Should I wait for the smoke to clear?

Chris · October 2008

I have seen a couple posts that someone mentioning you should "wait for the smoke to clear" before putting on ribs, pork, etc" This doesn't make sense to me. I thought the point was to have the smoke going to smoke the meat?

What am I missing here?

Smokey · October 2008

I think people are referring to the smoke that is produced by whatever you are using to light your charcoal (starter cubes, etc).

It is always a good idea to get a stable fire and temp before adding your food. The color of the smoke is just one indicator.

Gunnar · October 2008

The initial smoke is acrid.

Rascal · October 2008

They're talking about the smoke from your primary charcoal (lump), not the chips or chunks of wood that you might add for flavor. Some use varing amounts, soaking them, while others don't. Experimenting will dictate your choice. Have fun!! 8 - )

Chris · October 2008

OK...I do wait for the initial smoke from the lump to clear. I misunderstood I guess...thinking that people were waiting for the smoke from their wood to clear (which would defeat the purpose of adding wood in the first place).

fishlessman · October 2008

black or yellow lump smoke is no good. on quicker cooks like poultry i let the smoking wood turn to the light blue smoke. on long pork type cooks i dont think it matters to wait for the smoking wood to give off a blue smoke, once the lump smoke dies down i toss in the wood chunks and meat for those long low and slows

Rolling Egg · October 2008

I have seen post also that says to put your smoking wood on with the grid and platesetter and wait for it to clear. You will find lots of helpfull post on this board and you will have to be your own judge on which way you like things. When smoking butts or ribs I always get up to temp with my platesetter grid and all and maintain my cooking temp for about 15 minutes. Your initial lump smoke should already be cleared up by the time you reach your desired temp and maintain for 15 min. Then I use a pair of heat resistant welding gloves and I lift my platesetter and grid up and throw several chunks of my wood directly on the fire and immediately replace my setter and grid and right on with the meat. All my life I have ate pork off of huge pitts that use only hickory wood for the whole cook so I love alot of smoke in my butts. Im up to using at least three or four almost fist size chunks when doing pulled pork. Hope this helps.

thirdeye · October 2008

If it's puffin' white, it ain't right.
If it blowin' blue, it's good for Q
~thirdeye~

It is important to realize that thick white smoke is full of particulates that can precipitate out on the meat resulting in bitterness. So once you let your fire settle down and you have stabilized your target cooking temperature, you will usually have a light white or barely visible blue smoke coming from the top vent. Everyone has different tastes, so learning the combination of seasoning, heat, time and smoke flavor that suits you is what makes barbecue, or grilling, or smoking so wonderful.

stike · October 2008

that's where i am in all this. initial smoke from lighting (and from a fire that is getting up to temp) is something to avoid. don't put food on right away, as the lump is beginning to get to temp.

but throwing on a chunk or two, i don't typically wait for the smoke to turn blue. white smoke is mostly steam from water. my basic personal rule is that if it smells good, it will very likely taste good. has so far.

Bacchus · October 2008

How about non-que cooks such a pizza?

I have had heavy smoke pouring out at approx 400deg after 30-40 minutes after lighting with torch. It is not everytime, but sometimes it does happen and results in smokey flavored food that shouldnt be.

fishlessman · October 2008

wet lump, or wet ash under the firebox takes along time to clear out sometimes, and drippings from a previous cook in the lump will give that off taste.

Chris · October 2008

Yep...I always wait for the smoke from the initial ignition to lighten up a bit before putting anything on (including wood chips). I just wanted to make sure they weren't talking about the "good smoke" that comes from the wood. With wood smoke, I say the more, the merrier.

Unknown · October 2008

The "smoke smells bad, wait awhile...smoke smells good, toss on the meat" guide works very well for me. It usually turns out that about the time the smoke smells good it is also subsiding in quantity quite a bit.

[Deleted User] · October 2008

For cooks like pizza, breads and pies I have a clean platesetter and I make sure the smoke is clear or light blue (pretty much odorless) before cookin'.

My daughter has me making pizza once a week on one of the nights my wife works. I think we're getting better at it! I know from my early pizzas that Za flavor is very easily influenced by smoke and/or drippings on the coals from a previous cook, etc.

Should I wait for the smoke to clear?

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