MES 30 puffs of smoke ?

tiki guy

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Jul 20, 2011

320

10

Largo Florida

• Dec 5, 2015

• #1

 Fired up the smoker today on a "dry run"  before I smoke a Turkey breast tomorrow 
( while away at my sons when we went to smoke a brisket found his his cord and element went bad so that's why a dry run today )

ANYWAY....... first time I ever saw this from my MES 30 while testing it I had thrown  a handful of oak chips for the heck of it. 
while it was smoking ( very well I might add )  I saw puffs almost smoke rings come out of the side load as well as the top vent ? 
This only happened a few times , like every 10 or 15 mins ......

Anyone else have this ?      OR is this normal and I never saw it ( the smoker is 2 years old and I have used it a lot ......

 

redsmoke

Fire Starter

Nov 17, 2015

45

10

• Dec 5, 2015

• #2

Was it windy? Might have been the wind blowing in the chip loader hole.

 

daveomak

SMF Hall of Fame Pitmaster

OTBS Member

★ Lifetime Premier ★

Nov 12, 2010

27,123

4,979

Omak,Washington,U.S.A.

• Dec 5, 2015

• #3

That is the first step in a "flash over"... where the volatiles, created by the smoke in the chips, catches fire from the element... at times, it has blown the chip chute out of it's tube... More air is needed to burn the volatiles... Pull the chip chute out a bit so more air can get into the smoker.... That will also make for cleaner smoke...

 

tiki guy

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Thread starter

Jul 20, 2011

320

10

Largo Florida

• Dec 5, 2015

• #4

 Thanks I will try that , it only happened the few time , seems fine now.   the chip was in and the top vent opened about half 

Always count on you guys to help out THANK   Happy Smoking to Y'all 

 

chef jimmyj

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

★ Lifetime Premier ★

May 12, 2011

22,172

7,150

• Dec 5, 2015

• #5

Limit the chips to a SMALL handful, 1/4C. As Dave described, I overloaded during seasoning. Had explosion, big flame and loader flew 3' into the yard.

...JJ

 

dr k

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

★ Lifetime Premier ★

Mar 22, 2013

3,182

997

Peoria, IL

• Dec 5, 2015

• #6

Tiki Guy said:

 Fired up the smoker today on a "dry run"  before I smoke a Turkey breast tomorrow 

( while away at my sons when we went to smoke a brisket found his his cord and element went bad so that's why a dry run today )


ANYWAY....... first time I ever saw this from my MES 30 while testing it I had thrown  a handful of oak chips for the heck of it. 

while it was smoking ( very well I might add )  I saw puffs almost smoke rings come out of the side load as well as the top vent ? 

This only happened a few times , like every 10 or 15 mins ......


Anyone else have this ?      OR is this normal and I never saw it ( the smoker is 2 years old and I have used it a lot ......

Click to expand...

Wood Gas! When people make their own charcoal by putting wood in a sealed container with a hole in the top while roasting the container over fire. When the container gets hot and cooks the wood under low oxygen you can light the vapors coming out of the hole. Very flamable! I've seen a reality show many years ago when they ran a 2 cycle lawnmower engine off of wood gas to power an alternator to charge batteries. Others have had their chip loader shoot out of the smoker. A quarter cup of chips max at a time. If you use the chip tray. Less is better.
-Kurt

 

tiki guy

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Thread starter

Jul 20, 2011

320

10

Largo Florida

• Dec 5, 2015

• #7

Dr K 
Thank you , that makes sense , like I said I never saw that before and yeah I probably  added a wee bit more than a 1/4 cup for sure. 

Again this forum is a wealth of info , and filled with smart helpful people  !

 

chefbuba

Newbie

Dec 3, 2015

15

10

SW Washington

• Dec 6, 2015

• #8

I have had this happen several times, happened last night when I was smoking neck bones. I suspect that Dr.K is correct, overloading chips or pellets is the problem. I tend to have a heavy hand.