Smoke Quality

H12mike · April 2015

Why does it take soooo much longer to reach smoke nirvana when setting up for low and slow than it does for a 375° cook?

fence0407 · April 2015

The higher temp burns off the bad smoke quicker? I dunno.

gdenby · April 2015

The lower heat levels take longer to drive off the volatile chemicals still left in the lump, and to dry out the smoke wood.

tarheelmatt · April 2015

I am assuming you're referencing the burn off of VOC's?

Higher the heat the more lump is being burned and carbonized, less heat the less gets carbonized.

H12mike · April 2015

So I guess there is no "fix" for getting rid of the VOC's quicker at "low & slow" set up?

Jstroke · April 2015

If you know you are going to do a low and slow in the next couple of days, load the egg to the top of the fire ring or more a day or two ahead or the previous night and fire it up. let it burn out until you see sweet blue and then shut her down. Now when you are ready to cook you can fire it up and no waiting around. I do this on Sunday for the mid week cooks, since they are usually pretty simple I rarely run out of lump before friday.

tarheelmatt · April 2015

H12mike said:

So I guess there is no "fix" for getting rid of the VOC's quicker at "low & slow" set up?

There are different lumps out there that doesn't take as long. What type of lump are you burning? Also, what is your lighting technique?

gdenby · April 2015

If you use leftover lump, there's less stuff left in charcoal. Unfortunately, even well seasoned wood still has lots of moisture in it, so there's partial combustion for awhile.

Ladeback69 · April 2015

You will get VOC's from the wood you add to get the flavor you want too. Usually when I do a low & slow by the time the egg has stabilized at 25 to 250 over a 30 to 40 minute window the bad smoke is gone, but sometimes stabilizing can take up to an hour and either way you should be ok.

H12mike · April 2015

I use Rockwood lump and it does take about an hour after reaching temp of 225 to rid the ugly smoke. So, I guess this is considered normal and I am ok with that.

tarheelmatt · April 2015

H12mike said:

I use Rockwood lump and it does take about an hour after reaching temp of 225 to rid the ugly smoke. So, I guess this is considered normal and I am ok with that.

Hmm.. Interesting. How are you lighting your lump?

H12mike · April 2015

I use a single KJ fire starter placed in the middle of the lump.

Ladeback69 · April 2015

Are you putting in other wood for flavor? If so that may take an hour to go away at 225. I usually do most of my l&s's at 250, so that helps get rid of it faster. If you had done a l&s precious and there is a little fat and grease mixed in with the lump that could take a little while to burn off too.

H12mike · April 2015

I learned from this discussion to allow about 2 hours for low & slow stabilization. This is ok, because it will allow more time in the spa to enjoy my Woodford Double Oak!

tarheelmatt · April 2015

Try a weed torch to light. I don't have to wait around that long for smoke to clear.

fishlessman · April 2015

only time i wait 2 hours for the smoke to clear is when my egg is drenching wet at light up. 1/2 hour max for me with a low and slow

H12mike · April 2015

We have had a lot of rain recently and the last low & slow was during a thunderstorm. BINGO!! But I am going to still tell the wife it takes two hours.

Legume · April 2015

Jstroke said:

If you know you are going to do a low and slow in the next couple of days, load the egg to the top of the fire ring or more a day or two ahead or the previous night and fire it up. let it burn out until you see sweet blue and then shut her down. Now when you are ready to cook you can fire it up and no waiting around. I do this on Sunday for the mid week cooks, since they are usually pretty simple I rarely run out of lump before friday.

this makes sense, do you clean out day before, load to the gills with lump and do a shorter cook night before. using leftover lump and a chimney starter with an oil soaked paper towel, I go from lighting the paper towel to cooking chicken or fish in maybe 15 minutes.

bbqlearner · April 2015

Most low and slow for me takes 30 minutes to burn up the bad smoke. As you mentioned, it must be other circumstances causing it to go that long.

NPHuskerFL · April 2015

Get it to 420 and the smoke will be perfect

Jstroke · April 2015

I have to admit I'm constantly tinkering to get more effecient. Right now I clean and load it on Sunday to the gills with no intention of cooking. I use a weed burner and if I get low during the week I add more at the end of the cook, wait for blue and then shut her down. This seems to keep me rolling

DoubleEgger · April 2015

+1 on the torch.

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