excessive white smoke

[forluvofsmoke]

Well said, and yes it is difficult to smell, but not see the smoke...but it can happen...and when it does, I just sit back and bask in the moment.

Eric

 

[realtorterry]

wow guys thanks so much for all this great info. Now it looks like I should stop soaking the chips? I have a another question though. I have a small charbroiler with the off set box. The box has a small grate near the bottom. I put large chunks of lump on top of that so they won't fall through. Then I put a hot chimney over that & that is my form on the minion method. My question is does that ash choke out some of the fire & heat. Should I TRY to just smoke with only chunks?

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Well, I waited on this one hoping someone with more lump/briquette experience would grab it. I'll take a crack at it though.

You're most welcome BTW, glad someone could help.

Soaking smoke wood:
Soaking chips just doesn't get it done for me. The control of heat/air getting to the smoke wood is the best way to control the smoke. Less air/heat = less smoke. If you have to increase the heat, but like the smoke you are getting, then you need to reduce the air to the wood. That's where larger pieces help.

Choice of wood size:
I have no availability of hardwoods in my area, so I have to buy bagged smoke wood. I only buy chips if I can't get the species I want in chunk. I prefer chunk over chips, as they burn slower and longer without you having to tend the smoke. Then, when you do need to do smoke management, it is much easier to get it where you want. Also, chunk can be down-sized however small you want to fit in a small smoke box, can or low clearance tray under a vertical smoker water pan. Chunk can cover a variety of situations.

Methods of controlling the smoke:
Metal cans/foil pouches are a good place to start if you don't have the option of moving the wood away from/closer to the heat source. I use this method alot. And if I smoke with chips I plan on wrapping it in a foil pouch and tightly closing it. Then, if I find my smoke is too light, I can just poke a very small hole into the pouch and see what happens. Typically, the smoke will migrate outwards from the seam of the pouch just fine, as long as it has a reasonable amount of heat to get the wood smoldering in the pouch.

SFB lump/briq fires:
I've only done one briq fired smoke in my SNP last fall, and I've never used lump. The method you mentioned sounds OK to me...maybe go with 1/2 a chimney of hot, even less with a smaller rig, but if you have found a starting amount that works well for your rig, then, stick with it. For my briq burn, I basically did the same thing (4lbs cold bed w/2lbs hot on top). The ashes seemed to slowly sift down as the coals burned. I just kept adding 1/2 lb at a time to keep the heat reasonable as needed. I don't think there is a wrong way to build/maintain the fire, as long as you have methods to control the chamber temperature and the type/amount of smoke. Make sense?

Anyway, someone else with more lump/briq experience should be along soon with some other tips. Nothing else pops into my mind right now, so I'll end with that.

Well, I tried anyway...

Good luck and great smokes!

Eric

 

[mikey]

Here's an interesting article on Burning Wood. I can't vouch for the authors credentials, but it makes sense. http://www.barbecuen.com/burningwood.htm

A hot, clean fire and pre heating or pre burning your chunks or splits is the way to avoid excessive white smoke. Here's a nice comparison between soaked & unsoaked chunks. http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/woods.html#soak

 

[realtorterry]

Once again I am awed

Thank you guys so much for ALL this great fire & smoke control info. It's almost time to fire up the smoker & put some of this new knowledge to the test. I just gotta start q-viewing & share my experience's with you guy's as well