Calling all Pitmaker users... Need help

[Brisket73]

I've already sent a PM to SGH, but thought it might be smart to open this up to all Pitmaker Vault users for discussion.

Here's my story:

I've been looking for some help with this pit. My name is Chris and I have a new Pitmaker Vault. I was hoping to pick your brain a little bit. I've cooked about 7 or 8 times on the pit. I've thrown the bbq guru out (not really, but I have found it is easier to maintain temp manually with out much fuss). The problem I am currently facing is too much smoke flavor (not bitter or creosote tasting). My last cook was a full load of chicken. I used a combination of royal oak lump and stubbs briquettes. Probably only 4-5 lbs total in an L shape along the air intake side and back wall of the fire drawer. I preheat the pit with a weed burner propane torch. Then I start a small section of coals and off I'm running. I seem to be getting too much smoke out of the stack as opposed to thin blue smoke. I've played with both the air intake and exhaust, but cannot seem to find its happy place. I've had the intake closed way down to 10-15% open and I've opened it up only to see temps rise dramatically. I've closed the exhaust down quite a bit, but not much of a difference to that end either. I love the pit, but I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I do use the DigiQ to monitor pit temps and have also used my thermoworks probe as back up. Temps seem to be right. I have been trying to settle my temps around 250 on the center shelf and I have been successful at that without water. I use 2 small splits of red oak on top of my L shaped coals. The split is less than 2" in diameter and only 6-8" long. The wood is seasoned for 1 year. I live in Cleveland, so temps have not been friendly until this last week. My biggest question is how do I get the thin blue smoke we all are looking for?

Many thanks for any help you can offer. Also, I've been smoking for roughly 5 years. I got started with a Lang 48", but with little kids I couldn't dedicate the time to tend the fire.

:twitch::twitch::twitch:

 

[spedly]

Hey Chris, my name is Chris too. I have a BBQ Safe and I know exactly what you're talking about. I got my Safe in late 2013 so I didn't get to use it much before the cold Canadian winter hit. Last year was when I really got to start using it. I still don't have things working quite the way I want but I'm getting closer.

I think the big thing is to get your head around the concept that you're going to use the weed burner to get the pit up to temperature, lit charcoal to maintain it, and wood for seasoning. I try to cook at about 275 without water - so I try to bring the temp up to about 250 using a weed burner, then light 40 briquettes in a chimney and wait until they are totally covered in grey - no black showing. That's when they're at their hottest. Then add them to the charcoal tray. I usually use the "L" shape too, although for longer cooks I have a snake from Humphrey's Smokers.

Next, add a couple of chunks of wood and keep the ball valves fully open AND keep the fire pit door open too. That will get the coals really roaring. You will tell when the smoke turns to thin blue by smell. It will change from smelling like camp fire to smelling sweet like vanilla. When you have that smell, then close everything up and add your food.

I think it takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. Not a bad thing because it's fun, but practice without food and just get that technique down. I have a theory (that I haven't tried yet) that if you use the water pan it'll be easier to get thin blue smoke because you'll have to have the fire hotter than you would if you cook dry. I think I'm going to do a test fire this weekend using water just to see how that goes. I think it'll be easier. It's not what I want but it'll be fun nonetheless.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. Looking forward to seeing what other Pitmaker owners have to say!

 

[Untraceable]

Thin Blue Smoke is a stick burner term. If you have smoke billowing out of your vault, use better charcoal or less wood.

 

[Sausage Warrior]

I gave up on kamado cooking due to this similar reason. Supposed to keep outlet open and adjust intake. BS. I would frequently be way too hot or choke out. I reduced down to only one or two chunks of wood and had the opposite issue of not enough smoke. Never had this problem with a kettle or cooking on a large horizontal. I think these units can be sometimes too efficent with insulation.

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

Hey Chris, my name is Chris too. I have a BBQ Safe and I know exactly what you're talking about. I got my Safe in late 2013 so I didn't get to use it much before the cold Canadian winter hit. Last year was when I really got to start using it. I still don't have things working quite the way I want but I'm getting closer.

I think the big thing is to get your head around the concept that you're going to use the weed burner to get the pit up to temperature, lit charcoal to maintain it, and wood for seasoning. I try to cook at about 275 without water - so I try to bring the temp up to about 250 using a weed burner, then light 40 briquettes in a chimney and wait until they are totally covered in grey - no black showing. That's when they're at their hottest. Then add them to the charcoal tray. I usually use the "L" shape too, although for longer cooks I have a snake from Humphrey's Smokers.

Next, add a couple of chunks of wood and keep the ball valves fully open AND keep the fire pit door open too. That will get the coals really roaring. You will tell when the smoke turns to thin blue by smell. It will change from smelling like camp fire to smelling sweet like vanilla. When you have that smell, then close everything up and add your food.

I think it takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. Not a bad thing because it's fun, but practice without food and just get that technique down. I have a theory (that I haven't tried yet) that if you use the water pan it'll be easier to get thin blue smoke because you'll have to have the fire hotter than you would if you cook dry. I think I'm going to do a test fire this weekend using water just to see how that goes. I think it'll be easier. It's not what I want but it'll be fun nonetheless.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. Looking forward to seeing what other Pitmaker owners have to say!

Do I understand correctly?
The cabinet smoker is so insulated that the looking Cooking T you want can be reached with a cold smoke. Therefore you have white billowing smoke
Therefore if you add water you need much more heat power to get to your cooking T and you turn all your fuel to raoring hot. Is it this?

 

[Brisket73]

Hey Chris, my name is Chris too. I have a BBQ Safe and I know exactly what you're talking about. I got my Safe in late 2013 so I didn't get to use it much before the cold Canadian winter hit. Last year was when I really got to start using it. I still don't have things working quite the way I want but I'm getting closer.

I think the big thing is to get your head around the concept that you're going to use the weed burner to get the pit up to temperature, lit charcoal to maintain it, and wood for seasoning. I try to cook at about 275 without water - so I try to bring the temp up to about 250 using a weed burner, then light 40 briquettes in a chimney and wait until they are totally covered in grey - no black showing. That's when they're at their hottest. Then add them to the charcoal tray. I usually use the "L" shape too, although for longer cooks I have a snake from Humphrey's Smokers.

Next, add a couple of chunks of wood and keep the ball valves fully open AND keep the fire pit door open too. That will get the coals really roaring. You will tell when the smoke turns to thin blue by smell. It will change from smelling like camp fire to smelling sweet like vanilla. When you have that smell, then close everything up and add your food.

I think it takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. Not a bad thing because it's fun, but practice without food and just get that technique down. I have a theory (that I haven't tried yet) that if you use the water pan it'll be easier to get thin blue smoke because you'll have to have the fire hotter than you would if you cook dry. I think I'm going to do a test fire this weekend using water just to see how that goes. I think it'll be easier. It's not what I want but it'll be fun nonetheless.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. Looking forward to seeing what other Pitmaker owners have to say!

Great feedback thanks! I'll try a chimney instead of my torch this weekend.

 

[Brisket73]

Thin Blue Smoke is a stick burner term. If you have smoke billowing out of your vault, use better charcoal or less wood.

So, am I understanding you correctly, I shouldn't look for thin blue smoke? Any recommendations on better charcoal?

 

[spedly]

Thin Blue Smoke is a stick burner term. If you have smoke billowing out of your vault, use better charcoal or less wood.

Interesting. In my experience when I have smoke billowing out my fire is choking, regardless of the heat source.

 

[QorDie]

I've got a Vault and it took me a month or two before I got it dialed in. Here's what I do:

1) Preheat to about 250F with a weed burner
2) Close 1 ball valve, put my guru on the other, and have the adjustable gate on the fan at about 30-40% open
3) Exhaust wide open, you don't want to restrict the airflow from that direction
4) Fill the tray with royal oak
5) Put 2 small splits of wood (hickory usually) on top of the coals, towards the center
6) Light the front left corner section of the coals

I don't do the L shape anymore, with the guru choked back, I don't have any issues with keeping the pit between 250-275 with a full bed of coals. I also found that using briquettes gave an odd flavor, so I switched to 100% lump.

 

[spedly]

Do I understand correctly?
The cabinet smoker is so insulated that the looking Cooking T you want can be reached with a cold smoke. Therefore you have white billowing smoke
Therefore if you add water you need much more heat power to get to your cooking T and you turn all your fuel to raoring hot. Is it this?

Yes, that's exactly it. The key is fire management. The coals are going to be hotter if they're heating water, thus I think it'll be easier to get thin blue smoke.

 

[Brisket73]

I've got a Vault and it took me a month or two before I got it dialed in. Here's what I do:

1) Preheat to about 250F with a weed burner
2) Close 1 ball valve, put my guru on the other, and have the adjustable gate on the fan at about 30-40% open
3) Exhaust wide open, you don't want to restrict the airflow from that direction
4) Fill the tray with royal oak
5) Put 2 small splits of wood (hickory usually) on top of the coals, towards the center
6) Light the front left corner section of the coals

I don't do the L shape anymore, with the guru choked back, I don't have any issues with keeping the pit between 250-275 with a full bed of coals. I also found that using briquettes gave an odd flavor, so I switched to 100% lump.

I wonder if that where my over smoked flavor is coming from. The stubbs briqs??? Thank you for sharing.

 

[spedly]

I wonder if that where my over smoked flavor is coming from. The stubbs briqs??? Thank you for sharing.

I think it boils down to fire management. Whether you use briquettes or lump you need a small hot fire (with visible flames in the pit) and you need to get your wood ignited. Smoldering wood creates heavy smoke. Basically the wood has to be on fire too. If you can get both then you won't have over smoked flavor.

Check out these links:

http://amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/starting_a_charcoal_fire.html
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/zen_of_wood.html

I've re-read those pages 1000 times. They make sense to me. I think I'm going to start worrying less about temp and more about getting the fire right.

I don't have these problems on my Weber or on my old WSM. I can get TBS on my Weber in my sleep and everything turns out perfect. I think because our pits are so insulated and efficient that the technique changes a little.

 

[chaostheory]

Hey, I just got my new Vault last Friday and have noticed the same thing. Very thick white smoke instead of thin blue smoke. I have been cooking on a UDS for 3 years now and have never had this problem. Don't get me wrong, I love this pit and if my house were burning down it would be the 3rd thing I run back in for, the first two being my wife and daughter. I called pitmaker to ask about this and they gave me non specific general answers like "just make an L shape 3 wide and 2 high" or "look at our videos on youtube". Nothing about heres a trick we have found that works for us or someone else we built a pit for. I could see that filling the water pan with water would make the fire work harder to keep temp therefor "burning" a cleaner fire but sooner or later the water will equal out in temp and the fire wont work as hard. I know I have a lot to learn about this pit and will keep working at it. It would be nice to here from Jmoney and how he keeps his fire clean or even the guys from pitmaker..........

 

[chaostheory]

I guess no one knows what to do with Pitmakers?

 

[JS-TX]

Thin Blue Smoke is a stick burner term. If you have smoke billowing out of your vault, use better charcoal or less wood.

Toss out the briquettes and use quality lump.. less wood chunks, try wood chips as well. Doesn't matter how you light it, water doesn't matter either. Like my bubba keg these Vaults are insulated, so you don't need too much wood.

 

[pjtexas1]

I think QorDie has a good system. I know that Stubb's puts out extra smoke. I never could get TBS on my insulated cabinet with Stubb's. I switched to the HEB all natural briqs but that is not available to the OP in his area. I think the part that makes the most sense is he has his wood in the middle and lights the corner. That give the wood time to pre-heat before the fire gets to the wood. That way the wood will combust quickly instead of smoldering.

I also think adding water to the pan will help the fire run hotter but that is wasting fuel to me. Worth a try if nothing else works.

 

[TexasRT]

Hey, I just got my new Vault last Friday and have noticed the same thing. Very thick white smoke instead of thin blue smoke. I have been cooking on a UDS for 3 years now and have never had this problem. Don't get me wrong, I love this pit and if my house were burning down it would be the 3rd thing I run back in for, the first two being my wife and daughter. I called pitmaker to ask about this and they gave me non specific general answers like "just make an L shape 3 wide and 2 high" or "look at our videos on youtube". Nothing about heres a trick we have found that works for us or someone else we built a pit for. I could see that filling the water pan with water would make the fire work harder to keep temp therefor "burning" a cleaner fire but sooner or later the water will equal out in temp and the fire wont work as hard. I know I have a lot to learn about this pit and will keep working at it. It would be nice to here from Jmoney and how he keeps his fire clean or even the guys from pitmaker..........

So I understand correctly, you called the manufacturer requesting help and basically got very little to none. One would think if you spend that kind of money for a pit the maker would be more than happy to assist and give some guidance.

 

[ajstrider]

Achieving the proper smoke in any insulated smoker, whether it is a kamado or cabinet style. I think it has to do with the fact that the fire is not as hot and very oxygen deprived due to the smoker's efficiency. Using clean charcoal becomes more important which is why many people switch to lump. Wood chunks smoke a lot more for the same reason too. It takes some practice but you will figure it out. Don't get discouraged, you have an awesome smoker.

 

[SGH]

Chris it was a pleasure speaking with you last night. I wanted to share a few of the things I discussed with you here for other Vault users as well. First let me say that this is what works well for me. For me to get a good quality smoke, I run the exhaust wide open. I never close the exhaust at all. Never. Once I started leaving the exhaust wide open, my problems went away. Next, I never run water in my Vault. A dry pan is the way to go in my opinion. With a dry pan, you use considerably less fuel. I always preheat my Vault with a weed burner to within 25 degrees of my target temp. This is also a huge fuel saver. Once the Vault is preheated, it takes very little fuel to keep it at temp. Especially if you don't use water. As far as wood use in the Vault. I use it religiously. I have found that if I keep my chunks on top of the charcoal instead of buried or mixed in, I get a much cleaner burn. Also with a cabinet style smoker, I find that using well seasoned wood is much more important than it is in a offset. Green wood does not perform well in the insulated verticals. Of the things I listed above, leaving the exhaust wide open is what helped me the most in producing near offset quality bbq in the Vault. I still can't quite match the deep smoke flavor that I get with ease on my Shirley offset. But the average Joe wouldn't be able to tell the difference. With patience and a little practice, the Vault will turn out very large loads of high quality Q with minimal fuss or attention. Once dialed in, it's truly set it and forget. Again it was a pleasure speaking with you last night and I hope that I was able to help my friend.

 

[chaostheory]

I think I'm going to try wood chunks vs wood splits. That way not as much wood will burn at a time.