smoking on the egg

Smoking Bulldawg · September 2013

I attempted smoking a brisket yesterday, have not eaten any of it yet but plan to tonight. Question, a saw a lot of smoke early on, but then it died down. When I went to check the progress of the meat a couple of hours later there was no smoke and a lot of unused chips. I was cooking at 225. Should I be concerned that things are not working properly?

gdenby · September 2013

Not seeing smoke is fine. There should only be wisps, and even no smoke w. just aroma works.

Once the charcoal in the lump is burning, and the vents are closed enough to restrict air flow to a minimum, the charcoal fire grabs the oxygen before the hot wood can. The wood does not burn, it just slowly decomposes into ash and mostly desirable vapor.

Early on, the lump is off gassing partially decomposed wood, driving off moisture from any wood in the chamber, and a small amount of the wood may be burning. That condition usually makes a better, heavy smoke taste. The less of that kind of"bad" smoke, the better.

BTW, a dome temp of 225F is lower than needed. It will slow the cooking way down. 250 - 275 works better.

RLeeper · September 2013

For longer smokes I like chunks instead of chips. That should give you more consistent smoke. Seems like your fire hasn't spread and hit the unused chips yet.

Smoking Bulldawg · September 2013

Good info! Thanks!

RLeeper · September 2013

Np. The meat should only absorb smoke for the first couple hours. Hope it comes out to your liking!

Smoking Bulldawg · September 2013

Me too. I have a backup plan with some trout.

smoking on the egg

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