thin blue smoke? how do I get it?

[abelseville]

Im very new to smokin and just learned of this "thin blue" as opposed to "white and billowing" technique. Was the white smoke what caused a too strong acrid flavor with my last attempt? I was keeping the temp down by squirting the flames with water. Is this bad? If so how do you best regulate temperature in a side fire box and keep the smoke "thin and blue"?

One more possible factor: I was using dry well aged cherry. Good?

 

[richtee]

You were using ONLY cherry? You should have a base of lump charcoal in there for heat production and adding chunks of wood for flavor.

 

[gooose53]

One thing to try....don't put to much wood in for smoke. Make sure your temps are in the 220 - 250 or so range. Shouldn't have had flames, cut the air down some.

 

[glued2it]

What size was the wood pieces? Too large or to many pieces will create to much smoke causing it to be white.
I use 1-2 chunks at a time and place at the edges of the coals, this will reduce flare ups.

 

[vlap]

Where else can you get 3 good answers in 8 minutes? This place rocks!

 

[fatback joe]

Yeah, the white smoke was most likely the culprit for the bad taste you experienced.

It is all about the air flow. Some white at the start is fine and won't hurt much, but should settle into a nice light shade. Mostly it takes practice, practice, practice.

 

[abelseville]

Wow! you guys are fast. Thanks. Ritchee, whats this about charcoal? I Thought in a real wood smoker you could just use wood. Thats why I got it as opposed to electric-propane etc. Im in a very remote area and im up to my elbows in wood but don't see any charcoal lying around. Can I make it? Do I really need it?

 

[jmedic25]

You do not want a smoldering fire....i.e. a fire that is not getting enough air. If you are using an offset rig leave the stack damper and the firebox damper full open always. Control the heat with the amount of fuel you add whatever it is coal,wood ect. When you get the "feel" for your rig than you can start closing the firebox damper to slow your fuel consumption. The only time I use my stack damper is when I have way to high temperatures and I want too really slow the fire down. To make TBS you must have a clean burning fire. That is a hot fire with small flames and lots of coals. Just play with it you'll get it good luck!!

 

[vlap]

Just to bump this back to the top where someone more knowledgeable can answer I will throw in my 2cents.

I think in the stick burner you may want to preburn the wood and then put it in as coals where it is smoking less. Then add a few sticks for smoke. Thats how I would approach it but I have little experience there.

 

[brianj517]

Ablesville,

If good hardwood lump charcoal truly is not available to you, then I would recommend preburning your wood in a separate burn barrel and transferring the hot embers into your smoker as needed only after it the flames have settled. It will however be more labor intensive and difficult to maintain even temps. If you start your fire in the firebox to preheat the smoker using wood only, that's okay, as long as you let the flames settle and the smoke settles from billowing white into "thin and Blue" before adding your meat. Thick white billowing smoke causes alot of creosote which is adheres to your meat causing that nasty bitter/acrid taste. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[glued2it]

This would have been more helpfull information in the first post

the more information you provide the better we can help you.

Okay so you have a stick burner. You can use a fire can for coals or just burn down wood in th FB. I would recomend using oak as fuel and then add your flavor wood. Place your flavor wood indirectly from the hotest part of the fire.

That's how I do it. I'm sure there will be more suggestions coming alog shortly. You picked a hot topic!


EDIT:
Brian beat me 2it :)

 

[ajthepoolman]

I remember starting out with my ECB and having white billowing smoke that filled the neighborhood! You have asked a great question and believe me, by the end of the day you will have more knowledge than you will know what to do with!

 

[abelseville]

Ok, I understand about burning the wood down to coals before adding the meat and I have been doing that. But I have to keep adding wood every 1/2 hour or so to keep the temp up since I don't have propane/electric. So I guess Im using the same wood for fuel and flavor. I didn't know there was a difference between the two. The white smoke comes when I add wood later in the process. I guess the pre-burned wood is the answer?

 

[vlap]

Keep a burn pit going and add coals from that as needed. Add a stick or 2 when needed during the smoke to keep the thin blue rolling.

 

[glued2it]

Yes preburned is the answer. There is some pics of some some burn barrels here somewhere. They have a grate in the top to burn the wood and a opening in the bottom so you can scoop out the coals as they fall down.

 

[low&slow]

Heres how I preburn my wood. I can use freshly cut wood this way. Just sit it on the firebox and it dries right out. Heres 2 pieces of fresh cut pear that took about 15 minutes to season.

 

[jmedic25]

If you tell us what type of rig you have we can help you better. I do not preburn, however I do preheat. I set the split wood on the firebox so it gets good and hot. When its time to add wood it takes no time to flame off. You will be fine with a little practice. The trick is to figure out how big or small you need to spit you wood. For LM 60 I use a split about diameter of a soda can standard length firewood. In my small BbChef offset I use splits half that size. The key is coals and air. Clean burning fire. Charcoal will give more even temps until you get the hang of it. If you really have a ton of free wood a burn barrel is the best however it really consumes lots of wood.

 

[cajunsmoker]

You can do it with just wood. Just burn down in your firebox until you have a nice bed of coals. Damper back on your intake air to get the temps about where you want them and then preheat your wood for a short time on top of your firebox before adding to the coals so they don't sit and smolder. The post below has a picture that explains it perfectly

 

[shellbellc]

How do you get to Carnegie Hall???? Practice, practice, practice...I think it takes getting intimately close with your smoker...you'll learn vent control for your air flow, how to keep your temps even, and how to draft that thin blue...in the mean time, lots of great food will be prepared!!

 

[abelseville]

Thanks everyone. I think iv'e got a good idea what to do next. Im using the char griller with side fire box (is that what offset means?) I havent done any modification to it yet. Ive only smoked four times at this point so yes, I need lots of practice.