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Thick White Smoke

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jwc6160
jwc6160 Posts: 218
in EggHead Forum
i am all of the sudden getting a thick white smoke when my egg gets above 400 or so. I posted a while back about my pizzas having a Smokey flavor which is part of the same issue. My egg isn’t that dirty anyway, but I have done a couple of clean burns. I am doing some wings with brand new Royal Oak charcoal and just a handfull of chips. I am a bit late so I let the temp get up a bit and around 400, I got the thick white smoke. Any ideas why this is happening? I have had the egg for 3 years and never had this happen so often. 
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  • jwc6160
    jwc6160 Posts: 218
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    Here is a pic after 1 hour. Normally I would be getting the nice blue smoke. It’s a bit windy. 
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,332
    edited January 2018
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    Thick white smoke is the burn-off of VOC's (a whole separate topic) and/or moisture in the BGE or lump.  Wait til the smoke dissipates and give it the smell test:  if it smells good then it is good.  The nose knows.  All other things being the same it is likely the lump as it is a natural product and no two pieces are the same.  FWIW-
    Edit:  just saw your pic-after an hour I would give it the smell test. 
    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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  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,457
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    What is your outside temp?   My eggs do that when it is really cold.  Mine just steam and no bad smells come from it.  

    Hold your hand in the smoke for a few seconds and then smell it. Does it smell nasty or good?

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

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
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  • jwc6160
    jwc6160 Posts: 218
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    It is below freezing so I am hoping that was it. I didn’t really think about that. I didn’t get a chance to smell, I had the in laws over for the Chiefs and my wings were about 10 minutes behind. Thank the football gods for DVR!!! lol 
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    I don't know if that's the problem or not, but "below freezing" is not that cold. =)

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

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,170
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    If it’s not steam as mentioned above, it’s likely an under carbonized piece(s) of lump. 
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  • jwc6160
    jwc6160 Posts: 218
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    Yeah, I haven’t had the best luck with Royal Oak the last few bags. I’ve normally found it to be a hell of a lot better than Cowboy, but maybe I should look for something else. 
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  • bikesAndBBQ
    bikesAndBBQ Posts: 284
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    Not every bag of lump is the same. Maybe the lump picked up some moisture, maybe some pieces weren’t fully carbonized or maybe it was some steam. I wouldn’t worry about it. Wait for the smoke to smell good and go with it. 
    Pittsburgh, PA. LBGE
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  • jwc6160
    jwc6160 Posts: 218
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    bikesAndBBQ said:
    Not every bag of lump is the same. Maybe the lump picked up some moisture, maybe some pieces weren’t fully carbonized or maybe it was some steam. I wouldn’t worry about it. Wait for the smoke to smell good and go with it. 
    That’s the weird part. I let it get hot and then get going and everything seemed fine. It wasn’t until the temp got up above 375-400 before I started seeing the “whiter” smoke. Wish I would have smelled it before i shut it down. Wings were delicious though.  Just makes me nervous since the kids and wife didn’t like the pizza last time. 
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