

Mike

oldschoolbbq · Sep 19, 2012

Kieth, here's a little info. you might use to end the Creosote Blues... http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/se...urning+101&sort=lastupdate&currenttab=Article

bbq shots 004.JPG

oldschoolbbq
Sep 19, 2012

This is how the smoke should look.

Have fun and...

pineywoods · Sep 19, 2012

Sounds like as others said your using too much wood and too big of splits. Lump charcoal and the Minion Method might help you out another thing to consider is to burn the wood in a barrel then use the coals here's a link http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/50038/burn-barrel-for-true-wood-smoking

retired lawman · Sep 19, 2012

Lots of good ideas here, lot to tinker with this weekend. Many thanks, I'm sure I will have some more questions next week.

sqwib · Sep 20, 2012

Yes let the wood burn down.

Remove that duct work you added.

Also make sure that water pan is not impeding proper airflow.

Take pictures of your setup and next smoke and check back I'm sure we can fix this in no time at all.

Looks like you got some useful advice.

Here is what has worked for me.(with pics of course)

Use seasoned wood
Make sure there is air flow under the fire.
Use a fire basket, this helps in maintaining a hot small fire.
Open all exhausts, vents and chamber door
Load up the fire basket with your junk wood (off cuts, round stuff sticks) and get a good hot fire going. I will use a log lighter or use a chimney of lump
Feed the fire a bit then let it settle down, your goal here is to build up a decent coal base, at this point you will have a small fire and a large amount of hot coals, this may take a while.
Select a bunch of small splits try not to use round logs, smaller is better and 3 -4 splits of smaller wood is better than adding 1 large split, this give you better fire control.
Place the wood you will be using next on the firebox lid if possible. Make sure your pit is hot, I shoot for 400°+.
Place the meat in the cooking chamber.
Dial in your temp using the intake vent, make an adjustment then wait a bit, you want the pit to have time to react to the changes.
Feed he fire as needed, you want the wood to ignite as quick as possible and not smolder.
If your fire smolder significantly, open your firebox door and cooking chamber door.
Stoke the fire if there is an accumulation of ash on the wood or in the fire basket.

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sqwib
Sep 20, 2012

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sqwib
Sep 20, 2012

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sqwib
Aug 31, 2012

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sqwib
Sep 20, 2012

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sqwib
Sep 20, 2012

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sqwib
Sep 20, 2012

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sqwib
Sep 20, 2012

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sqwib
Sep 20, 2012

retired lawman · Sep 22, 2012

Well I took the good advice from this thread, and gave it a whirl today. I got a good burn down with plenty of coals, and kept the small split wood on top of the fire box to heat it up. It was a bit more labor intensive, but it sure did cut down on the billowing white smoke and creosote gunk on the meat. The picture of the smoker is about half way through the smoke at 275 degrees, and the end result. Cant thank all enough for all the help, I feel like I have my baseline now for a good meal

101_0057.JPG

retired lawman
Sep 22, 2012

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retired lawman
Sep 22, 2012

daveomak · Sep 24, 2012

Keith, morning.... Well........ How was the flavor ???? Are you the best Q maker in the neighbor hood yet .... Looks darn good to me.... Nice bark...... I'll bet it was moist too..... U-know you are supposed to take Q-views of the finished product on your dinner plate for us to drool on our keyboards wanting some.... OK, you are forgiven this time for no "drool over" pics....

Next time the dreaded

may appear.... We do love pics.....

Dave

retired lawman · Sep 24, 2012

I do happen to have a pic of the smoke ring. The flavor rocked, little tougher than I would want, but for a first piece of meat I didn't toss out, I will take it. Seems I cant upload from the phone. I will take my wrist slap like a man and ealways upload from now on:grilling_smilie:

pineywoods · Sep 25, 2012

Pretty much any other method of smoking takes less attention and labor than stick burnig does but I like it

sqwib · Sep 25, 2012

Pineywoods said:
Pretty much any other method of smoking takes less attention and labor than stick burnig does but I like it

I couldn't agree more.

It's a mindset thing, when you head out to the pit, you know you're in it for the long haul!

retired lawman · Sep 25, 2012

It's our anniversary today, so I just fired up the OKJ for a smoked chicken. I have learned my lesson, pics on the plate will follow

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