Thin blue smoke vs thick and not so blue

CUTigerQ · Mar 21, 2010

Im havin an issue today that I havent really had before. Started the UDS up as normal using the minion method with about 10 pcs of lump in the chimney and a full basket of unlit plus a few apple chunks mixed in as well as a big chunk of white oak in the drum. It all started out fine until I woke up at 6:30 this morning to my temp reading 190. Went out and shook the can to get the burnt ash off of the top and it seemed to work. Had beautiful thin blue smoke until that point. Since then, Ive been getting some thicker whitish blueish smoke...sometimes just white smoke.

Any ideas WHY? I want that thin blue.

bigabyte · Mar 21, 2010

Could be too much wood, was the total amount of wood added more than usual?

Could it be steam?

What about the lump, any chance the lump might be putting off the smoke?

JD McGee · Mar 21, 2010

Grease hittin' the coals...maybe...dunno...:becky:

CUTigerQ · Mar 21, 2010

its just weird...havent done anything different today than normal except put that big chunk of oak in the middle of the lump. Had some apple that was left over in the basket from my last cook and just added lump on top of that. not really more wood than usual. Now, JD, could possibly be the grease hitting the coals, but why would it cause that much white thick smoke?

Im perplexed.

Bbq Bubba · Mar 21, 2010

Its normal to get puffy white @ that point in your cook.

thirdeye · Mar 21, 2010

If you're cooking, it's the flavor bombs (don't call it grease) hitting the coals. When you said "thick" that threw me off. But it will definately be white.

Here is one of my cookin buddies engulfed in a wave of smoke about 7AM one morning after an all night cook. Had his neighbors not been invited to the party later that day, there most likely would have been shots fired.

Midnight Smoke · Mar 21, 2010

MariettaSmoker said:
Im havin an issue today that I havent really had before. Started the UDS up as normal using the minion method with about 10 pcs of lump in the chimney and a full basket of unlit plus a few apple chunks mixed in as well as a big chunk of white oak in the drum. It all started out fine until I woke up at 6:30 this morning to my temp reading 190. Went out and shook the can to get the burnt ash off of the top and it seemed to work. Had beautiful thin blue smoke until that point. Since then, Ive been getting some thicker whitish blueish smoke...sometimes just white smoke.

Any ideas WHY? I want that thin blue.

What are you cooking?

CUTigerQ · Mar 21, 2010

butts

sdb25 · Mar 21, 2010

The white smoke is coming from relatively incomplete combustion, or from steam. Could be dripping fat, wood, bad or moist charcoal/lump, lots of things.

I have seen it in the situation you describe; temps falling low and the subsequent stoking of the fire to get temps back up. It usually only lasts an hour or so until you get things stabilized, if that is the cause.

Bottom line, don't sweat it. I've cooked with the thin blue stuff, as well as heavy-duty-pure-hickory-burn-your-eyes-out-cough-up-one-lung smoke, and have fine results on long cooks.

JD McGee · Mar 21, 2010

Meat Man! Izzat YOU?

Nope...I just realized it is one of your cookin' buddies...anyhoo...I'm still thinkin' it's "flavor bombs"...:becky:

Thin blue smoke vs thick and not so blue

CUTigerQ

is one Smokin' Farker

bigabyte

somebody shut me the fark up.

JD McGee

somebody shut me the fark up.

CUTigerQ

is one Smokin' Farker

Bbq Bubba

somebody shut me the fark up.

thirdeye

somebody shut me the fark up.

Midnight Smoke

somebody shut me the fark up.

CUTigerQ

is one Smokin' Farker

sdb25

is one Smokin' Farker

JD McGee

somebody shut me the fark up.

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