Thanksgiving Turkey with TBS...not the TV channel.

smokeringred · Nov 22, 2012

I've recently found out I was smoking wrong for a long time. I used to think the MORE smoke, the better. Well, Thin Blue Smoke is now my best friend. I've done some research, and am trying TBS on my Thanksgiving turkey. Here's a quick video. Pictures as well.

I used a little bit of a new dry rub on my turkey that I am going to try this year, along with some fresh rosemary. I Hope it turns out good

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smokeringred
Nov 22, 2012

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smokeringred
Nov 22, 2012

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smokeringred
Nov 22, 2012

thsmormonsmokes · Nov 22, 2012

That last photo makes it look like your chimney damper isn't all the way open. Open it as wide as you can get it. If you close it off you can get bitter build up on the meat. That will improve your results even more.

daveomak · Nov 22, 2012

SRR, morning.... Looking pretty sweet.....

bama bbq · Nov 22, 2012

That's definitely the TBS you're looking for.

thsmormonsmokes · Nov 22, 2012

Here's a TBS question. The shift from billowy white stuff to TBS is a function of temperature of the fuel, isn't it? Or is it simply a stage of combustion unrelated to temp?

I ask because I frequently need to feed my SFB during a smoke with either new charcoal or new smoke wood. And if there is a way to minimize the billowy white smoke so I only expose it to TBS, I'm interested.

For charcoal, I use a chimney, which takes care of that issue pretty well. But what about smoke wood?

-I use sticks I cut myself and not commercially available chunks, so the shape of my smoke wood doesn't really lend itself to pre-starting in a chimney like charcoal does.

Also, is there a benefit to using a skillet? I just throw my smoke wood in with the coals and burn it.

smokeringred · Nov 22, 2012

Thanks Thsmormonsmokes, I will keep that in mind about the damper open. I figured if I open it all the way, I'd get the heat up too high. I guess closing the intake some will help even it out.

thsmormonsmokes · Nov 22, 2012

SmokeRingRed said:
Thanks Thsmormonsmokes, I will keep that in mind about the damper open. I figured if I open it all the way, I'd get the heat up too high. I guess closing the intake some will help even it out.

That's the way to control the temps. At least that's what I've always been told.

I just watched the video. There's nothing more beautiful than that thin blue stuff rolling out of a stack. Honestly, I could sit and smell it all day long.

jarjarchef · Nov 22, 2012

With the top damper open all the way you get better air flow and the smoke does not get stale in the cook chamber. Use your air intake for the fire to control the heat. Less air = less heat....... If you let the fire smolder you will also get a longer burn from your fuel........

I use oak we have on the property that we trim throughout the year. The only way I have found to eliminate the white smoke when adding wood to the side fire box is to pre burn in a burn barrel. Then just add the coals to the fire box. I will preheat my oak by sitting it on the fire box. Just be careful it can ignite if left on there too long.

smokeringred · Nov 22, 2012

The turkey turned out great! I didn't get a picture of the finished project. Family was in to much of a rush to eat it for me to get a picture.
I think I like smoking a little bit larger one better than smaller ones.

austinl · Nov 22, 2012

I have a side firebox smoker also and I've noticed when adding more wood it only smokes white for a couple minutes until it catches up with everything else. I never thought anything of it because it was such a short amount of time compared to the overall cooking time. As such, it didn't seem worth the effort to pre-burn the wood if I already had hot coals going. Second, I noticed you burning the wood in a skillet above the coals; any reason for that? Why not burn the wood directly on the coals?

smokeringred · Nov 24, 2012

Great question AustinL! I asked the same one when I first learned that you want TBS, and not the billowing white smoke. Basically you don't want the wood chunks, or wood chips to ignite AT ALL. Now I'm no expert at this, but this is just what I've learned. I had mine really almost too close right on top of the coals, because mine did start to ignite just a little right in the cast iron skillet. Now the wood placed in the skillet will produce some white smoke at first, but this way it seems like it's a shorter time, than it is straight on the coals. And it makes the wood smoke A LOT longer too.

Of course this way just seemed like a good idea, but there are many ways of doing it.

Here's an excellent thread with some good explanations, and a great post by SQWIB that shows the purpose of putting it in a metal dish instead of right in the fire.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/108315/rules-for-tbs

timleo · Nov 24, 2012

ThsMormonSmokes said:
Here's a TBS question. The shift from billowy white stuff to TBS is a function of temperature of the fuel, isn't it? Or is it simply a stage of combustion unrelated to temp?
I ask because I frequently need to feed my SFB during a smoke with either new charcoal or new smoke wood. And if there is a way to minimize the billowy white smoke so I only expose it to TBS, I'm interested.
For charcoal, I use a chimney, which takes care of that issue pretty well. But what about smoke wood?
-I use sticks I cut myself and not commercially available chunks, so the shape of my smoke wood doesn't really lend itself to pre-starting in a chimney like charcoal does.
Also, is there a benefit to using a skillet? I just throw my smoke wood in with the coals and burn it.

I think the billowy white smoke is water vapor and wetness in the wood being boiled out of the wood when it is first put on the fire. The thin blue smoke is the wood itself providing the smoke. (Think distillation) The white smoke is just dirty water boiling off, the thin blue smoke is where the good flavor is.

Putting it in the pan to keep the flames off of the wood really does make it last a lot longer...it isn't being consumed by the fire, but it is giving up the thin blue flavor smoke.

austinl · Nov 24, 2012

SmokeRingRed said:
Great question AustinL! I asked the same one when I first learned that you want TBS, and not the billowing white smoke. Basically you don't want the wood chunks, or wood chips to ignite AT ALL. Now I'm no expert at this, but this is just what I've learned. I had mine really almost too close right on top of the coals, because mine did start to ignite just a little right in the cast iron skillet. Now the wood placed in the skillet will produce some white smoke at first, but this way it seems like it's a shorter time, than it is straight on the coals. And it makes the wood smoke A LOT longer too.

Of course this way just seemed like a good idea, but there are many ways of doing it.

Here's an excellent thread with some good explanations, and a great post by SQWIB that shows the purpose of putting it in a metal dish instead of right in the fire.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/108315/rules-for-tbs

I know what you are talking about. I've noticed the quality of the wood has a huge role in this. For example, from my experience when I would get some cheap wood from the local store it would ignite very quickly and would cause large swings in my cooking temps but if I order some quality wood from someplace like fruitawoodchunks it would burn very slowly and never just erupt into flames.

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Thanksgiving Turkey with TBS...not the TV channel.

smokeringred

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thsmormonsmokes

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