Clean Smoke.

[noladave45]

           I've got a offset smoker. Lately I've been trying to cook with all wood.  When I start my fire I get alot of dark gray smoke until the wood burns down.  When I need to add more fuel it starts all over again. Often times my meat has a almost black ashy look to it with it's done.  What am I doing wrong? 

 

[forluvofsmoke]

A smaller, hotter fire should burn more cleanly, with less smoke. To accomplish this with wood fuel, you can pre-burn the wood before adding, which will get it hot enough to release the volatiles and water vapor which causes the heavier smoke, or, use very small splits, which will heat up and begin burning much quicker than larger pieces, reducing the amount of smoke potential from the newly added wood.

Lastly, have you considered making your own lump hardwood charcoal to burn instead of raw wood for fuel? If it's not a very larger stick-burner, homemade lump may be your best choice for inexpensive fuel. Of course, you'll probably want to check local ordinances, but if you can burn wood or charcoal in a smoker fire box, there shouldn't be any issues with doing it in a burn-barrel to make lump. You'll need to be able to commit some time, a burn barrel, and follow through with the process to be successful.

A search for "making lump" here on SMF:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/ne...=1&byuser=&output=all&sdate=0&containingforum[0]=108&replycompare=gt&numupdates=&newer=1&type=all&advanced=1

...and, a couple from the net:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/makinglump.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_5530400_make-lump-charcoal.html

Lots for folks using lump charcoal...probably not nearly as many that make their own, but the hot fire it produces is great to cook over. I do not make my own lump because I have zero access to hardwoods...(sigh)...

Eric

 

[rickw]

First off you need a small hot fire to get some thin blue. What I do is; I put a couple of sticks in the fire box to the side of the fire and add them when needed. These preheated sticks will combust almost immediately reducing the amount of bad smoke. 

 

[noladave45]

I like that idea going to try that next time.

 

[garand555]

Especially when the smoker is cold, I can burn a bigger fire than a lot of stick burners out there, so my idea of small and hot may be a bit different than others, but what was given so far is good advice. Smaller splits or preburning will help. Also, keep a propane or mapp gas torch nearby if you aren't preburning. Sometimes wood can take a bit longer than you want to get going and just hitting it real quick with a torch can really lessen the time takes if you put some stubborn wood in. Different kinds of wood can also make a difference. For example, the cherry that I have now, I either need to cram a bunch of really small splits in or burn it with something else. The oak that I have, I can put three bigger splits in on top of the coals and it's generally going pretty fast and clean. The type of wood (not to mention how well it's cured) can make a big difference, so pay attention when trying something new. I'm lucky in that where I live, well cured wood can be like solid gasoline when it comes to ignition because moisture content can get very, very low here. Also, the smaller the splits, the less I worry about a temperature spike because I know it'll go away soon with small pieces of wood. 275 for 5 or 10 minutes is a lot different than 275 for 30 or 40 minutes, and I've found that I can make up for a spike simply by not stressing out and letting it drop down a little lower before adding the next shot of wood. IMO, I would rather have the thin blue smoke than perfect temperature control, and I've only really screwed up one thing since I've gone to stick burning.