- Sep 9, 2016
- 78
- 29
Just curious what brand of chips everyone else is using in their MES smokers? I only ask because I have been having some big time creosote problems with my Cold Smoker attachment.
Before every smoking session, I completely scrub and clean out the shoot on the inside of the cold smoker. And even with it being as clean as I can get it, with in 2-3 hours, there is so much creosote built up, chips don't even fall down anymore. It gets to be so bad, that the creosote runs down the back of the unit and completely ruins whatever the smoker is sitting on. I have built a plywood box, 1) to help rise it up a bit and 2)to soak up anything that leaks out of the unit..
Sorry for the horrible photos, but you can see, after about 2 hours, this is what is pouring out the back of the unit..
As a Mainer who heats his house only with wood, I understand creosote.. When the cold air meets the hot air, that is when things happen and creosote starts to form, usually from non-seasoned wood. There should be no reason that after a few hours this happens in the smoker... This last run of smoking was Memorial Day weekend, and temps were in the 70s...
I sent images over to Masterbuilt, and talked to them through email and on the phone, and they said the main reason for this is that Western chips are known to cause this exact problem. I was told to just head to my local grocery store and get some different chips. However, in rural Maine, the only thing any local store has is Western brand chips.. All the chips I have bought have come from Amazon and are stored in their bags in a temperature controlled basement, at about 55-60 degrees..
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions here? Think it is the wood, should I dry it out, or just find a different brand? FWIW, this same thing happens both cold and hot smoking, and I have used about 5-7 different woods that it happens with, so I can't imagine I got that much "wet" wood..
Before every smoking session, I completely scrub and clean out the shoot on the inside of the cold smoker. And even with it being as clean as I can get it, with in 2-3 hours, there is so much creosote built up, chips don't even fall down anymore. It gets to be so bad, that the creosote runs down the back of the unit and completely ruins whatever the smoker is sitting on. I have built a plywood box, 1) to help rise it up a bit and 2)to soak up anything that leaks out of the unit..
Sorry for the horrible photos, but you can see, after about 2 hours, this is what is pouring out the back of the unit..
As a Mainer who heats his house only with wood, I understand creosote.. When the cold air meets the hot air, that is when things happen and creosote starts to form, usually from non-seasoned wood. There should be no reason that after a few hours this happens in the smoker... This last run of smoking was Memorial Day weekend, and temps were in the 70s...
I sent images over to Masterbuilt, and talked to them through email and on the phone, and they said the main reason for this is that Western chips are known to cause this exact problem. I was told to just head to my local grocery store and get some different chips. However, in rural Maine, the only thing any local store has is Western brand chips.. All the chips I have bought have come from Amazon and are stored in their bags in a temperature controlled basement, at about 55-60 degrees..
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions here? Think it is the wood, should I dry it out, or just find a different brand? FWIW, this same thing happens both cold and hot smoking, and I have used about 5-7 different woods that it happens with, so I can't imagine I got that much "wet" wood..
