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Acrid smoke after an hour

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CincyEgg
CincyEgg Posts: 119
in EggHead Forum
Hey, guys. Just got my Large BGE this afternoon and decided to do some L&S pork butts.  I got the temp around 225-240 where I wanted it and it's been steady for about an hour now.

The problem is that the smoke is still flowing out pretty heavily and has a bad smell to it. I have the bottom opened up about 1/2 inch right now and the wheel at the top is opened a crack.

Is this normal for new burnoff or a load of new lump?
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,894
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    Normally not, but obviously did you have wood chunks in there? What brand of lump charcoal? What did you use to start your lump charcoal? Did you check the calibration of your dome thermometer? Cooking indirect I hope...
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,674
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    All the things he said!
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    As above, not "normal" but good for you to recognize that the smoke is acrid and not just press ahead with the cook.  I would make sure your BGE is stable temperature-wise before you start the cook as sometimes I can easily run (w/o a controller) at 200*F +/- but in general it seems to have a sweet-spot somewhere around 240-250*F and all are slightly different.
    BTW- welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
    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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  • MaC122
    MaC122 Posts: 797
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    @CincyEgg The problem when I first started using the BGE was the BGE branded lump that they sell you. It would have that thick white acrid smoke that you described. So I switched to rockwood and I have never looked back. It really does make a difference

    St. Johns County, Florida
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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    @Rrp Yea I have some hickory chunks in there and unfortunately they are the cowboy brand. I'm using Rockwood lump charcoal and used one of the BGE fire starters to get the fire going. I didn't calibrate the dome thermometer but I'm using a maverick digital probe to keep track of temp. 

    I have the platesetter placed in it and originally started off with a steam table pan for a water tray.

    I'm trying to keep the bottom vent closed as much as possible and the top vent is shut besides the daisy wheel being about 3/4 open. 

    I took the water pan out just thinking maybe the plate setter was burning the pan a bit with nothing in between the two?
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    The drip pan is a needed piece of equipment; just air-gapped off the platesetter to keep the drippings from burning. 

    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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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    What's the best approach to getting an air gap between the two? Just crumble some foil under the water pan?
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
    edited June 2017
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    You've got it-for a more permanent fix I use three 3/8" thick hardware nuts (round pan) but all you need is the space.
    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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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    I don't know if the pan was the smell or what, but all I'm getting now is the good, thin smoke seeping out now. Thanks a lot for all the help guys. 
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    Have fun with the cook.  Glad to hear it.
    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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  • Jupiter Jim
    Jupiter Jim Posts: 3,351
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    I think you had a piece of lump that was not completely carbonized, the look brownish in color and not black, they will burn with a flame and smoke nasty some for ever. They can be found in all brands of lump, I look for them when dumping lump into the egg and if I see a lot of smoke coming from a small are dig it out with some tongs and get it out.

    I'm only hungry when I'm awake!

    Okeechobee FL. Winter

    West Jefferson NC Summer

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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    Jupiter Jim said:
    I think you had a piece of lump that was not completely carbonized, the look brownish in color and not black, they will burn with a flame and smoke nasty some for ever. They can be found in all brands of lump, I look for them when dumping lump into the egg and if I see a lot of smoke coming from a small are dig it out with some tongs and get it out.
    Good advice. I'll look at the lump a little more carefully the next time now that I'm aware that these can sneak in every now and then.
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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    Theophan said:
    Unrelated to this, really, but I can't help adding: I really don't think a water pan is ever needed in a BGE.  A (dry) drip pan often is, but not a pan with water in it.  It just winds up being a big heat sink and a problem without adding anything.  BGEs all by themselves do great keeping things moist.

    As this was my first cook in my BGE I can't share an opinion on which method would work better. A lot of the tips I've read recommended a water pan so that's what I went with.

    Wouldnt a dry pan for drippings end up burning up and putting out some bad smoke in the process? just saying this because I've run out of water in my other smoker pans before and this occurred. 

    I'd appreciate any other input on this as well because you make a good point about the already great moisture retention that the BGE brings.
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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,842
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    Agree with above.  The clearing of smoke was probably just related to having enough time for all the bad smoke to burn off - and probably had nothing to do with pulling the water pan.

    I use a water pan in several of my grills, but not my egg.  The drip pan with an air gap is all you need.  A water pan doesn't really hurt anything, but you need to watch it for evaporation because when it gets low, the temp will rise quickly.

    Most importantly, welcome aboard. 

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    I think the water pan may have contributed to the acrid smell. The water was just warm enough to release some steam that cooled as it exited the top, and the fumes from the lump and/or smoke wood were forming creosote in the presence of the water vapor. With the Egg being new, the creosote was not sticking to the sides of the top vent.

    As the Egg get gunked up w. use, the top vent may eventually become encrusted with creosote and ash hairs, just like a chimney. If those fall into the food, you will be spitting it out.

    I stopped using water in the pans long ago. Only do it if the drippings dry out and burn. It is common to put foil ball spacers between the drip pan and the 'setter. The top surface of the setter can exceed 600F.


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  • Austin Egghead
    Austin Egghead Posts: 3,966
    edited June 2017
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    By now you cook is over.  I would take everything out and do a complete clean up of the egg.  the funky order my be from some debris that was left in the egg during installation.  
    Actually, that happened to me at an Eggfest.  There was some crude under the grate that I didn't see when i loaded the egg with lump. Not a pleasant smell.   
    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    Just pulled the shoulders out about an hour ago and the first thing I noticed was how clean lump charcoal burns in these things. 

    I'm going to follow everyone's advice and fully clean this thing out and will avoid using a water pan next time.
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  • bhedges1987
    bhedges1987 Posts: 3,201
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    Your starter cube didn't burn completely. Shutting the lid too early can cause that to happen. The lump will be lit but the cube will go out. Sometimes I'm forced to take it out myself cause it will smoke for upwards of an hour. 

    Kansas City, Missouri
    Large Egg
    Mini Egg

    "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us" - Gandalf


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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    bhedges1987 said:
    Your starter cube didn't burn completely. Shutting the lid too early can cause that to happen. The lump will be lit but the cube will go out. Sometimes I'm forced to take it out myself cause it will smoke for upwards of an hour. 
     I waited 10 mins before shutting the lid. Would it be better to cut the fire starter in half next time? Seems like the Rockwood caught fast enough to where half of a cube would be sufficient 
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  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,654
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    CincyEgg said:
    bhedges1987 said:
    Your starter cube didn't burn completely. Shutting the lid too early can cause that to happen. The lump will be lit but the cube will go out. Sometimes I'm forced to take it out myself cause it will smoke for upwards of an hour. 
     I waited 10 mins before shutting the lid. Would it be better to cut the fire starter in half next time? Seems like the Rockwood caught fast enough to where half of a cube would be sufficient 
    I don't use starter cubes anymore, but I did for years and years, and every single time I closed the lid immediately -- never had a problem!  Now, I closed the lid but left the top vent completely open and the bottom vent also open until the Egg was starting to approach my target temperature, so maybe if you closed the lid AND had the top and bottom vents nearly closed the starter cube might have gone out.  But for what it's worth, keeping the vents open at first, I NEVER had a problem closing the lid immediately.  
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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    Maybe I just got too hasty since it was my first time and closed either the top or bottom vent a little too early. I guess screwing up is the fastest way to learn
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    Don't know the size of the fire starter you are using but I use a small section of a fire stick pictured here as the only source for a low&slow start and one of three for a hot&fast start. For L&S,  dome and bottom vent open til around a softball sized fire ball going then load hardware, shut dome, bottom vent to around 1//2 inch with DFMT petals full open and dial it in.   FWIW-
     
    BTW -Home Depot selling 48 sticks for about $6- I get 5 lights/stick.
    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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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    Looking back and reading the tips on this thread, it sounds like I shut everything down way too early. There certainly wasn't a softball sized fireball going yet. 

    I think i was just leery of getting the temp up too high and reading about how hard it is to get it back down to target range if you overshoot by too much
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    edited June 2017
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    CincyEgg said:
    Looking back and reading the tips on this thread, it sounds like I shut everything down way too early. There certainly wasn't a softball sized fireball going yet. 

    I think i was just leery of getting the temp up too high and reading about how hard it is to get it back down to target range if you overshoot by too much
    I don't pay any attention to the size of the fireball. I just light it and let it go for a couple of minutes, then close the dome, set the vents where I know they need to be for my target temp and walk away. Takes a little while to figure out the right vent settings, but once you do, you'll be fine.

    As for overshooting, it's not how MUCH you overshoot, it's how LONG. I was looking for 400° the other day and got sidetracked. I had not set the vents where they needed to be as I was trying to speed things up a bit. When I went out to check on it, I was at 700+°, but I knew it couldn't have been that hot for very long. I just closed the vents to where I knew 400 should be and it started dropping immediately... and quickly. I was at 400 in just a couple of minutes. If I had left it at 700 or higher for an extended period, it would have taken MUCH longer.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    It it was a rough start but it yielded some pretty flavorful pork.

    Thanks for the troubleshooting guys.
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  • SaintJohnsEgger
    SaintJohnsEgger Posts: 1,826
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    Looks good enough to eat and in the end that is all that counts. 
    Marshall in Beautiful Fruit Cove, FL.
    MiniMax 04/17
    Unofficial BGE MiniMax Evangelist
    Facebook Big Green Egg MiniMax Owners Group


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  • GlennM
    GlennM Posts: 1,365
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    I read the word "cowboy"?  I tried that lump and it was like burning tires. 
    In the bush just East of Cambridge,Ontario 
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  • CincyEgg
    CincyEgg Posts: 119
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    GlennM said:
    I read the word "cowboy"?  I tried that lump and it was like burning tires. 
    I used rockwood charcoal but the wood chunks were the cowboy brand. Had to buy some last minute 
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  • Eggdicted_Dawgfan
    Eggdicted_Dawgfan Posts: 1,896
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    Nice first cook Cincy. Hang in there. Things will get easier with every cook. All the help you could ever need from these guys here.
    Snellville, GA


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