Smoke help!

MGOms · May 2018

Looking for some suggestions on smoking a pork butt. My first attempt, put in 5 wood chunks after getting the Egg to temperature (250) then added the plate setter and got back to 250 then added the meat. All the wood chunks had burnt out during this process so got no smoke flavor at all. Got a great overnight cook (16 1/2 hours) and the meat was perfect except for not having any hint of smoke (I used apple and pecan). How can I retain the smoke for a couple of hours after getting the meat on? Do I have to add a lot more wood chunks or chips right before putting in the plate setter and immediately put on the meat?

lousubcap · May 2018

Bury your chunks in the lump load concentrating toward the center and back as that is the initial travel of the fire on a L&S. You can put one on close to the burning lump when you load the hardware for the cook. FWIW-
Edit: Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey. Above all, have fun.

GregW · May 2018

Hello, and welcome to the forum. As @lousubcap says, adding more wood chunks mixed in through the lump so they will burn longer over time. Also apple and pecan are very mild woods, you might try using hickory, it's a lot stronger smoke flavor.
I'm not sure about the smoke ring, the egg is so thermally efficient that it doesn't take a lot of fuel or air flow to maintain temperature, this limits the formation of a smoke ring. This however won't stop you from getting a smoke flavor.

MGOms · May 2018

Thanks! I’ll give that a try. ISO peach chunks too. All I can find here is apple and cherry. Started a cook this morning and put about a cup of peach chips and 4 pecan chunks. Got a good hour of smoke before it quit. Attempting a “turbo” method for he first time.

marainwa · May 2018

Did you put a drip catcher on the plate setter (under the grate) to catch all the drippings through the cook? If not, wondering if the drippings alone could have partially extinguished the chunks. That, and what @lousubcap said:)

GATraveller · May 2018

Listen to @lousubcap as he is spot on.

Mattman3969 · May 2018

And remember it’s the thin blue smoke you want not the heavy white stuff. Just cause you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

SoCalTim · May 2018

IMO your overthinking things. Think of smoke as a spice, it's subtle. You wouldn't bury your meat in salt or pepper, and you don't do that with wood chunks.

I bet if i was eating your awesome pork butt, I'd smell the smoke.

Theophan · May 2018

I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but for what it's worth, there are some meats I want about as smoky as I can get them, and I tried a bunch of things to get those more smoky. When I want as much smoke as possible,

I do bury a few chunks in the lump,
but I also wait to put in the plate setter until the Egg has stabilized. With Rockwood I rarely get much "bad smoke," so usually within half an hour or so of lighting, the Egg is ready.
So then I add 3-4 more chunks on top of the lump, arranged radially around the central fire, so as it spreads it will keep burning those chunks, put in the plate setter, put in the meat.

Sure, the dome temp goes down a bit, but it comes back up again pretty soon, and I'm not wasting much of my smoking wood during the time I'm stabilizing the Egg's temperature. It works really well for me. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

MGOms · May 2018

Thanks everyone! Appreciate your insights. Oh, and I do have the drip pan below the meat!

Smoke help!

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