Thin blue smoke and how to??

bhedges1987

Hi Guys~

So I'm still pretty new to smoking on this egg and smoking in general, and have a few questions.  My first question is how to achieve that nice thin blue smoke everyone wants to see.  When it's white thick smoke, does that mean the fire needs oxygen? If so, how would I go about fixing that?  Opening the top vent or the bottom vent?

Also, when do you add your wood chunks?  I have tried both when the fire is just getting going, and also after the grill gets to temp, I will remove the plate setter and throw 3 or 4 chunks on there, but that tends to give me that thick white smoke again...

Any answer would be greatly appreciate, thanks!

JRWhitee

I put my wood chunks/chips when I start the egg and when the white smoke clears smell it, if it smells good you are ready if it smells like you just started a camp fire its not ready. The nose knows. 

NPHuskerFL

Welcome to the egging addiction.
For low and slow I mix the wood chunks in with the lump. Thick white smoke would typically indicate that you still haven't cleared the creosote (bad smoke). Good rule of thumb is if it smells good it's ready FWIW.
GIF below is "bad smoke". "Good smoke" is noticeably different and to me it smells pleasant. Hopefully this helps ya out.

Skiddymarker

Welcome,

The largest hurdle in understanding hoe to use the egg vs a traditional smoker is actually the lack of visible smoke. The egg is so efficient that it will add considerable smoke flavour and ring without seeing much smoke at all. Mix smoke wood (chips or chunks - always dry) into the lump. Let the fire find the smoke wood. You will not see that tell tale blue plume the kettle gives. The egg uses so much less air. 

bicktrav

Welcome! Make sure you have your wood in when you light the lump. The acrid stuff will burn off as the lump is getting rolling and you'll be good to go by the time you've reached your temperature. Like others have said, eventually there will be almost no visible smoke, but you will still be smoking. Good luck and happy egging!

SenecaTheYounger

White smoke from wood is actually steam. It isn't always indicative of bad smoke.

But white smoke at start up can be from the starter materials, or from fresh lump, and that is usually bad.

Like they said above, smell the smoke. If the egg has cleared after startup, the smoke will smell palatable, good.

Thin blue smoke is ideal, and shows up when things settle down, but good-smelling white smoke is nothing to turn your nose up at.

snakyjake

How much wood chunks are you adding for a full 20 hour cook?  Do/Can you add more wood chunks later for a heavy smoke profile?  Is that just going to give you the white smoke again?  Or do you need to add all the wood chunks in the beginning?

Theophan

I at least partly disagree about not needing to see visible smoke.  Sure, there will be some smoke flavor without it if you put practically any wood chunks or chips in with the lump, but I have been disappointed in the past with the things I want really smoky not having been smoky enough.  And when I have done things differently (notably including raising the temp at least to 250°-275°, forgetting about chips and putting at least 3-4 wood chunks centrally where the fire will get at it), I've both seen more visible blue smoke and I've tasted a stronger smoky flavor that I've loved.

Some things I don't want very smoky, but some things I really like about as smoky as I can get them (ribs, brisket, even pork butt), and if I don't see ANY blue smoke, I'm doing something wrong, and I'm going to be disappointed in the cook.

We're all different, have different tastes.  Your mileage may vary, as they say...