Few more beginner questions

wills2084 · Jul 31, 2010

So i haven't smoked anything yet. Just got my WSM a few days ago. I've done a dry run with it and pretty successful at keeping the temp around 225. The only problem I could see was that there was no thin blue smoke. Is it the wood that causes this thin blue smoke or the charcoal? I didn't have any wood in it since I was doing a dry run.

Also, what temp should I allow the smoker to get up to before bringing it down to smoking temp? On my dry run I let it get to 300 or so and then brought it down. It took about 30 minutes or so to get it there. Does that sound right? I lit it using the minion method.

Mitch · Jul 31, 2010

It' the wood that smokes. Charcoal runs clean except when fat or marinade hits the fire
300 is okay to start. It will drop when you add the meat. Just don't let it get above 300 or it will take too long to drop back. Cook at 225 - 250.

Brian in Maine · Jul 31, 2010

I stabilize the temp at 250, then put the meat on, and let come back up to temp.

Gowan · Jul 31, 2010

I wouldn't worry much about the color of your smoke with a bullet as you won't be burning much wood. Discussions about smoke quality are more relevant for high airflow smokers like stick burners.

My preference with a low airflow smoker is for a longer pre-heat to get the pit stabilized at the temp I want, then refrain from changing the vents after putting the meat on. The temp drop when you introduce that cold mass is normal, and you won't have the problem of overshooting by opening vents to compensate.

Few more beginner questions

wills2084

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Mitch

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