Waiting for the "blue smoke"

Teefus · September 2017

I've had my LBGE a year now, and have limited my lump choices to BGE brand and Royal Oak. I'm told that it's one and the same product. I'm finding that lately it takes a lot longer for all the nasties to burn off the lump.

I did some boneless chicken breasts last week. Knowing I was short on time, I got a whole chimney of lump blazing away. I poured it in the firebox and added some more Royal Oak lump on top, then added the plate setter and grate. I closed the lid and set it up for plenty of airflow. It took about 30 minutes to settle at 350 and for the white smoke to clear out. I figured I was good to go. After I did the chicken (indirect for about 40 minutes), it had an "off " taste of petroleum and sour smoke. It was subtle, but chicken is so mild anything "off" can be tasted. My bride was not thrilled.

How long do you Eggheads usually let your Egg burn prior to adding meat?

ColtsFan · September 2017

Petroleum? That's odd

One word: Rockwood

Nature Boy · September 2017

Sometimes it takes a while, and the more charcoal you use, the longer it takes. Trust your nose though. It is your best tool to detect the flavor of the smoke. If it smells strong, it will taste strong on your food. I always strive to use only the amount of charcoal that will be needed for the cook, and wait until the smoke smells really good to me. Clean smoke to ya!
Chris

NewbeeMinimax · September 2017

It's Friday!!!
Char broil Center cut charcoal --is great for short and quick cooks. Ready in about 5-6 minutes. For long cooks--it's a different story

Theophan · September 2017

Teefus said:

... After I did the chicken (indirect for about 40 minutes), it had an "off " taste of petroleum and sour smoke. It was subtle, but chicken is so mild anything "off" can be tasted. My bride was not thrilled....

If it really did taste of petroleum, something is crazy wrong. Was your Egg used by anyone else who maybe used petroleum charcoal lighter fluid, or briquettes that had a lot of coal in them? It's hard to picture anything in the walls of the Egg coming out enough to taste in the food, but I flat don't believe there is any petroleum products in BGE or RO lump charcoal.

If it's just an unpleasant smoke flavor, and you waited 30 minutes and didn't see any more white smoke, I'm puzzled. I used BGE lump for years, and actually loved it, and had sort of a chip on my shoulder about all of the people here who raved about Rockwood. One of the things I actually LIKED about it was that it was a little smoky, even after the white smoke burned off. When I'd cook absolutely plain chicken, for example, spatchcocked with just olive oil and salt and pepper, there was a very subtle smoky flavor that my wife and I both LOVED. We never thought it tasted like petroleum or sour -- it was just a very light smoky flavor that reminded us of a campfire, outdoors. And that was after the white smoke was gone.

What I'm wondering is whether that subtle smoky flavor that we actually liked is the flavor you and your wife DIDN'T like. I'm not sure it is, because we wouldn't have described it as sour or like petroleum. If it is, though, then I agree with @ColtsFan above: switch to Rockwood! I finally tried Rockwood and almost hated to admit that I actually do like it better. It was pretty routine with BGE lump that I'd have to wait a fair while (half an hour, maybe) for the white smoke to go away, but with Rockwood, there's very little white smoke and I hardly ever feel like I need to wait after it's up to temp and the temp is stable.

GATraveller · September 2017

Don't know that I've ever timed the wait for "good" smoke but I'm in the Rockwood camp and find it to be fairly quick. I tell myself any money I save with cheaper lump is offset by the added amount I'd burn getting it to clean smoke.

1voyager · September 2017

Is there a "Made in the USA" logo on the Royal Oak bag? If no then that is the problem. Get a refund, exchange it or throw it away and go with Rockwood.

WeberWho · September 2017

I try to save the better lump such as Rockwood for weeknight cooks. Once you hit your temp you're good to throw on your food. Rockwood accompanied with a weed torch can be ready in under 5 minutes. Longer smokes I'll throw in some Royal Oak as time isn't key. I haven't used my oven in 7 years. One of the main reasons is that I can get my egg up and going faster than my oven when needed.

Teefus · September 2017

My Royal Oak has the Made in USA tag on the bag, although I do have one unopened bag that doesn't. Both were purchased at the same time at Wally World.

I'm the only person that's ever used my Egg and I don't even use wax starters. I usually use a propane torch. If I use a chimney starter I'll use a sheet of newspaper. Not sure why the petroleum taste. Maybe creosote would be a better descriptor.

My normal approach is to take a whiff of the smoke once it goes from white to blue. Once it smells sweet, I'm good to go. I've cooked a fair bit of chicken and had good luck with that approach. Hoping that Royal Oak hasn't started using construction waste or old pallets. I'm not sure I can get Rockwood in these parts.

fishlessman · September 2017

when i get that taste in chicken or even burgers its usually leftover grease in the lump or on the fire ring from an older cook. i did thighs one summer at camp pretty much every weekend, tossed in some breasts and could not believe how much off flavor shows up in those compared to the thighs

johnmitchell · September 2017

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/q3/fhli9iftonjz.jpg

Five minutes with this stuff and you are good to go...

Teefus · September 2017

johnmitchell said:

Five minutes with this stuff and you are good to go...

Oh hell no!

Teefus · September 2017

Follow up. Opened up the charcoal locker to fill my Weber with some Kingsford Mesquite to do a couple steaks. I opened the Royal Oak bag and took a whiff. I think they might have mixed in some chunks of burned tires. Doing a brisket in the morning. Hoping I can burn off all the funk prior to the meat hitting the heat.

Hub · September 2017

How long has it been since you've done a clean burn? Build up in your egg over time can cause the problems you've described.

SmokingPiney · September 2017

Hub said:

How long has it been since you've done a clean burn? Build up in your egg over time can cause the problems you've described.

I'm 2 years into my XL BGE, LOTS of cooks, and I will never do a "clean burn".

Petroleum taste? Not something a clean burn will fix.

Botch · September 2017

I would've gone with the "blazing away" lump in the chimney starter, if you were only cooking a few breasts. By adding fresh lump on top of that, you reset the clock (although, with 30 additional minutes, and "clean" smoke, you should've been okay).

GregW · September 2017

It's been 20 years for my egg without a clean burn and I don't have any objectionable smells in my egg. I will say I always use a drip pan under low and slows to prevent any excess grease build ups.
I do periodically use a hand held straw whisk brush to give the inside of the upper dome a once over to prevent black debris from flaking off and falling on the food. The brush is very effective in removing the build up.
Perhaps cooking styles/methods necessitate more frequent clean burns than I have experienced with my egg.

Teefus · September 2017

I got the Egg fired up at 5:30 this morning to do a brisket. I cranked the temp up to 700* prior to throttling it back to 275* and letting it sit. I had a nice little inferno going for a bit, and I'm hoping that took care of any unpleasant volatiles that were present. I added a couple chunks of wood prior to dropping the meat on the grille, and the smoke smells sweet. I guess I'll know how it worked out sometime this afternoon.

Regarding a clean burn.... never done. I clean the grille out periodically like GregW and that works just fine.

Waiting for the "blue smoke"

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