Camp Chef and Smoke

[BaldEagleOne]

I have a CC Woodwind which I got last July and have been smoking a lot of meat because it's so easy to use. However, I needed a lot of smoke for the bacon I just made from Jeff's recipe (10-day brine, 6-8-hour smoke). I set the Smoke Number to 10, and the temp to 180F. At no time did I see smoke, and the end result was ho-hum bacon. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[Brokenhandle]

I believe many also use a tube smoker inside pellet grill for additional smoke.

Ryan

 

[Coreymacc]

I agree with the tube smoker add on. I have an older camp chef lux and it doesn't put out "heavy" smoke on any setting, including high smoke. I use an amazin tube if i want a bit more smoke bite.

corey

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Yep smoke tube. I use mixture of pellets and chips in mine to get what I like. My buddy with same smoker as yours also uses tube. It is all personal taste. I tried to get use to the lighter smoke but guess just been eating North Texas BBQ to many years. Too cold smoke bacon you will need a tube.

 

[DougE]

I have the CC SG24 WIFI which has a PID controller similar to the Woodwind. I usually get a decent amount of smoke out of it on the low smoke setting. The buckboard bacon I did a few weeks ago, I ran just a smoke tube with the grill off until the temp in the grill started getting up into the warm smoking range ( it was fairly warm that day and the tube was generating enough heat by itself to get the temp up too high).

Once the temps got up too high, I started the grill on low smoke setting and warm smoked the bacon to 145*. Everyone who tried it thought it better than store bacon. I got another one cured up and drying off in the fridge and will smoke it in a day or so. The first one was just salt, cure#1, and brown sugar. The one that just finished curing also got a dusting of coarse black pepper and granulated garlic, so I'm anxious to see how that's going to taste.

Edited to add: I used about a 50/50 blend of Lumberjack 100% hickory and 100% cherry in both the tube and the hopper.

 

[BaldEagleOne]

I believe many also use a tube smoker inside pellet grill for additional smoke.

Ryan

The Startup produces a lot of smoke, but I never see that amount during the smoke -- even with Smoke Number set to 10. Never see anything coming out of the stack. I used a Wedgie with the pork belly, but it didn't stay lit. Spent over a minute getting the Wedgie lit, too. Will be more careful next time.
Thanks

Yep smoke tube. I use mixture of pellets and chips in mine to get what I like. My buddy with same smoker as yours also uses tube. It is all personal taste. I tried to get use to the lighter smoke but guess just been eating Texas BBQ to many years. To cold smoke bacon you will need a tube.

 

[BaldEagleOne]

The Startup produces a lot of smoke, but I never see that amount during the smoke -- even with Smoke Number set to 10. Never see anything coming out of the stack. I used a Wedgie with the pork belly, but it didn't stay lit. Spent over a minute getting the Wedgie lit, too. Will be more careful next time.
Thanks

I have the CC SG24 WIFI which has a PID controller similar to the Woodwind. I usually get a decent amount of smoke out of it on the low smoke setting. The buckboard bacon I did a few weeks ago, I ran just a smoke tube with the grill off until the temp in the grill started getting up into the warm smoking range ( it was fairly warm that day and the tube was generating enough heat by itself to get the temp up too high).

Once the temps got up too high, I started the grill on low smoke setting and warm smoked the bacon to 145*. Everyone who tried it thought it better than store bacon. I got another one cured up and drying off in the fridge and will smoke it in a day or so. The first one was just salt, cure#1, and brown sugar. The one that just finished curing also got a dusting of coarse black pepper and granulated garlic, so I'm anxious to see how that's going to taste.

Edited to add: I used about a 50/50 blend of Lumberjack 100% hickory and 100% cherry in both the tube and the hopper.

I'll try the buckboard bacon in a week or so and make sure the Wedgie is producing smoke throughout the process. Our temps have been in the 50s- 60s, so won't count on the Wedgie generating much temp change.

 

[DougE]

I still wonder why you aren't seeing any smoke out of the Woodwind. My SG puts out smoke in cycles as the temp goes up and down ....... so much at times that I've had to dial it back down to 5 or 6 on the smoke level, running at temps from 225* to 275*.

 

[SmokinGame]

I agree with the tube smoker add on. I have an older camp chef lux and it doesn't put out "heavy" smoke on any setting, including high smoke. I use an amazin tube if i want a bit more smoke bite.

corey

Was never overly confident that my CC SG24 would generate enough smoke, so I always run an amazin tube. Set my CC smoke setting to the minimum and let the smoke tube do the work. For the long smokes I have a second tube that I light around hour #3. Just my preference.

 

[1MoreFord]

DougE, if you look at your Woodwind on low smoke setting you will see it's only at a 3 out of 1-10 smoke setting. I've had a couple of arguments with Camp Chef about this and there was no real agreement. I've adopted a 180°-190°F smoke setting 10 approach for the first hour or two depending on what's cooking.

 

[mr_whipple]

I've had my share of problems with Camp Chef but since installing the Gen 2 controller in my SmokePro DLX 24 things have been working just fine. I did also replace the hot stick with an aftermarket one, but that was before the controller. I just did some belly bacon on Friday but have been too busy to post any pics, but I had it set to Lo Smoke for the first 2.5 hours of the cook and I had no shortage of smoke on the bacon even after turning it to Hi Smoke to finish. Seems to me there is something wrong with your controller. If you had it set to 10 I'd guess that would be something to see as I've never turned mine up past 3, and that makes a lot of smoke compared to 1. It's still under warranty if you bought it in July, so make Camp Chef send you a new one. If nothing else they will throw free parts at you as long as the warranty is still good. Just know they use the slowest shipping known to man. Hope this works out for you....

 

[DougE]

DougE, if you look at your Woodwind on low smoke setting you will see it's only at a 3 out of 1-10 smoke setting. I've had a couple of arguments with Camp Chef about this and there was no real agreement. I've adopted a 180°-190°F smoke setting 10 approach for the first hour or two depending on what's cooking.

I have noticed that, but I get some decent smoke out of it anyhow. I've also done it the way you do, too. (I have the SG24 WIFI, though)

 

[Fueling Around]

Sorry cannot help you on the CC nor the Lumberjack Wedgie
I have a Masterbuilt which has a controller similar to the old PitBoss analog with a "P" (pause) setting to auger in some pellets and then pause for up to 3 minutes before augering in more. It generates clouds of white smoke which looks impressive, but doesn't produce good smoke flavor.
I often use 2 smoke tubes in my pellet pooper. The 12" gets filled with hickory and the 6" gets filled with mostly cherry.
In the hopper I use to blend Lumberjack pellets but didn't notice much flavor change. Now I just use the cheap bag from Sam's

 

[Fueling Around]

...
I used a Wedgie with the pork belly, but it didn't stay lit. Spent over a minute getting the Wedgie lit, too. Will be more careful next time.
Thanks

With a smoke tube I light it and let it burn for a good 10 minutes before putting in the grill. Even then, I've had it go out on me. I started either microwaving or oven drying the pellets to help with the burn.

 

[DougE]

Here is what I get out of my Camp Chef SG24 WIFI set on low smoke. If y'all aren't getting any smoke, either yours is broke or mine is. If it's mine, I don't want it fixed.

 

[BaldEagleOne]

Here is what I get out of my Camp Chef SG24 WIFI set on low smoke. If y'all aren't getting any smoke, either yours is broke or mine is. If it's mine, I don't want it fixed.

View attachment 521048

Here is what I get out of my Camp Chef SG24 WIFI set on low smoke. If y'all aren't getting any smoke, either yours is broke or mine is. If it's mine, I don't want it fixed.

View attachment 521048

I didn't thank you guys for responding. Thanks. Smoke comes out of mine about the same. Didn't think it was enough.

 

[forktender]

I use a Maze with dust and no heat, it helps if you put the lit side of the maze closest to the door and prop the door open 1/2'' to 1'', I just use a stick or rock to hold the door open, so the maze doesn't burn out from lack of O2. Then once you have the smoke you're looking for you can run the cooker up to temp if you want hot smoked bacon. I just cold smoke my bacon, I see no need for hot smoked bacon but to each their own when it comes to that, it's your choice.