Thick Smoke at High Temps

jwc6160 · April 2020

I’ve brought this up before and never got a solution. I get thick smoke when the temp gets above 450 or so. This has made cooking pizza a no go for the family as the crust tastes like smoke. I’ve basically given up but last night I wanted to do some quesadillas. I smoked a few chicken breasts at about 350 and was getting a nice clear blueish smoke the whole time. Chicken got done and I cranked it up a bit to do the quesadillas and the smoke got thick again. It wasn’t too bad but you could def taste it in the tortillas. I’ve done clean burns, and I just can’t figure out why the smoke increases so much when the temp gets high. Here’s a pic of the smoke. Just a few minutes prior, it was clear at about 350. This happens whether I have extra wood chips in or not. I have tried different charcoals as well. Any tips are appreciated. I’d like to be able to cook pizzas again sometime, but it isn’t worth it. Thanks.

lkapigian · April 2020

My first thought is build up of some sort

HighWay · April 2020

lkapigian said:

My first thought is build up of some sort

It has to be something being burnt off with the higher temps, are you sure you are doing a complete high temp burn off?? Everything in the egg will be white/light ash grey when you are done.

Mattman3969 · April 2020

My guess is when you opened up the air vents to raise the temp you got some fresher lump burning that hadn’t burnt clean yet. If you were cooking the chicken direct you had some drippings in the coal that had to burn away. How much smoke wood did you use on the chicken? Residual wood will always give flavor until it’s used up. Did the smoke eventually burn clean or did you shut it down after the quesadillas? You say you’ve done clean burns, how did the smoke smell after it had burned for a bit (30 mins or so)?

Some lumps burn cleaner than others in the beginning but eventually most will burn clean so I don’t think it’s a lump issue but maybe more so a time thing. Try letting it burn a little longer.

Foghorn · April 2020

I've found that if I'm patient enough I can get clean smoke at any temp. For example, after you opened your vents to increase the temp from 350 to 450, the smoke probably would have cleared if, after reaching 450 (or 500 or whatever) you let it sit for 15-30 minutes. The smoke clears when you are in a static situation - not when you are accelerating or decelerating. When your airflow exactly equals the size of your fire the smoke will clear. At least that has been my experience. When the fire is expanding or contracting that's when the smoke comes.

RockyTopDW · April 2020

The easiest possible fix is the high temp burn off. Like the others have said, that should do the trick.

jwc6160 · April 2020

HighWay said:

show previous quotes

lkapigian said:

My first thought is build up of some sort

It has to be something being burnt off with the higher temps, are you sure you are doing a complete high temp burn off?? Everything in the egg will be white/light ash grey when you are done.

Yep, fried my gasket. Was also sad to see that Rockwood turned to dust.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · April 2020

Load it full Let it run at 600 until that smoke disappears. It can take an hour or more if you have a lot of build up in there. Make sure your platesetter/stones are in there as well. This will fix you up.

Btw- You don’t have to run full blast to do a clean burn 550-600 is plenty and way easier on your gaskets/bands/etc

jwc6160 · April 2020

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Load it full Let it run at 600 until that smoke disappears. It can take an hour or more if you have a lot of build up in there. Make sure your platesetter/stones are in there as well. This will fix you up.

Btw- You don’t have to run full blast to do a clean burn 550-600 is plenty and way easier on your gaskets/bands/etc

I’ve done this a couple of times and am still seeing the thick smoke at high temps. Pizza crust taste like cigarettes.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · April 2020

jwc6160 said:

show previous quotes

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Load it full Let it run at 600 until that smoke disappears. It can take an hour or more if you have a lot of build up in there. Make sure your platesetter/stones are in there as well. This will fix you up.

Btw- You don’t have to run full blast to do a clean burn 550-600 is plenty and way easier on your gaskets/bands/etc

I’ve done this a couple of times and am still seeing the thick smoke at high temps. Pizza crust taste like cigarettes.

I have had it take an hour or longer to clear when it was real nasty.

Can you post a pic of the inside of your egg? Make sure to include your grids and platesetter if you do.

Mattman3969 · April 2020

How are you building your fire? Is the fire raging then trying to control temp? Something isn’t adding up but these fine folks will surely be able to help figure it out.

jwc6160 · April 2020

Mattman3969 said:

How are you building your fire? Is the fire raging then trying to control temp? Something isn’t adding up but these fine folks will surely be able to help figure it out.

I normally fill with lump and use a weed burner in a couple of spots then catch the temp on the way up.

Mattman3969 · April 2020

Does this happen in your small too?

CornfedMA · April 2020

As the guys said above- How long did you let it burn after you finished your chicken and “cranked up the temp?” You can’t reasonably expect to crank the temp up 100+ degrees and not expect smoke. If you crank the temp, and let it sit at your desired temp for 15+ mins, the smoke will clear. I’ve had this happen when I do a lower temp cook, then raise temps for pizza. There’s times it’s taken 35-45+ mins for smoke to clear after cooking a fatty protein. You’d be surprised how greasy and gunked up some foods can make your egg, even though you were in between cooks or it “looks clean.”

Thick Smoke at High Temps

Welcome!

Comments

Welcome!

Welcome!

Quick Links

Categories