So I did the seasoning thing yesterday and used that time to test out what it took to hit and maintaining temp, the accuracy of the thermometer and how using chunks would work for getting smoke.
Hitting temp and maintaining was about what I expected, needed to adjust the dampers and slightly move the dial in the front to find the upper and lower limit to get to and stay around 225. Very similar to using the banjo burners I have for brewing 10 gallons of beer so I knew I'd have to adjust ever so slightly to hit the target. The thermometer is off by a few degrees but as with brewing beer having 2 measures of temp is a given since the door thermometer is a little lower and more forward, where the additional thermometer I used was more towards the middle of the smoker closer to the top. Anyway I will use 2 thermometers going forward and adjust as needed.
Now on to the wood chunks and my mean reason for this post. I like how the wood chunks didn't burn up like a camp fire but I noticed about 1.5 hours into my test they really started to smolder which caused a rapid release of smoke (compared to the decent but much less smoke during the first part of the test). So my question is, using chunks in a propane smoker, what tricks are people using to prevent this sort of situation? I did turn over the chunks to move the burning side away from the pan heat but once they got going it was sort of to late.
I'd guess the increased and what I would call uncontrollable release of smoke that I got later into the test wouldn't be a good thing? Am I wrong?
David
Hitting temp and maintaining was about what I expected, needed to adjust the dampers and slightly move the dial in the front to find the upper and lower limit to get to and stay around 225. Very similar to using the banjo burners I have for brewing 10 gallons of beer so I knew I'd have to adjust ever so slightly to hit the target. The thermometer is off by a few degrees but as with brewing beer having 2 measures of temp is a given since the door thermometer is a little lower and more forward, where the additional thermometer I used was more towards the middle of the smoker closer to the top. Anyway I will use 2 thermometers going forward and adjust as needed.
Now on to the wood chunks and my mean reason for this post. I like how the wood chunks didn't burn up like a camp fire but I noticed about 1.5 hours into my test they really started to smolder which caused a rapid release of smoke (compared to the decent but much less smoke during the first part of the test). So my question is, using chunks in a propane smoker, what tricks are people using to prevent this sort of situation? I did turn over the chunks to move the burning side away from the pan heat but once they got going it was sort of to late.
I'd guess the increased and what I would call uncontrollable release of smoke that I got later into the test wouldn't be a good thing? Am I wrong?
David