Tooooo smokey

Tbonez3858

The last few times I've cooked burgers and hot dogs on the BGE they've had way too much smoke flavor. I let my BGE heat up for about an hour until there is blue smoke before putting the food on. When I am cooking and open the dome its flooded with smoke and it literally takes 30 seconds for the smoke to clear out enough to turn the food. I havent had this issue with a normal grill because I usually leave the top open. With the BGE I close the lid which creates the smoke problem...I like smoke but even for me the smoke flavor is overwhelming. You cant even taste the food because of the smoke flavor.

Has anyone found a way to reduce smoke with foods that drip fat and create fires....

JKellar

Tbonez3858 said:

The last few times I've cooked burgers and hot dogs on the BGE they've had way too much smoke flavor. I let my BGE heat up for about an hour until there is blue smoke before putting the food on. When I am cooking and open the dome its flooded with smoke and it literally takes 30 seconds for the smoke to clear out enough to turn the food. I havent had this issue with a normal grill because I usually leave the top open. With the BGE I close the lid which creates the smoke problem...I like smoke but even for me the smoke flavor is overwhelming. You cant even taste the food because of the smoke flavor.

Has anyone found a way to reduce smoke with foods that drip fat and create fires....

Are you using a drip pan?  Also what brand of lump?

Tbonez3858

JKellar said:

Tbonez3858 said:

The last few times I've cooked burgers and hot dogs on the BGE they've had way too much smoke flavor. I let my BGE heat up for about an hour until there is blue smoke before putting the food on. When I am cooking and open the dome its flooded with smoke and it literally takes 30 seconds for the smoke to clear out enough to turn the food. I havent had this issue with a normal grill because I usually leave the top open. With the BGE I close the lid which creates the smoke problem...I like smoke but even for me the smoke flavor is overwhelming. You cant even taste the food because of the smoke flavor.

Has anyone found a way to reduce smoke with foods that drip fat and create fires....

Are you using a drip pan?  Also what brand of lump?

I typically only use a drip pan with low and slow. I do my burgers direct at about 400. I am using Royal Oak for the lump...

Kent8621

i would look at the lump you are using.  did you have any old wood chunks in the bottom that might have caused it?

Tbonez3858

Kent8621 said:

i would look at the lump you are using.  did you have any old wood chunks in the bottom that might have caused it?

I didnt have old wood chunks (except lump) in the BGE. The last cook was a low smoke cook (if memory serves me right spaghetti)...

Kent8621

what kind of lump are you using?

bikesAndBBQ

Is the problem opening and closing the dome so much?  You introduce a ton of oxygen only to then quickly deprive the fire of that oxygen which creates the bad smoldering smoke. Also, I have the opinion that for grilling things like burgers and dogs, the BGE is nothing special. I have a briquette grill I use for the grilling of burgers and dogs and the like. Just my opinion. 

Photo Egg

There are some things you can do.

Start with a smaller fire and cook with the dome open once you get your fire stabilized. Close you lower vent to keep the temp somewhat under control.

Again, start with smaller fire, close dome and remove daisy wheel so more smoke exits. Control temp with lower vent.

Switch to a burger with lower fat equals less fat dripping.
Less fat drippings...less fat burning as it drips into burning lump. 

Tbonez3858

bikesAndBBQ said:

Is the problem opening and closing the dome so much?  You introduce a ton of oxygen only to then quickly deprive the fire of that oxygen which creates the bad smoldering smoke. Also, I have the opinion that for grilling things like burgers and dogs, the BGE is nothing special. I have a briquette grill I use for the grilling of burgers and dogs and the like. Just my opinion. 

 I opened the grill 3 times over the 20 minute cook..Its possible I fanned the flames. I have a Blackstone I usually use for burgers so I may have to go back to using it.

Tbonez3858

Kent8621 said:

what kind of lump are you using?

Royal Oak from Home Depot.

Photo Egg

Tbonez3858 said:

bikesAndBBQ said:

Is the problem opening and closing the dome so much?  You introduce a ton of oxygen only to then quickly deprive the fire of that oxygen which creates the bad smoldering smoke. Also, I have the opinion that for grilling things like burgers and dogs, the BGE is nothing special. I have a briquette grill I use for the grilling of burgers and dogs and the like. Just my opinion. 

 I opened the grill 3 times over the 20 minute cook..Its possible I fanned the flames. I have a Blackstone I usually use for burgers so I may have to go back to using it.

It's smoldering drippings. Open flames will burn it off faster but when you are cooking with dome closed, opening it 1 time verses 7 to flip or rotate is not the issue.

FanOfFanboys

As mentioned, try cooking with dome open and see what you think 

fishlessman

lots of burgers is a cook i do not do on an egg anymore, the smoke just gets too crazy. its the main reason i bought a blackstone

richard333

Sounds like you have a lot of material from prior cooks that is trying to cook off.

gdenby

My first reaction is that you may have spilled grease on the inside of the Egg, and that grease is a smoke flavor sponge from other cooks. When you open the dome, it turns into heavy smoke.

I've also run into what @bikesAndBBQ mentioned. Too many dome openings, changing the way the lump burns. For burgers, I do usually go direct, but w. a dome temp low enough that it is 15 min between 2 quick turns, and another 5 after the last turn. I get a burst of smoke, then flare ups as the fat dripping flame.

Technical note. The Egg has good enough airflow control that the lump pyrolizes, producing smoke gasses that woosh right out the top, and don't stick to the food. When the dome is open, the higher flow of oxygen makes the lump combust.  Average lump has about 15% wood residue, and the combustion of that can produce harsh smoke flavors.  If you are cooking over an open vessel, the combustion gasses get turned to flavorless flames.

RRP

FanOfFanboys said:

As mentioned, try cooking with dome open and see what you think 

I agree, but also suggest closing the bottom vent entirely. What that does is keep the fire from becoming an inferno! That trick also works for cooking with a wok in your egg.

sunder1025

I had the same problem with my last bag of Royal Oak...  The smoke seemed to clear after 45 minutes, so I threw my pork belly on, a half hour later white smoke started pouring out and didn't stop for hours according to my wife (I had to run out and left her to babysit the egg).  The belly was ruined with way too much smoke.

On a hunch, I dumped out the rest of the bag of charcoal onto the ground to take a look and it seemed like more than half of it was not carbonized, I could see brown wood everywhere I looked, so I tossed the rest of the bag in the garbage. 

Royal Oak might be cheap, but I'm a little fed up with the quality to be honest.

hogfan412

For burgers and dogs....Blackstone.

Photo Egg

sunder1025 said:

I had the same problem with my last bag of Royal Oak...  The smoke seemed to clear after 45 minutes, so I threw my pork belly on, a half hour later white smoke started pouring out and didn't stop for hours according to my wife (I had to run out and left her to babysit the egg).  The belly was ruined with way too much smoke.

On a hunch, I dumped out the rest of the bag of charcoal onto the ground to take a look and it seemed like more than half of it was not carbonized, I could see brown wood everywhere I looked, so I tossed the rest of the bag in the garbage. 

Royal Oak might be cheap, but I'm a little fed up with the quality to be honest.

Do you think the grease rendering from your pork belly and dripping into your lump or burning in your drip pan had anything to do with the large amount of smoke on this day?
If you had 45 min of fairly clear smoke before you tossed on the belly, the extra smoke generated 30 min later probably had nothing to do with the lump that was burning clean for 45 minutes.

Tbonez3858

Great suggestions all...I will try to cook with the lid open next time. If that doesnt work I will go back to the Blackstone.

Thanks for the help!

Kent8621

try some better charcoal, rockwood is everyone's go to around here.

Theophan

Burgers are the one thing that I have not always loved on the BGE because of this smoke problem from fat dripping down on the coals and burning back up again.  The burgers I love the most are seared at quite high heat and rather briefly, so they're darkly seared on the outside, but very pink on the inside.  Well, that means the low temp solution won't work.

The low fat meat would help by reducing the fat dripping down, but I think most folks here agree that burgers need a lot of fat to be juicy, so that's not a solution, either, at least for me.

I bought some Grill Grates hoping that they would trap some of the burger fat from dripping down, and I do think they help.  There's still fat dripping down on the coals and burning, but I think it's less, because some of it stays in the grill grates.  It's my best solution for now.

The "Smoke & Spice" BBQ cookbook talks about smoking burgers low-and-slow for an hour or more, as I recall, which in a BGE would be done indirect.  It sounds weird to me, but I've seen people swear by it.  I'll have to try it one day.

GoooDawgs

Has anyone tried indirect cook for burgers?   Throw a drip pan under and there are no flare ups and you still get slightly smokey taste.  Then sear it down low for a few seconds.  Basically reverse sear for burgers...

I like doing them this way.  

gonepostal

The great thing about this place is that opinions will always vary. Burgers are high on the list of favorite things that come off the Large for the two of us. So for starters...i would recommend dogs first and burgers last. I've got a local wagyu burger source now but they do still smoke quite a bit. I cook on the dreaded royal oak much of  the time but i'm never in a hurry. I enjoy beverage/music time and allow for more than enough time for the temp/smoke/ etc. to be ready. They end up being a pretty fast cook for me. On/Off as soon as possible. However, my taste buds could very well be fried after 5 yrs plus of steady cooking this way!
And btw...i'm hoping to score a blackstone in the offseason later this year. 
You obviously have great options to cook your food. Find what works for you and your family the best and go with it. The egg doesn't have to handle 100%...
And definitely give Rockwood a try!

EGGHEAD83

Nothing wrong with mixing it up a little and giving the egg a break or using it to cook a side dish while the Blackstone handles the burgers. It’s really hard to beat a smash burger off of the Blackstone. 

cookingdude555

For me this depends on the egg on how I do it.  The medium is a raised grid, the xl I sear then move off to the side.  Both require a clean fire.  I dont want to see any smoke coming out of that chimeny before I grill, its clear.  Pics for reference:

sunder1025

Photo Egg said:

sunder1025 said:

I had the same problem with my last bag of Royal Oak...  The smoke seemed to clear after 45 minutes, so I threw my pork belly on, a half hour later white smoke started pouring out and didn't stop for hours according to my wife (I had to run out and left her to babysit the egg).  The belly was ruined with way too much smoke.

On a hunch, I dumped out the rest of the bag of charcoal onto the ground to take a look and it seemed like more than half of it was not carbonized, I could see brown wood everywhere I looked, so I tossed the rest of the bag in the garbage. 

Royal Oak might be cheap, but I'm a little fed up with the quality to be honest.

Do you think the grease rendering from your pork belly and dripping into your lump or burning in your drip pan had anything to do with the large amount of smoke on this day?
If you had 45 min of fairly clear smoke before you tossed on the belly, the extra smoke generated 30 min later probably had nothing to do with the lump that was burning clean for 45 minutes.

I don't think so, had a grease pan raised off the platesetter to catch the drippings and none of it was burnt when I finally pulled everything off. I doubt any of it hit the coals underneath, but who knows for sure...

Photo Egg

sunder1025 said:

Photo Egg said:

sunder1025 said:

I had the same problem with my last bag of Royal Oak...  The smoke seemed to clear after 45 minutes, so I threw my pork belly on, a half hour later white smoke started pouring out and didn't stop for hours according to my wife (I had to run out and left her to babysit the egg).  The belly was ruined with way too much smoke.

On a hunch, I dumped out the rest of the bag of charcoal onto the ground to take a look and it seemed like more than half of it was not carbonized, I could see brown wood everywhere I looked, so I tossed the rest of the bag in the garbage. 

Royal Oak might be cheap, but I'm a little fed up with the quality to be honest.

Do you think the grease rendering from your pork belly and dripping into your lump or burning in your drip pan had anything to do with the large amount of smoke on this day?
If you had 45 min of fairly clear smoke before you tossed on the belly, the extra smoke generated 30 min later probably had nothing to do with the lump that was burning clean for 45 minutes.

I don't think so, had a grease pan raised off the platesetter to catch the drippings and none of it was burnt when I finally pulled everything off. I doubt any of it hit the coals underneath, but who knows for sure...

Thats good.
But if you had a stable temp for 45 min with fairly clear smoke coming from the Egg, something caused it to start pouring smoke 30 min after you added the pork belly and it was not the lump at this point. 
Were you using fire starters to start your lump?
Sometimes they will go out and then start smoldering real bad when the heat of the fire finally reaches them. Just another thought.
But you should be able to tell what was causing the smoke by the smell of the smoke. Lump that is not fully carbonized will smoke more but it should not really clear. It will stay fairly constant. Especially after it was stabilized for 30-45minutes.
Grease will however cause billowing smoke and it does not take much. Just a steady drip that has run down the cooking grate and missed your drip pan.