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temperature issue

Trailblazer1229
Trailblazer1229 Posts: 69
edited November -0001 in EggHead Forum
I have had this issue the last couple of times I have smoked with wood. Happened during the ribs and tonight with chicken. I start the fire and as it begins to heat up, the temp. goes up with visible flame. After about 5 minutes I close the lid and let the temp climb. Usually the temp falls and smoke billows out. A few minutes later the temp climbs close to the 300 range and then woosh. All the smoke is gone and the egg climbs up and up and up. Does anyone know what is happening here or have had similar hapennings? Being a former firefighter, I know that the smoke trapped in the dome is igniting at a certain flash temperature and super heating the dome. Is this normal?
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Comments

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    lid open, you are getting a lot of air. when you shut it, you are choking the fire. the fire starts to smolder (hence the smoke).

    i start the fire and shut the lid immediately, setting vents roughly for the desired temps. it rises almost as quickly as it does with vents open and then stops at the desired temp.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Broc
    Broc Posts: 1,398
    Yep!

    What Stike said --

    Also to remember [as every firefighter knows], no oxygen, no fire.

    Lots of oxygen, lots of fire.

    Less oxygen, less fire.

    Control the upper and lower vents, and don't let the temps get high at the front end of a cook. Experience will help you get a hold of the temps, and judge where the vents need to be... which will vary slightly re: ambient temp, prevailing winds, type of lump... yada, yada...

    When I first started Egging, this was all a mystery to me. Now -- piece-a-cake!

    Enjoy!

    ~ Broc
    ;)
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    Are you actually burning wood as your fuel? If so, you really should be using charcoal and adding chunks of wood or chips to provide smoke. You essentially can't control a wood fire in a closed cooker. You either get flames and a temperature that is way too hot, or you get smoldering smoking wood which is way too smokey and will produce enormous amounts of creosote. Also, wood will not last very long and you will have to reload frequently.
    The Naked Whiz
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  • Trailblazer1229
    Trailblazer1229 Posts: 69
    It was lump with a some chips of applewood or mesquite. All this makes sense. I was keeping the dome open early to make sure the fire takes. I didn't do this the first few times and did not have the problem. I'll go back. Thanks for the help.
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