Need Help. Started my first smoke about 45 mins ago and...

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imsmokinjoe

Newbie
Original poster
Aug 21, 2016
5
10
South Florida
Need Help. Started my first smoke about 45 mins ago and I can no longer see the smoke coming from the chimney. Im using a 44" Smoke Hollow which is a dual burner propane smoker. Running one burner/smoke box im sitting right at 240 to 250 degrees which im happy about however 45 mins passed and no more smoke! Im staying at temp but there is no smoke coming from the chimney. This is not normal im assuming? I switched to the other burner/smoke box and am at temp and have smoke again, not sure for how long. Im using apple.wood chunks and cooking ribs. Im looking for a 5 to 6 hour smoke at the 225 to 240 range.

Anyway, is it normal to burn through the wood so fast? I did not soak the wood which I am doing now so hopefully that helps. Just checking to see if this is what to expect or im doing something wrong.

Thanks and sorry for the long winded explanation, rather give too much information than not enough.
 
That was a quick reply.

There is really no need to soak the chunks. 

You really don't want to see smoke unless it is the "thin blue smoke". If the wood is in the chip box and it's not all ashes, then you are smoking. You can add some if needed, but you probably already have enough smoke on the meat and now you just need it to get to temp. 

Like I said above, if you smell smoke, you're smoking..
 
Thank you very much. That definitely makes sense just never thought about it that way, always thought you had to see it. Thank for the quick reply!
 
I just want to add to what Pit 4 Brains said about not needing to soak the chips. I agree 100%. Once a piece of wood has dried out, you would have to submerge it for days on end, if not weeks to make it take on water.
 
Solid answers! Soaking chips just makes it take longer to get rid of all the moisture before the smoke can start. Can't wait to hear how the ribs turn out!
 
Soaking wood just makes white billowing smoke which is bitter and will cause creosote to form. This can stop whenever the moisture is burned off, but is not desirable. If you're concerned about your smoke, place a piece of white paper behind the top of your exhaust stack. You should be able to see a little color if your smoke is right. I rarely ever see any smoke from my exhaust. I see some heat rising from my stack.
 
Hey everyone, thanks for the input. So the ribs came out good, they came clean off the bone but could have been a little more tender and would have liked to see a bit more bark on them. The amoker sat at 230 to 245 the entire smoke, I began adding apple juice at the 2.5 hour mark and wrapped in tin foil around 3.5 hours. It was a light wrap and had an opening towards the top. Total cook time was about 6 hours.

 
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