Trouble getting blue smoke

[caseyprice]

Im new to smoking, just had my 3rd smoke saturday, and im having a hard time getting the coveted blue smoke. My first smoke i got lucky and it turned out great. My second round i ended up sooting everything and it was horrible. Saturday was better but still had a bitter taste to it and was white smoke. Needing some tips. Im using a off set fire box smoker. Any suggestions? 

 

[bmaddox]

What are you using for fuel? Are you burning all wood or are you using charcoal and adding wood just for the smoke? 

 

[caseyprice]

So far just all wood. 

 

[bmaddox]

I am not an expert on offsets but I would recommend switching to charcoal or lump as your heat source then adding just enough wood to get thin blue smoke. That is how I run my UDS and it works pretty well (not perfect but the food is always great). 

 

[crankybuzzard]

Is the wood seasoned?  Green or wet wood is not good.

Is the exhaust wide open?  The exhaust needs to be wide open, regulate temps at the firebox.

What type of offset are you using?

Lots of variables...

 

[caseyprice]

Thanks Bmaddox i may have to give that a shot

Ive been using seasoned wood. This time i actually just got some of the bagged wood chucks just to make sure i had good wood. The exhaust is always wide open and the FB/CC damper is wide open and controlling heat at the FB. Using a offset smoker that was made by a family friend. Its 20" pipe for the CC roughly 28" long. FB is 20" pipe roughly 15" long. 

 

[caseyprice]

I did not soak my wood... would that be a cause for a lot of white smoke?

 

[joe black]

Yes, soaking wood will definitely be a cause of white smoke. I use an offset stick burner and I begin with about 2/3 basket of lump coal and start it with about 2/3 chimney of briqs. When the lump has burned to a good bed of coals, I begin to add splits. There are several things that are important to me.

1. You must keep a good bed of coals to keep the fire HOT.

2. You should use preheated splits to get quick ignition. If the wood is too large, it will smolder and not catch quickly enough to prevent smoldering and smoking.

3. A small, hot fire with plenty of air keeps the smoke clean.

4. After all of this problem, make sure that your CC is clean of any creosote.

Good luck with your fire and Keep on smokin', Joe

 

[cats49er]

Here is a link to a post Gary S. put on that is really good about learning to control a stick burner.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...emps-on-your-reverse-flow-or-any-stick-burner

 

[JckDanls 07]

here's an in depth tutorial on stick burning.... http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/stickburning101