Smoke Generator - Over Smoking?

Never mind. I did not read the initial post all the way through before posting.

The trick is to use small handfuls of pellets at a time. I use about 1/8 cup every 15 minutes. Yes it can be tedious, but you really only need a few hours of smoke to get a nice smokey flavor.

Two part question......


Smoke generators do not burn at a high temperature, so you will have white smoke simply because you do not have full combustion. When used as a cold smoker, white smoke is not an issue because the smoke does not come to a high cooking temperature to evaporate water, which then would condensate on the food leaving black specks.

After all the wood chips turn completely black is when you will have invisible smoke. Even though the wood chips are completely black, they will continue to burn until they are gray ashes.


However if you are adding the smoke generator into a cooking smoker, I don't know how to answer that question.


I had a Big Chief I used for cold smoking Chinook Salmon years ago, I do not know if the design has changed, but here is what I remember.....
Keep in mind there are not only two sizes ("Big Chief / Little Chief") but there are also two models as well ("Top Loading / Front Loading")

They're simple, They're hardy, and they really can get the job done. Hard to beat for smoking cheese, nuts, spices, fish, or jerky. They are basically designed to be used as a flavor enhancer / cold smoker as long as you don't try to exceed their capabilities (Volume and Temperature) you will do fine.

The "Big Chief / Little Chief" smoker will not produce large amounts of the thin blue because of it's limited size. The only combustible materials are your wood chips which burn in the wood chip tray by the heating element. When wood chips first ignite they will give off white smoke (normal for electric smokers) until they turn black and appear like little bits of charcoal. At that point you will have your invisible thin blue smoke until they turn to nothing but gray / white ashes. You cannot see the "Invisible Thin Blue Smoke" unless you have the perfect angle of light. Use you nose, if you can smell smoke it is there, if not then you can add a few more chips into the tray.

Never completely fill the chip tray with wood chips, scatter them about and leave about 50% of the bottom of the tray exposed. When your wood chips turn to 75% ash, you can then add more chips, repeat this to keep the smoking cycle going.

The temperatures inside the Big Chief / Little Chief smokers runs about 140° to 150° depending on the warm weather outside, and even substantially lower when the weather is cold. I have also seen them climb up to 220° on hot sunny days which is when most people are cooking / smoking meats.

There is an insulation mod on the web so you can also cook small things like ham hocks and ribs if the weather is warm outside. You can't really cook large meats on them unless the conditions are near perfect.

Although the "Big Chief" may be able to hot smoke and cook some items, it was mainly designed as a cold smoker (top vent open - slightly down) so that it does have a good airflow to reduce heat and enhance the flavor of your foods. as a flavor smoker, flavor enhancer, or pre-smoker before going into a hot smoker or into an oven.

I have a sausage maker cabinet smoker that uses an external smoke generator. It is fueled with sawdust. It does create white smoke, but IMO, it would be impossible to over smoke with it. Same with the Amaze-n-tube. It does put off white smoke, but you don't get the bad taste that comes from white smoke on offsets. I believe it is because the fuel is so dry. I have used several electric and propane smokers, and have never once said, boy that is too smokey. I don't think you will have a problem.

good question, I have often wondered about it myself.

madmans explanation has me sold

Insulation Mod: http://www.theoutdoorline.com/blog/...sulated-box-for-your-little-chief-smoker.aspx

If you Google "mailbox mod" you will find a setup a lot of guys use with the pellet trays to not only get them to burn better but to help cool and clean the smoke. It consists of using a mailbox as your burn chamber. The door has holes added for draft and a hole in the opposite end with a hose or duct leading to your meat chamber. The hose/duct allows the smoke to cool before hitting your meat. I haven't tried it yet but will be making one soon for the Master Forge propane smoker I just bought used for cold smoking.

FWIW, I have heard the cardboard box the Little/Big Chief comes in works well for insulating during use also.

You have gotten great advice so far. I've cooked on Big & Little Chiefs since the '70's, and have done the insulation mod on one of them. They are for the most part great for flavor smoking things which can be finished on a grill, or for smoking cheese, nuts, fish, and some sausages (I use my Big Chief to smoke my home made hot dogs). 5 or 6 years ago I switched to flavor pellets and stopped using the chips and I like the results much better. I put a small hand full of pellets in the pan, and add more every 30 minutes but never empty the ash.

Experimenting with different smoke generators is very possible, but one thing I did when cold smoking was to put the smoker on one of those pin style timers. I would let it smoke for 30 minutes, then shut off for 30 minutes, then come back on for 30 minutes, then shut off.... this kept the heat down but still delivered flavor smoke.

You can also block open the lid with some 2 X 2's to let heat vent out, you will still have plenty of smoke for flavor. Or you can remove the lid and put the rack on top, covered by the box. See these threads for ideas.

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120351&highlight=Chief

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=102427&highlight=Chief