Low temp smoke, but no smoke

kthacher

I am smoking some salmon, with a target temp of 180 to 200. Prior to the cook, I layered alder chips in three layers into the lump. Sprinkled around to get coverage. No problem maintaining the temp, but I am getting no smoke. I guess a tiny amount of lump is actually burning to maintain the temperature? Small enough that I am not igniting any of the chips? This has been going on for almost four hours now. I had a lot of smoke at the beginning, but after I dialed the vents back to drop the temp, no more smoke. There are lots of chips left. Any ideas?

lousubcap

First up-welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  There is smoke happening if your alder is in contact with the fire.  At low temps you have a small amount of lump ignited at any one time and the fire travels around the lump load as time moves on (that's how the BGE can run low&slow cooks for 20+ hours w/o any additional fuel load).  

If you have established a good pellicle on your salmon then smoke is adhering in the BGE.  Keep an eye on your salmon temp and if you haven't heard of the dome to grid temperature off-set on indirect cooks then here you go:

With indirect (platesetter or any heat deflector in place) the dome temp will initially run around 20-40*F (or more) above what is happening at the cooking level.   So your actual cooking temp is not what you see.  Longer the dome is shut the closer they come together.  General accepted practice is if a temperature is quoted without any modifiers then it is dome temp as that is the one indicator all BGE's run with.  Hope this helps.

BTW- thermo calibrated?

Long answer to your post-FWIW- 

Skiddymarker

There may be a wisp of smoke every now and then - but there will be smoke flavour without the visual of smoke. That's how it works, especially at low temps. The chips don't really ignite, they just smoulder away, sometimes without really letting you know. Wave your hand above the DFMT and smell the "smoke". 

kthacher

Thanks guys. Just put the Maverick grill temp sensor on, and the grill is running 10-15 degrees above dome. I was assuming that quoted recipes from the recipe were dome as mentioned by lousubcap. EDIT: After another 15 minutes dome and grill temp are with 2 degrees of each other

lousubcap

Critical here is your salmon temp-I pull when around 135*F in the thickest part and mighty fine eats await.

td66snrf

@lousubcap  said:

Critical here is your salmon temp-I pull when around 135*F in the thickest part and mighty fine eats await.

I usually pull when the thickest part of the fillet reaches 140. I f you get the thing to 200 it'll be dry and the thinner parts will be jerky. Just remember if your source of heat is from wood you will get the smoke  taste even if your not seeing it.

SmokyBear

I just had the EXACT same thing happen to me - put on 4 oz of hickory to smoke some BabyBacks..

TONS of smoke for the first 15-25 minutes.  Then, notta for the next 3 hours.

The ribs were "kinda" smokey in flavor, but nothing at all like I can get off my Cookshack - that thing will put out smoke for 15+ hours on 4 oz of hickory.  Of course, the wood is in a metal tray with a heating element beneath it vs direct fire contact in the BGE/KJ, but still..

I'm wondering if I put the chunks in right..I somewhat forgot them..got the fire going with a couple of starter cubes, then did an "oh crap" and added them to the TOP of the pile.

I think if they were embedded more in the middle of the lump that this may have worked better.

Anyone know for sure?

Thx..

SGH

@kthacher‌
If you are burning clean as you should be you will see very little smoke no matter the temp. Your smoke should be very light blue and faint. Almost invisible to the naked eye. It is this type of smoke that you can pour to meat for untold hours and not pick up a bitter taste. The meat will just keep getting smokier as is desirable and proper. Look at the included photos. The egg is stable at 425 with 3/4 of a pound of oak and 3/4 of a pound of green pecan and yet you barley can see a wisp of smoke emanating from the egg. This is what you want my friend. If your smoke looks like this you will never pick up a bitter taste. It's when you see white smoke billowing from the stack that you have problems. White smoke is not your friend. That being said there is of course a exception to this rule but it need not be covered here unless you request an explanation then I will gladly clarify the said issue. I hope this helps my friend. Just a note. If you look at the one photo I choked the daisy wheel almost completely down and the smoke is still light and faint. I did this only to illustrate that when truly burning clean you make any adjustment that you want and still produce a faint and light blue smoke.

SmokyBear

Hmmm..I also have a Cookshack SM025 (electric) and it POURS visible white smoke for as long as I cook (up to 16 hours on as little as 2-4 oz wood chunks).

Will definitely have to look into this one more..the ribs I cooked last night for ~ 3 hours at 250 came out not overly smoky tasting compared to when I cook them on my Cookshack for a similar amount of time at the same temp..

kthacher

My salmon came out with almost no smoke taste. I had used another recipe that called for a 225 to 250 cook, a couple of weeks ago, and the results were different. Nice smoky taste from the alder. I have a Bradley, and it too pours out smoke at these low temps. I remain puzzled on how I am ever going to get proper smoking behaviour at these low temps.

KenfromMI

Smoky, I have a several smokers including one of the old fashioned cookshacks. The cook shack  is so tight I feel it operates more like a steam cabinet smoker and some of what you are seeing is steam and not always smoke. I do agree that I've never seen anything use such a small amount of wood for an all day smoke. I've never been happy with my cookshack and just use it exclusively for smoked fish and kielbasa because the temp never varies so the casings don't split on sausage from a peaked temperature.  I've always thought the BBQ flavor from the cookshack tastes too raw on BBQ but I do like it for my fish with sugar maple and I use Hickory, Cherry, and Apple mix for my Kielbasa.

SmokyBear

Hey, Ken..greetings from a fellow Michigander (Rochester).

I hear ya on the steam theory - but when I've taken the time to smell the smoke coming out of the Cookshack, it definitely seems to be actual smoke vs. steam..(VERY strong smell of smoldering wood)..

Not sure on the old fashioned Cookshack, but the SM025 is a smoking BEAST.  Everything I cook in there is awesome - so much so that I'm not sure I can ever get a similar result on a BGE, KJ, etc..

I will say that my Mini BGE for short cooks gives an awesome smoke flavor though..KJ Classic (same size as Large BGE)  not so much.  I've thought this may be because the food is closer to the fire on the Mini, and the fat drippings from whatever I'm cooking vaporize on the lump, adding a lot more smoke and flavor.  KJ food is way higher in the dome typically, and I get little smoke flavor most of the time.

Good to have different tools for different jobs.  I was hoping to get more out of large ceramic cooker and often wonder if I'd gone LBGE route vs KJC if that would have happened or if it's more a factor of how far the food is from the lump, how the wood is distributed among the lump (size, how many pieces), etc.

Guess I'll have to keep experimenting with the hope of one day getting it "right"!  (Or, just keep relying on the Cookshack where it's virtually foolproof to get as much smoke as needed all day long, with virtually zero effort or cleanup..)

Still debating picking up a MBGE to compliment the Mini BGE, KJ and Cookshack SM025 AND the Weber gasser..but SWMBO is telling me I already have too many grills and our deck is starting to look like a BBQ showroom..

KenfromMI

I originally bought a WSM18 and have used that for the last 8 years after my Cookshack purchase and not being happy. My BGE I just received as a gift in April. I also use my cookshack with aluminum trays to keep things warm when doing other cooks for large parties etc. Came in handy for my 4th of July BBQ. I have an original cookshack with the dial on the front and no electronics. Not sure how many years ago I purchased it. I keep a gasser around as well for my cooking nights after working my 12hr shift I don't feel like dealing with charcoal and waiting.

nolaegghead

People have been smoking salmon for millennia.  Take a look at your process with the fish, as that can have a significant impact on how the fish takes the smoke flavor.   You want a pellicle on the fish, and you can use other techniques such as coating with oil or water to increase the amount of smoke on the surface of the fish.   The difference between visible and invisible smoke is the amount of particulate soot and water vapor.  You can have perfectly acceptable smoke without it looking like the effluent to a coal fired power plant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellicle_(cooking)

kthacher

I followed the recipe over at Naked Whiz, and had a 14 hour dry time. Pretty decent pellicle I believe. I would not make that recipe again anyway, as the salmon was too salty as well.

nolaegghead

kthacher said:

I followed the recipe over at Naked Whiz, and had a 14 hour dry time. Pretty decent pellicle I believe. I would not make that recipe again anyway, as the salmon was too salty as well.

In that case, although you may have had plenty of alder wood in the egg, it may not have been burning.  I suspect you inspected the coals after the cook.  If it did burn, add more next time.

Farbuck

I've noticed that with my Cookshack [don't recall the model number but it's about 7 years old],I get a strong smoke smell for the first 1/2 hour and afterward it drops off quickly.   I assume that's because the wood sits close to the heating element and absorbs heat from the start so it burns up quickly. 

KenfromMI

KT, I use a simple quick brine of Morton Tender Quick and Brown sugar. I then rinse well, dry with paper towels and let sit uncovered in the fridge overnight or at room temp until the pellicle forms if I'm pressed for time.  Hot smoke at 200 degrees over Sugar Maple and everyone loves it. Since switching to Sugar Maple and not changing anything else I've had rave reviews from friends and family.  

kthacher

Thanks Ken. I have some sugar maple and will give that a shot next time. I have a couple of rum and vodka based brines that I have used in the past, and would like to see how they do with the sugar maple.

SmokyBear

Salmon 'should' be one of the easiest things to cook, and I think we've mastered that using a recipe from Dr. BBQ's "Slow Fire" book (avail on Amazon).

We do a brine for about an hour, take the fish out, put some Dizzy Pig Raging River on it (paprika on the wife's as she's on a low salt diet) and cook it to 140 (iirc) in the Cookshack.

We also do it on the Mini BGE but as BBQ, never low and slow.

Both ways are fabulous and SWMBO can never get enough Salmon..I swear we could cook it every single day and she'd be happy!