Is this normal?

[riblet1]

I have been using a bradley smoker and I never got this much smoke residue before. I just seasoned my new smokin-it #3 smoker and I have a lot of residue, is this normal?

 

[s2k9k]

What did the smoke look like coming out the vent during the seasoning?

 

[riblet1]

What did the smoke look like coming out the vent during the seasoning?

It was dark so I couldn't really tell, I'm about to smoke some BBR's and tri tip. I seasoned it with oak that came with the smoker and I'm going to use hickory on the meat.

 

[riblet1]

Also do you think this an ok place to put the maverick temp probe?

Thanks

 

[doctord1955]

lots of humidity or moisture in the wood!

 

[riblet1]

lots of humidity or moisture in the wood!

So if I don't use the same wood I should be ok smoking the meat?

 

[riblet1]

I like a lot of smoke on my meat, but not that much!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

How many wood chunks did you use?
Did you use the chunks that came with the smoker?


~Martin

 

[doctord1955]

You can tell there was lots of moisture look at the runs on the door.  does the smoker have a top vent ?  was it open?

 

[riblet1]

How many wood chunks did you use?
Did you use the chunks that came with the smoker?


~Martin

Yes they came with the smoker, they are 1"x3" oak and I used 3pcs to season the smoker for 3hrs two separate days for 5-6 hours total.

 

[riblet1]

You can tell there was lots of moisture look at the runs on the door.  does the smoker have a top vent ?  was it open?

It's a fixed size hole vent.

 

[s2k9k]

I would place the temp probe on the same rack as the food, that way you know the temp the food is getting.

 

[riblet1]

I'm trying two racks of BBR's right now, I put in 1pc of hickory from SmokinLicious it's 2"x2"x3" and 1pc of peach same size. The smoke looks kinda tan. It's been around an 60mins and the smoke is turning an off white. And I moved the temp sensor to the meat rack.

 

[riblet1]

So my two test BBR's are done, I did the same 2-1-1 I do in the bradley. But they didn't come out as good as the ones I do in my Bradley. I think next try I'll cut the wood to one chunk of wood and do 2-1.5-1 and see how the come out.

 

[jirodriguez]

Not familiar with that type of smoker, but it sounds like you are not getting enough draw from that "vent" on top. This leads to the smoke stagnating in the chamber which can lead to creosote, or off tasting food. Try a cheap experiment - take a 2-3 foot chunk of PVC pipe that is just a hair larger than that diameter, sand one end to a taper so it fits in the hole and light the smoker with some wood in it. Check the rate at which the smoke comes out of the extended stack, then pull it off and check the rate at which it comes out of just the hole by itself. If there is a really big slow down then you need to find a metal pipe to extend the vent stack permanently - this helps to create more draw (like a chimney on a wood stove).

Another option is to make more holes that you can cover and uncover with a piece of sheet metal to increase or decrease the air flow as needed.

 

[deltadude]

Try using less wood.  Smoke is seasoning, you don't need a lot in an electric smoker to season your food.  Also there is a proper amount of wood based on the fixed size hole of your exhaust that will achieve proper combustion and give you clean TBS, just experiment until you find that amount.  It wouldn't hurt calling the MFG they can tell you what they think works.  I will say that Masterbuilt in their MES owners booklets tell new owners to use way too much wood chips, following their advice would lead to creosote flavor on the meat.  So no matter what the MFG tells you, in the end you will have to play with it to figure out what works best.

 

[brodie113]

I just got a Smokin It Model #1 a couple of weeks ago and observed the same thing.  This seems to happen while cooking as well. 

Riblet  - How smoky has the food been, especially when using the recommended amount of wood?  I followed some of the advice on the Smokin It web site (FAQs page) to not preheat the smoker before adding the food.  I've seen research on other sites supporting that information so I went with it for my first couple of smokes and had a serious creosote issue on the food!  For the last smoke, I have preheated the smoker for about an hour during which a lot of smoke is generated.  That smoke is noticeably white and heavy - obviously not desirable.  I add the food after that initial smoke dissipates and the creosote issue seems to be gone.  

Didn't mean to hijack the thread but they seem to be related items and wanted to make sure you saw it.  I will create a new post regarding this too.

 

[riblet1]

I just got a Smokin It Model #1 a couple of weeks ago and observed the same thing.  This seems to happen while cooking as well. 



Riblet  - How smoky has the food been, especially when using the recommended amount of wood?  I followed some of the advice on the Smokin It web site (FAQs page) to not preheat the smoker before adding the food.  I've seen research on other sites supporting that information so I went with it for my first couple of smokes and had a serious creosote issue on the food!  For the last smoke, I have preheated the smoker for about an hour during which a lot of smoke is generated.  That smoke is noticeably white and heavy - obviously not desirable.  I add the food after that initial smoke dissipates and the creosote issue seems to be gone.  



Didn't mean to hijack the thread but they seem to be related items and wanted to make sure you saw it.  I will create a new post regarding this too.

My first smoke was really heavy with the supplied wood, different wood and smaller amount helped. I'll try the preheat out.