XL-smokey flavor

Walt2015

i had L for about 8 years and recently upgraded to XL. ive used FOGO for years. i stir box thoroughly before lighting and let fire get going for a while with dome open then closed at least 20 min before putting meat on. still getting much smokier flavor than i ever got on the large--specifically with chicken and fish

using AR set up cooking just about felt about 425 direct for BLSL breasts. 

any ideas to help? ive tried fulling cleaning out bowl each cook and seems to help but figured burning for a while would help. never had big problem on large but didnt know if wider box more prone to holding ash

Legume

Did you buy a used XL that maybe had been used to cook squirrel previously?

Try a different lump and see what happens?

Cook with the cap off and just use the bottom vent to regulate temp?

Load it up, cook something, put it out and then use the next day without adding any new lump and see if that’s better.

Walt2015

It was brand new when I bought it. Only thing I could think of is either a huge pieces of lump weren’t  getting fully lit before cooking or there was a lot of smaller pieces and more ash in the bowl. I previously had a large and a Kamado Joe Junior and no problem

JohnInCarolina

I hadn’t really thought about this before, but the XL certainly requires more charcoal to be lit to maintain the same temperature as a Large. That ought to translate into potentially more smoke for the protein to come into contact with. 

Foghorn

The XL takes a while to offgas all the VOCs from all the lump.  Has the grey smoke cleared before you put the meat on?  I've cooked on a L and owned an XL and a XXL.  I've essentially given up on a quick cook on the XL or the XXL.  I usually light the fire and set the vents where I think I'll need them to be for the cook and then I go for a run or workout or something - and cook on it about an hour later.  The reality is that it usually takes 30-40 minutes to get to good smoke in a XL - at least for me.

Mark_B_Good

Follow what foghorn says ... also, once I see 4 or 5 lit coals ... I close my lid, and when I'm within 50F of my target temp ... I start closing the air inlet and vent (slowly) ... 

By the time I reach temp, even if it is only 225F (takes 40 min to 60 min to stabilize) ... there's NO grey smoke. Only a faint blue colored smoke.

The other thing is maybe try another lump coal ... try the BGE oak lump ... I know it's expensive, but try one bag to see if that helps.  

Finally, are you adding chips, pellets, lumps of hardwood? Are they soaked or dry?

Walt2015

No smoke added just all fogo so far as I’ve used for years but there have been a few absurdly large chunks that might not have been fully lit. 

Will try more time with lid closed vs open. 

Thanks all for opinions!

Foghorn

Just to be clear.  All pieces of charcoal do not have to be fully lit.  They just need to have spent a while at a high temp so that the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that make the "smoky" smoke can evaporate off.  

Think of it this way: 

If 10% of the lump is lit, but the temp in the firebox is 300+ (not necessarily at the dome thermometer - if you have a platesetter in the dome temp may only be 175 and rising slowly while the temp in/around the coal is 300+ and VOCs are evaporating).  So, the other 90% doesn't have to be on fire - it just has to be hot enough for VOCs to evaporate completely.

To one of your questions - evaporating VOCs out of larger pieces of lump likely takes longer than evaporating VOCs out of smaller pieces.

I hope that helps.

Mark_B_Good

Walt2015 said:

No smoke added just all fogo so far as I’ve used for years but there have been a few absurdly large chunks that might not have been fully lit. 

Will try more time with lid closed vs open. 

Thanks all for opinions!

Maybe one other point ... do you have a pan on your plate setter, and is it lifted with some kind of spacer (even rolled up aluminum foil balls)? I'm wondering if the overly smokey flavor isn't coming from drippings that burn on the plate setter?

SonVolt

You're talking about direct grilling, not low 'n slow correct? 

Walt2015

Always use some foil to keep a little air gap but this is just on direct grilling that I am getting the problem