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Just started my 4th of july smoke, need some help!

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jffmart99
jffmart99 Posts: 11
in EggHead Forum
Got the fire started, added my wood chunks. Temp is holding at 250-255 after a good 30 mins. At this point I have a good amount of smoke pouring out. As soon as I throw the brisket and pork shoulder on the smoke stops. I see the heat coming out but no smoke.

Im used to an electric smoker where for the first two or three hours there is constant smoke coming out. Last weekend I did ribs, my temps ran high as I did not catch the fire on the way up and fought to bring the temps down. I remember last week that when I would at 300 i had a good amount of smoke, when I got it down to 250 the smoke was gone.

Should I be worried, am I doing something wrong?


This is only my 2nd smoke with the BGE so If Im acting like a Noob go easy on me! lol


Happy 4th of July!





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  • EmeraldPearl
    EmeraldPearl Posts: 3
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    Low visible smoke is not a bad thing as too much smoke may 'over crust' the meat and smoke is all you'll taste.  Though you may only see light smoke/no smoke the meat is still absorbing and giving the red to black crust. 

    Really it's a matter of preference for how much you want to taste the smoke.

    One thing that you can do is to bury some of the flavor wood in the lower portion of your lump so that it doesn't go off in that initial burn. 
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  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,457
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    Are you using chips or chunks? Hold your hand over the daisy wheel for few seconds then see how you hand smells. If it good your food will be fine, if not then wait and repeat.   I guessing you just hit clean smoke.  

    -----------------------------------------

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
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  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
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    Did you soak your wood chunks? If so, you may have been seeing mostly steam.

    As others have said, lack of visible smoke is not necessarily a problem. Do as @Mattman3969 suggests and go by smell.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.
    ____________________
    Aurora, Ontario, Canada
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  • MeTed
    MeTed Posts: 800
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    You are OK, Light blue wisps of smoke or clear are the best.Black,grey or heavy white smoke are bad. That is VOC`s burning off.Good luck!
    Belleville, Michigan

    Just burnin lump in Sumpter
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  • jffmart99
    jffmart99 Posts: 11
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    Thanks guys, lots of help!
    Did not soak chunks
    Buried a couple of chunks at the bottom
    Put a couple on the top as well

    Did the hand test and I smell the wood scent.

    Thanks again. I have watched a lot of video's on youtube trying to get as many pointers as possible, maybe the video's are a little misleading as I have seen some guys put get there set up and meat going with a lot of smoke.
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  • jffmart99
    jffmart99 Posts: 11
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    Another question, I got the Brisket up to 165, wanting to wrap it, when is the best time to wrap it? How do you tell when its the best time to wrap?
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  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
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    Sorry, I don't wrap so can't really help. I do believe that some wrap if they need to push through the stall or if the temp is raised to speed up the cook. Otherwise, I don't see any reason to do it.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.
    ____________________
    Aurora, Ontario, Canada
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  • SGH
    SGH Posts: 28,791
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    jffmart99 said:
    Another question, I got the Brisket up to 165, wanting to wrap it, when is the best time to wrap it? How do you tell when its the best time to wrap?
    There are 3 schools of thought on this depending on what you are shooting for.
    1. Wrap when it hits 160 internal. (Old Shool Method)
    2. Wrap when it's the color that you want. (Presentation)
    3. Wrap when it comes out of the stall. (Yields perfect rendered and moist meat)
    If im not pressed for time, I chose option 3 everytime. 

    Location- Just "this side" of Biloxi, Ms.

    Status- Standing by.

    The greatest barrier against all wisdom, the stronghold against knowledge itself, is the single thought, in ones mind, that they already have it all figured out. 

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  • jffmart99
    jffmart99 Posts: 11
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    I got plenty of time, what temp is considered out of the stall?

    thanks again

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  • EmeraldPearl
    EmeraldPearl Posts: 3
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    There's no magic number to the stall, it's unique to each piece of meat.  Once it starts climbing again it's out of the stall.
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  • cul-de-sac-er
    cul-de-sac-er Posts: 218
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    Aaron Franklin uses butcher paper to wrap so you don't steam your bark.
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  • MrMike
    MrMike Posts: 10
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    Just don't know ...what does stall mean?
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  • jffmart99
    jffmart99 Posts: 11
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    OK, something weird just happened, running at about 250 for the last 7 to 8 hours. Out of nowhere the temps spiked up to 300- 320. I closed the bottom vent and it started to go down but then shot back up. Anyone have any idea's why it would do this? Sorry to ask so many questions but new to this so Im trying to learn as much as possible.



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  • jffmart99
    jffmart99 Posts: 11
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    MrMike said:
    Just don't know ...what does stall mean?
    The brisket tends to heat up to about 160-165 at a pretty steady pace and then it "stalls" at the 160-165 range for awhile. It takes awhile sometimes to start heating up again.
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  • Sea2Ski
    Sea2Ski Posts: 4,088
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    jffmart99 said:
    OK, something weird just happened, running at about 250 for the last 7 to 8 hours. Out of nowhere the temps spiked up to 300- 320. I closed the bottom vent and it started to go down but then shot back up. Anyone have any idea's why it would do this? Sorry to ask so many questions but new to this so Im trying to learn as much as possible.



    Just a thought, if the fire was burning in the center only, it may have created a hole towards the bottom and started to burn out. If you used a wiggle rod and shook some loose lump, or it collapsed on itself, it would've fallen down and caught fire easily causing a spike in temp. 

    --------------------------------------------------
    Burning lump in Downingtown, PA or diesel in Cape May, NJ.
    ....just look for the smoke!
    Large and MiniMax
    --------------------------------------------------

    Caliking said:   Meat in bung is my favorite. 
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  • jffmart99
    jffmart99 Posts: 11
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    Now the dome temp is the same as the grill temp. Normally about 40 to 50 degrees warmer. I haven't calibrated it yet, so I just watch the dome temp and digi to get an idea where I am at.
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    Driving without confidence in your speedo could lead to tickets etc.  If you are good with whatever you are running the cook with then just respond accordingly and see the above for how to finish the cook.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • jffmart99
    jffmart99 Posts: 11
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    Just wanted to say thanks for all the tips yesterday. Everything turned out great!!


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