Propane smoker results underwhelming

[South Central PA Smoker]

I have a masterbuilt thermo temp and I have the opposite problem...smoke flavor and ring is great but meat is often over done and dry. I use western chunks and chips (chips give me a quick smoke source while waiting for chunks to ignite...when I’ve neglected checking the wood for a while). I keep my upper vent in the fully closed position, which is actually only 50% closed. There are 4 oval holes and when the slider is fully closed, 2 are still wide open. I also don’t use the chip pan that came with it. I put a small grill grate right over the burner and picked up a small cast iron pan from Wally World for about $8. Does great for chunks although I think it consumes them a bit faster than it should. Gotta feed it every 1-2 hours depending on how the burn is going. Hope this helps, happy smoking!

 

[pineywoods]

I replied to your other thread about overcooked and dry in your other thread.

What are you getting for smoke? What you want is TBS (thin blue smoke) not billowing white smoke. TBS is light blue smoke or just a little whisp of smoke or even not seeing smoke but in all those cases you should smell the smoke. If you can smell the smoke so can the meat. White billowing smoke often leads to creosote which doesn't taste good at all usually the first clue your producing creosote is when eating the Q the flavor is off a little and it makes you tongues numb. You can also get creosote by closing the vents down or closing them to much to allow for proper draft. If you find your not getting enough smoke flavor for your tastes instead of trying to produce more smoke and getting the white billowing smoke change types of wood. Generally fruit and citrus woods produce a light somewhat fruity flavor. Then pecan and oak produce a deeper smoke flavor. Then hickory is a deeper flavor yet. If you still don't have enough try mesquite. Some people also like to mix types of woods together.

With every propane type smoker every time you open the door your loosing most of your heat and it has to get back up to temp after you close the door which if your opening it often is adding a lot of time to your smokes. Some say if your looking you ain't cooking and that comes from the fact of opening the door drops the temps so bad in the smoker.
There is debate among a lot of people as to the purpose of the "Water Pan" some will say it's there to add moisture to the smoker others will say it's a heat sync to help keep temps more even. Some say maybe some of both. Others will tell you to put sand in the pan and aluminum foil over that to keep it from getting nasty. Personally I think it's more the heat sync than anything but maybe it does provide some moisture after all your smoking above boiling point and that water vapor from the boiling water has to go somewhere like out the vent. Many people decide to fill the "water pan" with things like apple juice, beer, wine, and a host of other things thinking they will get that flavor in the meat however it doesn't work and I don't know of any of them that have come back and said they got that flavor in the meat. If you want that flavor when eating your Q I suggest you drink it while eating the Q

Many of our members have found a much better way than chips or chunks to produce smoke. It's called an Amazen Smoker and it holds pellets which when lit produce a good amount of smoke for a long time. You would want to use the Amazen Smoker tube smoker in a propane smoker and for most smokes you would fill and light it at the beginning of the smoke and it would last the entire smoke.

Sorry for the novel but you asked lol by the way I first started smoking with a propane smoker and had a couple of them

 

[mike243]

Like the electric smokers the chunks and chips only last somewhere around 1-1.5 hrs and will need to be reloaded, 3 hours minimum for smoke on most larger cuts imo ,trying to make it on 1 loading never worked for me unless it was small chicken parts that were done in 3 hrs or so

 

[jokensmoken]

I use a smoke tube in mine and run lumberjack competition blend pellets hickory maple cherry mix...works very well
I also have two large square patio bricks wrapped in foil I set in place of the water pan...
These work great as a heat sink and helped me get much more uniform cook chamber temps from front to rear and side to side..They also speed the temp recovery rate from opening the door...
There is a learning curve with a gasser but if you stick with it you can learn to get some really good results.
One issue I had was that my pellets wouldn't stay lit no matter what I tried...
My solution was...I positioned the tube almost tight along one side of the smoker at floor level lifted just off he bottom about an inch by proping both ends up with couple of small pieces of steel...I then drilled three small holes about 1/4 inch in diameter spaced out the length of the tube...this let in just enough air for the pellets to smolder good...with the added patio bricks my results improved dramatically.
Hope this helps a bit...
Good luck and dont get discouraged...
With a bit of practice you'll get really good results.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I replied to your other thread about overcooked and dry in your other thread.

What are you getting for smoke? What you want is TBS (thin blue smoke) not billowing white smoke. TBS is light blue smoke or just a little whisp of smoke or even not seeing smoke but in all those cases you should smell the smoke. If you can smell the smoke so can the meat. White billowing smoke often leads to creosote which doesn't taste good at all usually the first clue your producing creosote is when eating the Q the flavor is off a little and it makes you tongues numb. You can also get creosote by closing the vents down or closing them to much to allow for proper draft. If you find your not getting enough smoke flavor for your tastes instead of trying to produce more smoke and getting the white billowing smoke change types of wood. Generally fruit and citrus woods produce a light somewhat fruity flavor. Then pecan and oak produce a deeper smoke flavor. Then hickory is a deeper flavor yet. If you still don't have enough try mesquite. Some people also like to mix types of woods together.

With every propane type smoker every time you open the door your loosing most of your heat and it has to get back up to temp after you close the door which if your opening it often is adding a lot of time to your smokes. Some say if your looking you ain't cooking and that comes from the fact of opening the door drops the temps so bad in the smoker.
There is debate among a lot of people as to the purpose of the "Water Pan" some will say it's there to add moisture to the smoker others will say it's a heat sync to help keep temps more even. Some say maybe some of both. Others will tell you to put sand in the pan and aluminum foil over that to keep it from getting nasty. Personally I think it's more the heat sync than anything but maybe it does provide some moisture after all your smoking above boiling point and that water vapor from the boiling water has to go somewhere like out the vent. Many people decide to fill the "water pan" with things like apple juice, beer, wine, and a host of other things thinking they will get that flavor in the meat however it doesn't work and I don't know of any of them that have come back and said they got that flavor in the meat. If you want that flavor when eating your Q I suggest you drink it while eating the Q

Many of our members have found a much better way than chips or chunks to produce smoke. It's called an Amazen Smoker and it holds pellets which when lit produce a good amount of smoke for a long time. You would want to use the Amazen Smoker tube smoker in a propane smoker and for most smokes you would fill and light it at the beginning of the smoke and it would last the entire smoke.

Sorry for the novel but you asked lol by the way I first started smoking with a propane smoker and had a couple of them

How do you get thin blue smoke from smoldering wood ?

It seems to me, that if the wood is not engulfed in flames, then there's not complete combustion, and the wood is smoldering.

If ya gonna burn splits and they're going to be flaming, then why not just use a stick burner ?

 

[Smokin Okie]

I think this article from Meathead pretty much covers smoke. Scroll down a good ways, to where they put the cotton pads in the smoker. One pad is dry, one is oiled, and the other is wet with water. He explains how water attracts and holds smoke. Which is why , IMO, ya should have a water bowl or pan in your smoker along with spritzing in order to get smoke on the meat and help build bark.

https://amazingribs.com/more-techni...iring/what-you-need-know-about-wood-smoke-and

 

[thekolnik]

I think this article from Meathead pretty much covers smoke. Scroll down a good ways, to where they put the cotton pads in the smoker. One pad is dry, one is oiled, and the other is wet with water. He explains how water attracts and holds smoke. Which is why , IMO, ya should have a water bowl or pan in your smoker along with spritzing in order to get smoke on the meat and help build bark.

https://amazingribs.com/more-techni...iring/what-you-need-know-about-wood-smoke-and

Thanks for the reply. I solvef the issue by closing the out vent to about 25% or so.

In regards to BBQ King Meathead, I've read his entire website probably 5 times and the article you referenced even more! It just took me a little while to learn about gas smokers, where the "heat" source is from propane... not charcoal or wood. So my theory in a nutshell is that I need to slowdown the outflow as much as possible and still keep a clean burn. In other words, I need the dirty end of the scale of clean smoke to make the smoke flavor stronger without making it taste like creosote, because the "concentration" of pure clean smoke isn't as high as a pure charcoal/wood-burning smoker.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Well, I just offered that up.

And so many barbecue " truths " that are not true at all, get repeated in forums and social media.

I hesitant to offer any advice unless my experience has proven it to me or I can provide a qualified source. I always have a water pan in my cook chamber unless I'm doing a short high heat cook, where the meat is not gonna get much smoke, anyway.

Glad you found an answer that you're happy with, cuz that's all that counts.

 

[thekolnik]

100% agree with you in regard to "truths" in BBQ. There is so much junk and misinformation on the internet it makes my head spin. Also, there are many things in BBQ that are subjective, what works for one person may not work for me. I do appreciate your post and the article you referenced. Happy cooking to you!