VOCs?

theyolksonyou

Travis13 said:

When you guys prepare for a long cook, do you get your dome up to around 300* and then bring it back down? Or do you get it at target temp, say 225* and leave it there until you have clean smoke. I have always done the latter? 

Catch it on the way up or you'll be chasing your tail a lot. 

blasting

To update the record.  I've got a full load of RO on right now and had good smoke in about 30 minutes.  The last two bags I didn't have as clean of smoke in over two hours.  The only variable was a new bag of lump.

What about adding smoke wood.  Does that have VOC's that need to be burned off?  Do most of you mix it in with the charcoal, or add it after the VOC's have burned off.

This is a great thread btw, and thanks for all you vets who are educating the rest of us.

SmokingPiney

Travis13 said:

When you guys prepare for a long cook, do you get your dome up to around 300* and then bring it back down? Or do you get it at target temp, say 225* and leave it there until you have clean smoke. I have always done the latter? 

I get my Egg stabilized at target temp and wait for the good smoke. It usually doesn't take long.

blind99

There's all sorts of VOCs in your charcoal.  Toluene, mercury, aldehydes.  As the lump gets hotter, more leave the lump.  How much is left, who knows?  And when you char the food you generate other chemicals that may not be safe, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

If this link comes through there are some articles on pubmed about it.  I've looked into this in the past and concluded I'm just going to keep barbequing...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?linkname=pubmed_pubmed&from_uid=19819620

mahenryak

blasting said:

What about adding smoke wood.  Does that have VOC's that need to be burned off?  Do most of you mix it in with the charcoal, or add it after the VOC's have burned off.

If it is an overnight low and slow I  will add a few chunks of wood in layers, sparingly, near the center, as I fill with lump.  The final two chunks on the top of the lump are added immediately after I torch the lump.  So my chunks of wood are in there from the moment I remove the flames from my weed eater torch.  I still wait about 45 minutes or so, and do the hand test to make sure it smells good, before I add the protein.  I do not consider myself on par with the likes of the veterans, here, not even by a long shot, but this is what I have found to be most effective in yielding consistent results.

Edit:  I can add that I, too, burn a lot of RO due to pricing and availability up here.

stlcharcoal

blind99 said:

There's all sorts of VOCs in your charcoal.  Toluene, mercury, aldehydes.  As the lump gets hotter, more leave the lump.  How much is left, who knows?  And when you char the food you generate other chemicals that may not be safe, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

If this link comes through there are some articles on pubmed about it.  I've looked into this in the past and concluded I'm just going to keep barbequing...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?linkname=pubmed_pubmed&from_uid=19819620

If you start reading through those reports, most mention somewhere that it's briquettes they are referring to.  It doesn't state that in the abstracts, they just call it "bbq charcoal".  They don't know lump charcoal even exists--BBQ charcoal = briquettes to most people.  Once you start reading it will start talking about binders and stuff like that.  The anthracite is a source of some of that.  You shouldn't have that stuff in domestic lump charcoal from trees out in the wild.  There can be heavy metals in the charcoal from domestic hardwoods, but kilning at very high temps usually cooks these out.  So, some of the nasty's can exist, but hopefully they left the charcoal before it went in the bag.

TigerTony

theyolksonyou said:

Put your hand in the smoke and smell your hand. If it smells good, you're good. 

Hey Yolk, Does that method also work to check for fire?

HeavyG

Acn said:

Eggcelsior said:

marysvilleegger said:

Thanks @nolaegghead ....   Now off to google binchotan....

It's sweet, you could egg in your kitchen. It would be cheaper to eat out, though. 

I've had fish grilled on binchotan tableside.  Pretty nice touch.

I've used it many many years ago in yakitori grills but it has gotten so expensive ($20+ per pound I think) I wouldn't even consider using it now.