Trouble with BGE producing smoke over long cooks

htxbbq

Anyone else have this issue? I throw in some wood chunks and it will smoke for about 3 hours. I thought damn maybe I burned through my chunks so I opened the lid and it instantly started smoking again. It kept repeating this process with amount of time it would produce smoke slowly decreasing. It is almost as if it is getting enough oxygen to maintain a 240F but not to for the chunks to smoke/smolder. 

lkapigian

It's likely still smoking, you just dont really see it which is good, especially being a Smoldering Cooker ....thiin almost invisible smoke is perfect, if you can see it chugging away , not so good

Not sure if that is your case , but if at the end your chunks are gone, sounds like good combustion to me 

htxbbq

That is also what lead me to believe I was having an issue. I never fully burned through the chunks in a 12 hour cook. 

lkapigian

htxbbq said:

That is also what lead me to believe I was having an issue. I never fully burned through the chunks in a 12 hour cook. 

In my egg the will be pieces of wood chunks left , 12 hours I still have most of a full load of lump....domt overthink it, are you happy with the flavor? 

Lit

You do not want to see smoke. If you see smoke it is a dirty fire with smoldering smoke that will give a horrible taste. If you want to taste smoke try a different wood like hickory that has a strong smoke flavor even when the smoke is clean.

danv23

https://griffinsgrub.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/how-to-build-your-fire-for-a-low-and-slow/

fishlessman

i would bump the dome temp to 275 though its more convenient for me to cook at the lower temp. if i want more smoke flavor though, ill add a tiny amount of mesquite chips later in the cook. definitely dont want to over power a butt cook with mesquite

abpgwolf

meat typically doesn't absorb any additional smoke after the first 45 minutes to 1 hour. Like the others said you are likely producing throughout your cook even though your wood chucks are not being consumed by the fire.

As long as your food tastes good...

The Cen-Tex Smoker

abpgwolf said:

meat typically doesn't absorb any additional smoke after the first 45 minutes to 1 hour. Like the others said you are likely producing throughout your cook even though your wood chucks are not being consumed by the fire.

As long as your food tastes good...

Not trying to blow you up but this is not accurate. Meat will continue to take on smoke as long as smoke is able to stick to it. When meat dries out (gets a crusty bark) the smoke cannot attach and smoke bounces off the surface. This usually takes several hours on things like ribs, brisket, butts. However, if there is something for the smoke to stick to (moisture) it will continue to take on smoke indefinitely.

Here is a little light reading that can help explain it better than I can. You can skip down to the "Smoke and Food" section toward the bottom but the whole thing is definitely worth a read. It changed my whole bbq world once I understood the science behind a little better. That all started with this article.

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup-and-firing/what-you-need-know-about-wood-smoke-and

Hope you get as much out of it as I did.

Mark_B_Good

Couple of things ... the egg doesn't show lots of smoke on low temp cooks. More smoke will appear above 350F ... but 225F to 275F you hardly see anything, even when burning through wood chunks.  

However, you should have your chunks in the likely future path of the flame. What do I mean by this ... I've taken note on my XL where the fire goes over the cook. I lite it in the middle and I find it moves to the back and right everytime ... and for that reason I also put one of the legs of the plate setter to back right to block the direct heat better.  Anyhow, knowing the path of the fire, I put my wood chunks in that path ... you will find NO wood chunks in my firebox at the front of my firebox ... it's a waste.  

Lastly, if I want a heavy smoke, I ADD wood chips, sprinkled all over on top of the coals ... that seems to produce more smoke throughout the cook.

In the end, as others have pointed out ... worry about the taste ... and texture. If you don't see smoke, are you also not satisfied with the cook?