|
Return to index
|
|
|
Temperature and too much smoke
|
|
Date: 2007/08/26 20:00
|
By: Okeejohn
|
Status: Visitor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK, I did some chicken thighs tonight and I started my fire with the BGE starters. As soon as they burned out I closed the dome and watched the temp. get close to 350. I immediately put the daisy wheel on and I closed my bottom vent to about 1 1/2 inches. My daisy wheel remained opened and I was able to hold the temp. at 350. However, there was a lot of smoke, especially when I opened the dome. Is this from the nearby lump coals trying to catch on fire? The smoke was so much that my wife did not enjoy sitting outside near the BGE. Is this smoke normal? Should I have made a Lava of my coals and then bring the temp. down and would this produce less smoke?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Temperature and too much smoke
|
|
Date: 2007/08/26 20:26
|
By: Mike in Abita
|
Status: User
|
|
|
|
|
Platinum Egger
| Posts: 2264 |   |
|
|
Okeejohn,IMO you did it right. What type of lump were you using? I have noticed new lump will burn a little smokier than older. By older I mean lump that has been used before. If you have used that lump on any type of low & slow you could be seeing the results of grease burning off the coals. In the future you might want to allow the temp to stabilize for at least a half hour to hour before putting anything on to cook.Good luck
Mike
|
|
|
|
|
|
Temperature and too much smoke
|
|
Date: 2007/08/26 20:41
|
By: edbro
|
Status: User
|
|
|
|
|
Expert Egger
| Posts: 437 | |
|
|
Mike in Abita,
You need to burn any new lump until the white/grey smoke dissipates.
|
|
|
 |
|
Temperature and too much smoke
|
|
Date: 2007/08/26 20:44
|
By: stike
|
Status: User
|
|
|
|
|
Platinum Egger
| Posts: 14000 | |
|
|
Okeejohn,
if the starters go out at all, they smolder like crazy. they should be going full bore, throwing flame constantly. if they go out, start smoking (white and waxy smoke), and glow at the edges, you need to get them going again by blowing on them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Temperature and too much smoke
|
|
Date: 2007/08/26 22:10
|
By: okeejohn
|
Status: Visitor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mike in Abita,
Now that you mentioned it, I did have new and old lump coal (Royal) in the BGE. Would that explain all the smoke? Should I go for Lava temp and then bring my temp down to where I want it?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Temperature and too much smoke
|
|
Date: 2007/08/27 07:57
|
By: Flashback Bob
|
Status: User
|
|
|
|
|
Newbie Egger
| Posts: 0 | |
|
|
Okeejohn,
By the sounds of it, your lump wasn't burning long enough before you started cooking. My wife complains of an "Egg taste" as she calls it that reminds her of the exhaust from a coal burning locomotive. As has been noted previously, you need to let your lump burn till it's burning clean (pretty clear smoke) for new lump allow 20 - 30 minutes. I always give myself at least a half-hour between the time I light the fire and when I put the food on.Chicken thighs are one of my favorite things to cook. That said, chicken in general is susceptible to picking up smokey flavor and it also tends to contribute to (bad)smoke through the drippings. My family doesn't like smoke flavor in most things.The firestarters may cause your temp to rise hotter at first while they're burning, but then after they're out and it's only lump it usually drops back a little before it goes up again. And as Stike said, the fire starters smoke like hell if they go out before burning completely. You don't need to leave your dome open while your firestarters are burning. In fact if you close it, that will start the draft feeding the fire the way it would during the cook so you'll be starting the lump you'll be burning for the cook and getting the bad smoke out of there.Keeping the daisy wheel on the chimney will retain the smoke in the cooking area. This is good if you are trying to "get smoky" but bad if you don't want smoke. For chicken (and all cooks over 300) I leave the daisy cap off all together. You can control the temp using the lower draft door only. For 350, the door opening could be anywhere from 1/4" to the thickness of a nickel, depending on burning characteristics of lump, new vs old or combo, or if you went past your target temp when getting the coals started.Another thing to note is that for cooking chicken parts, I either go indirect with something to catch the drippings or go direct using a raised grid.Now get back on that horse and do it again!
Have fun!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Temperature and too much smoke
|
|
Date: 2007/08/27 12:38
|
By: okeejohn
|
Status: Visitor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Flashback Bob,
Thanks for the advice. I will try it tonight with chicken drum sticks.
|
|
|
Return to index
|
