How’s my smoke looking? Clean or dirty.

[jcam222]

Open the exhaust stack all the way. Sometimes, no matter how careful you are you will get some thicker white smoke, but I never worry about it. It usually settles down in a few minutes, I’ve never had a bad meal, because I have had a few times when the smoke wasn’t TBS. And I bet if you ask everybody on here will tell you the same thing. If they tell you they get TBS from beginning to end I just don’t believe them. But that’s just my own opinion.
Al

100% agree, as a matter of fact on my cabinet one of the best flavors and smoke rings I got on beef plate ribs was smoke that was gray and dirtier than I thought was good the entire smoke. They were amazing! I’ve read articles from some pros saying that longer smokes with large beef and pork cuts can actually handle and benefit from some heavier smoke.

 

[radioguy]

I've smoke some amazing briskets at 275F. Just cooking with wood will give you a good smoke taste.

RG

 

[Hamdrew]

I usually have the intake opened and close off the chimney to about a 1/8 open. But nearly impossible to keep heat at 225 with the intake open, will spike up to 275 even with ice and small pieces of wood.

Maybe charcoal and wood chips is the answer

Lose the ice. Less fuel = less heat.

I only had your smoker for a short time (RIP), but I churned out some great food on it. I did however have to keep about a quarter to half chimney constantly getting ready, and add fuel every ~30min. I would go through about 16lb charcoal for a 6hr cook, and 4-5 large splits.

The actual temp was quite a bit lower (275*F seemed right about 225*F based on cooks/time) at grate level under the chimney.

 

[gmc2003]

I had a Chargriller 5050 duo when I first started out. It required constent babysitting, tough to control the temps, and like Drew said it used a ton feul for each cook. What I wound up doing was to turn the ashpan upside down and butt it up against the firebox. Then I lowered the exhaust vent to grate level with dryer vent hose. Inside the firebox I would lay an even bed of charcoal along the cooking grate in the firebox with wood chunks mixed in at various points. I would start the bed of coals on the vent end of the firebox and let it burn towards the cook chamber. If I needed more coals I'd tap the ash into the bottom of the firebox and add another bed of charcoal and let it burn back towards the vent side.

This is probably confusing to read and comprehend.

Chris