I don't think you will ever get the same result with a Kamado type as it is more of a smoldering fire vs a Stick Burner- I'm sure someone will chime in with the science behind that 

Is there a difference in the fuel you are using in your offset and your egg? 

try closing your daisy wheel more and adjusting to the slide vent at the bottom to control temp.

Once I had my offset hot and rolling, there was minimal smoke exiting the cooker. I'd get a little at first when adding logs, but that died almost completely once the logs turned to coals.

BGE's are kind of wonky smokers but you can make great bbq on them once you get the hang of it. I think you have several things to think about before building flow plates. You can get plenty of smoke cooking on a bge. I do get the occasional "pot roast" brisket with little smoke which is frustrating but for the most part, the egg is a smoke machine if you have the wood in the right place and the fire at the right temp. In most cases it's too smoky for me because you are working with smoldering wood instead of clean-burning wood like in a stick burner. Smoldering wood has a much stronger flavor than a clean burning wood fire. 

Here is what I would think about first:

1) At what temp are you cooking? If you cook at 200-225 on a bge, the fire is so tiny (especially in the summer) that if your wood is not on the exact spot of the glowing lump, it won't burn. I like cooking a little hotter in a bge so there is a little more lump going to keep it hot. I find 260-275 is about the right spot. 

2) How much wood are you using and chips or chunks? I go back and forth on chips and chunks but I think chips mixed in is likely the best opportunity for contact with lit lump throughout the cook. That said, if I use chunks (which is most of the time because I cut them myself from my stick burner oak pile) I push the biggest one right down in the to glowing lump in the center of my egg. It seems to smolder for all, if not most of the cook. 

I found if I build a little smaller fire and make it work harder to warm the egg, I've had better results with smoke. You could also use a water pan as a heat sink to make the fire work harder as well. 

Keep at it- you'll find plenty of smoke once you get the hang of it. 

If you have a CGS setup, what about a couple of those ceramic half plates on opposite sides at different levels first? They aren't tight around the edges, but might get more turbulence going than not. Just a thought.

Actually could design that so the two plates rotate relative to one another and you could dial in a little direct heat also.  I should patent this.  MANShield(tm)

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

and btw- unlike a stick burner, there is no such thing as "clear blue smoke" coming off a kamado cooker (unless you are using lump only). If you can't see smoke, your wood is not burning. You should see whispy white smoke coming out the top when wood is in contact with burning lump on a low and slow in a kamodo cooker. 

I wonder if the lump coal is actually providing smoke flavor, since it is wood? I am accustomed to smoking with clear smoke, so the white stuff scares me a bit. Even adding a stick to a well established fire worries me. I guess I need to learn a bit more about the lump charcoal process to understand how it differs from a smoldering stick...  

It doesn't differ from a smoldering stick, it's just smaller (chunk or chip). The egg produces dirty smoke by design on low and slow cooks. It just produces a very small amount of it so to most people it's not off-putting. To me it is but it took me 15 years to get there. 

some lump is smokier than others but most of it goes clear at some point as it's all carbon once the impurities burn off. You will not be happy trying to cook with lump only on a low and slow. you need some wood in there but finding the balance is what takes a little trial and error.

I'm doing a brisket on my egg tonight for a class we are teaching tomorrow. I'll send you a pic of my setup and you can play around with it from there. 

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

and btw- unlike a stick burner, there is no such thing as "clear blue smoke" coming off a kamado cooker (unless you are using lump only). If you can't see smoke, your wood is not burning. You should see whispy white smoke coming out the top when wood is in contact with burning lump on a low and slow in a kamodo cooker. 

I wonder if the lump coal is actually providing smoke flavor, since it is wood? I am accustomed to smoking with clear smoke, so the white stuff scares me a bit. Even adding a stick to a well established fire worries me. I guess I need to learn a bit more about the lump charcoal process to understand how it differs from a smoldering stick...  

It doesn't differ from a smoldering stick, it's just smaller (chunk or chip). The egg produces dirty smoke by design on low and slow cooks. It just produces a very small amount of it so to most people it's not off-putting. To me it is but it took me 15 years to get there. 

some lump is smokier than others but most of it goes clear at some point as it's all carbon once the impurities burn off. You will not be happy trying to cook with lump only on a low and slow. you need some wood in there but finding the balance is what takes a little trial and error.

Thanks. That's good info. I doubt I will ever do a brisket on the egg, just because I know it can't be better than my the works of art I get on the offset.... But I would like to start experimenting with the shorter cooks (ribs, butts, turkey, chicken, lobster, poppers, etc...)

Honestly those are the most glaring to me. Brisket and butts can handle a ton of smoke but more delicate stuff like ribs, chicken, turkey tend to soak it up. I do a ton of poultry on my egg but only hot and fast. I still do Briskets in the BGE for the class (11am start and I like to sleep) but everything else goes in to the dishwasher (my karubecue smoker). The good news is that if you add some chunks to a hot and fast cook on a bge, you'll get the same clean smoke profile you get from your stick burner with low and slow. As long as the wood is fully burning, you'll get great wood flavor. It's when it's all choked down that you have to worry about the bitter stuff. You probably don't need to add any wood at all for lobster, chicken, or turkey espeically if you are using one of the smokier lumps. 

You should absolutely try a brisket on your BGE- I've done some kickass briskets on mine. It's just not as consistent as I can get with sticks but I'm tweaky about it. I guarantee you that with a little practice you can cook almost everybody's "best ever" brisket every time on a BGE. Most people are not like us

nolaegghead said:

@The Cen-Tex Smoker  Typically, what kind of burn time do you get with the KBQ before having to reload?

You can get 30-45 min of burn time when fully loaded but it's not realistic to think it will run that long unattended. You kind of have to poke and prod at the fire every 20-30 min to make sure all the sticks are falling as the one on bottom burns away. If you are using very uniform sticks, you could probably get away with 30-45 min. at 250 degrees

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

nolaegghead said:

@The Cen-Tex Smoker  Typically, what kind of burn time do you get with the KBQ before having to reload?

You can get 30-45 min of burn time when fully loaded but it's not realistic to think it will run that long unattended. You kind of have to poke and prod at the fire every 20-30 min to make sure all the sticks are falling as the one on bottom burns away. If you are using very uniform sticks, you could probably get away with 30-45 min. at 250 degrees

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

and btw- unlike a stick burner, there is no such thing as "clear blue smoke" coming off a kamado cooker (unless you are using lump only). If you can't see smoke, your wood is not burning. You should see whispy white smoke coming out the top when wood is in contact with burning lump on a low and slow in a kamodo cooker. 

I wonder if the lump coal is actually providing smoke flavor, since it is wood? I am accustomed to smoking with clear smoke, so the white stuff scares me a bit. Even adding a stick to a well established fire worries me. I guess I need to learn a bit more about the lump charcoal process to understand how it differs from a smoldering stick...  

It doesn't differ from a smoldering stick, it's just smaller (chunk or chip). The egg produces dirty smoke by design on low and slow cooks. It just produces a very small amount of it so to most people it's not off-putting. To me it is but it took me 15 years to get there. 

some lump is smokier than others but most of it goes clear at some point as it's all carbon once the impurities burn off. You will not be happy trying to cook with lump only on a low and slow. you need some wood in there but finding the balance is what takes a little trial and error.

Thanks. That's good info. I doubt I will ever do a brisket on the egg, just because I know it can't be better than my the works of art I get on the offset.... But I would like to start experimenting with the shorter cooks (ribs, butts, turkey, chicken, lobster, poppers, etc...)

Honestly those are the most glaring to me. Brisket and butts can handle a ton of smoke but more delicate stuff like ribs, chicken, turkey tend to soak it up. I do a ton of poultry on my egg but only hot and fast. I still do Briskets in the BGE for the class (11am start and I like to sleep) but everything else goes in to the dishwasher (my karubecue smoker). The good news is that if you add some chunks to a hot and fast cook on a bge, you'll get the same clean smoke profile you get from your stick burner with low and slow. As long as the wood is fully burning, you'll get great wood flavor. It's when it's all choked down that you have to worry about the bitter stuff. You probably don't need to add any wood at all for lobster, chicken, or turkey espeically if you are using one of the smokier lumps. 

You should absolutely try a brisket on your BGE- I've done some kickass briskets on mine. It's just not as consistent as I can get with sticks but I'm tweaky about it. I guarantee you that with a little practice you can cook almost everybody's "best ever" brisket every time on a BGE. Most people are not like us

Alright, alright, you talked me into it. I'll give it a go... I would love to see the pics of your set up first... I try to use seasoned, but not dead, wood. I may have to make my own chunks, or find a source that doesn't kiln dry them to death... 

That's what I use for smoke wood in my egg, same wood I use in my stick Burner , just the small pieces from the wood pile 

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

and btw- unlike a stick burner, there is no such thing as "clear blue smoke" coming off a kamado cooker (unless you are using lump only). If you can't see smoke, your wood is not burning. You should see whispy white smoke coming out the top when wood is in contact with burning lump on a low and slow in a kamodo cooker. 

I wonder if the lump coal is actually providing smoke flavor, since it is wood? I am accustomed to smoking with clear smoke, so the white stuff scares me a bit. Even adding a stick to a well established fire worries me. I guess I need to learn a bit more about the lump charcoal process to understand how it differs from a smoldering stick...  

It doesn't differ from a smoldering stick, it's just smaller (chunk or chip). The egg produces dirty smoke by design on low and slow cooks. It just produces a very small amount of it so to most people it's not off-putting. To me it is but it took me 15 years to get there. 

some lump is smokier than others but most of it goes clear at some point as it's all carbon once the impurities burn off. You will not be happy trying to cook with lump only on a low and slow. you need some wood in there but finding the balance is what takes a little trial and error.

Thanks. That's good info. I doubt I will ever do a brisket on the egg, just because I know it can't be better than my the works of art I get on the offset.... But I would like to start experimenting with the shorter cooks (ribs, butts, turkey, chicken, lobster, poppers, etc...)

Honestly those are the most glaring to me. Brisket and butts can handle a ton of smoke but more delicate stuff like ribs, chicken, turkey tend to soak it up. I do a ton of poultry on my egg but only hot and fast. I still do Briskets in the BGE for the class (11am start and I like to sleep) but everything else goes in to the dishwasher (my karubecue smoker). The good news is that if you add some chunks to a hot and fast cook on a bge, you'll get the same clean smoke profile you get from your stick burner with low and slow. As long as the wood is fully burning, you'll get great wood flavor. It's when it's all choked down that you have to worry about the bitter stuff. You probably don't need to add any wood at all for lobster, chicken, or turkey espeically if you are using one of the smokier lumps. 

You should absolutely try a brisket on your BGE- I've done some kickass briskets on mine. It's just not as consistent as I can get with sticks but I'm tweaky about it. I guarantee you that with a little practice you can cook almost everybody's "best ever" brisket every time on a BGE. Most people are not like us

Alright, alright, you talked me into it. I'll give it a go... I would love to see the pics of your set up first... I try to use seasoned, but not dead, wood. I may have to make my own chunks, or find a source that doesn't kiln dry them to death... 

Makes a big difference

mEGG_My_Day said:

nolaegghead said:

Why don't you try two metal plates separated by about half and inch or so with offset cut-outs so there is no direct heat, but distributed smoke (effluent) from the fire below.

This is an interesting design. It reminds me of the Kick Ash basket in that it solves a problem I didn't know I had.   Seriously, I bet you could sell these.  If it was cast iron, it would be way heavy, so you may want to add handles on either side to pick it up and to slide a grid on top ala the CSG woo.