Clean Fire

Unknown · April 2007

How do you guys build a clean fire? Do you let the wood chunks smolder for awhile and then add the meat or do you put the wood chunks and meat on at the same time? I've noticed that if I don't let the chunks smolder for a few minutes then the food is bitter and nasty, but on the other hand if I let the word burn down then I don't get the smoke flavor I want....am i missing something?...thanks for the help...:)

WessB · April 2007

Brandon,
Sounds to me like you already answered your own question....let the wood chunks simmer down for a bit and then put your meat on...blue smoke is better than thick smoke.[p]Wess

Unknown · April 2007

Brandon,
this is how i do it... and not "the" way to do it.[p]i let the lump burn at least 20 minutes till it's burning clean,
then i add a handful or two of wood chips to the top of the lump and let them go about 5 or 10 minutes or so until the smoke is somewhere between blazin locomotive and light, blue wisps. works for me!

Unknown · April 2007

Brandon,
I always seem to get a cleaner fire using old lump. That first burn can be really smoky. Then, it seems to calm down.

thirdeye · April 2007

<p />Brandon,[p]I like to mix chips within the lump, then place some splits in a wagon wheel fashion. I start my fire in the center, (here I'm using a coil starter, but sometimes I use cubes or a weed burner) and as it burns outward it consumes the splits and chips. Generally I wait about 45 minutes for the fire and smoke to settle down before adding food.[p]An exception would be when grilling burgers or steaks. I just toss a few chips onto the coals a couple of times during the cook. [p]~thirdeye~

Unknown · April 2007

thirdeye,
see? the wagon wheel method has got to be "the" way! hahaa[p]do you think the size of the egg and lighting method drives the time between lighting and the time for adding the meat? [p]i'd guess my medium started with a weed burner would be ready well before a large started with starter squares.

thirdeye · April 2007

Rick's Tropical Delight,[p]I'm sure the lighting method makes a difference. Not only the type (coil, cube or flame thrower) but whether the fire is started deep or shallow.[p]For grilling I use the weed burner and light a bigger surface across the top. For a lo-n-slo starting dead center, but lighting it a little deeper works good for me so I use a coil or cubes for that.[p]~thirdeye~

Unknown · April 2007

Rick's Tropical Delight,has it dead nail to what I do and I works good for me.

LoNOx · April 2007

Brandon,
I have found that the brand of lump makes a big difference. Kingsford lump was terrible. It made a tremendous amount of sparks and the meat had ashes all over it.

Midnight Smoker · April 2007

thirdeye,[p]i think you're right about that. i use a MAPP canister to start the lump when i'm doing a high and fast grill, like a TRex.[p]the other day, i did ribs for a low-and-slow, and i lit the lump with MAPP in 2 places (one in the back and one in the front of the egg). well, i should have used the electric starter shoved deep down in the middle, b/c the fire i started with the MAPP was terrible. the fire actually just burned a hole straight down the back of the lump and never spread to the adjacent lump pieces. so even though i had a full load of lump in there, i couldn't get my fire over 250 degrees even with the daisy wheel off and the bottem vent wide open, which was a problem b/c i wanted to do the 1-1-1 method for ribs at 350 degrees.[p]next time i do low and slow, i'll use an electric starter in the middle.

Clean Fire

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