Thin Blue smoke?

[J-mac]

A pic is worth a thousand words......

What's he burning for fuel? Pinestraw and leaves? :shock:

 

[JiveTurkey]

I got a good lesson in smoke this past weekend while catering a party for a friend. I loaded the Klose firebox with a full chimney of coals then added about 5-6 12" small logs. The fire really got roaring, door and lid both open. I had to go inside to do some prep so I closed the door and lid but left the vents on the door wide open. After about 45 minutes I forgot I had the fire going thinking it would be out but instead my cooker was steady at 275 with a nice pile of coals in the box. I added the meat and temp dropped to 250. I let it sit there while I pre heated some logs on the firebox for about 15 minutes. At that point one log went in every hour or so and temps were rock solid at 275 the whole time. Usually I get the coals going then use the vent on the box to regulate temps, something I got in the habit of doing with the UDS, but on the offset that is not needed. Now I know what everybody means when they say small hot fire. I did it, purely by accident but it is how I will do it from now on. Vent control is good for minion method but for the offset just let the fire get where you want it and keep it there by adding logs as needed. Nice blue smoke all day. The food was a hit albeit a little overcooked from paying too much attention to the temp of pit and not the temp of the meat! It was still a good 4th though! Good luck with the sweet blue!

And for whoever asked about the smoke from a UDS, if your fat is hitting the coals you wont get the blue smoke. That's okay though because the smoke smell that comes from the UDS is pure heaven, who cares what color it is at that point!

 

[SteadySmokin]

about the smoke from a UDS, if your fat is hitting the coals you wont get the blue smoke. That's okay though because the smoke smell that comes from the UDS is pure heaven, who cares what color it is at that point!

Did my first brisket for the 4th, 15 lb hot n fast, and im now rest assured the amount of smoke that drum put out was strictly because of flavory goodness (drippings). i was a little worried the smoke flavor would be too strong but as you stated above it all ended up to be pure heaven.

Big thanks to popdaddy for the brisket guidance

 

[Phubar]

I am in the process of gathering stuff and building my first uds. Will the uds smoke be thin blue or white due to drippings falling on coals??

When you've dumped the lit coals and waited a while there should be blue smoke coming out of your UDS.
The white smoke is indeed from the drippings while you're cooking,depends how hot you're cooking and how much fat n juices is in your meat.
I've never experienced bitter flavor on my meat...that's probably because I've done it the Brethren way from the beginning.
In the beginning the smoke will dance wild and will be all over the place,when you have blue smoke the smoke is doing a slow dance.
This is difficult to see when winds are blowing quite hard though.

 

[chobint]

Is the blueish smoke in the picture really what people mean when they say thin blue smoke? I usually run quite a bit thinner smoke, but i donno maybe I'm doin it wrong. Or maybe... do people just mean that blue smoke in general is acceptable, and it's up to the individual to control how thick it is?

 

[Phubar]

Is the blueish smoke in the picture really what people mean when they say thin blue smoke?

I usually run quite a bit thinner smoke, but i donno maybe I'm doin it wrong. Or maybe... do people just mean that blue smoke in general is acceptable, and it's up to the individual to control how thick it is?

Yes!

It also depends what fuel you use,if I have blue smoke it is often no smoke...that thin.
Bubba's pic says it all...

 

[Papa Payne]

Is the blueish smoke in the picture really what people mean when they say thin blue smoke? I usually run quite a bit thinner smoke, but i donno maybe I'm doin it wrong. Or maybe... do people just mean that blue smoke in general is acceptable, and it's up to the individual to control how thick it is?

Thinner is good!


Papa

 

[Dave Russell]

How long do you wait if you are using the minion method? I have always worried that the unlit fuel would ignite and I would just end up with a full chamber of lit fuel. So, I have always put the meat on when white smoke is still billowing out.

Not long, say about five minutes or so. Then you can put some wood chunks on top and put meat on about five minutes or so later. It all depends on the temp you want to cook at when you put the door and lid on, too. If you don't want smoke in your eyes though, you won't ruin your meat by putting chunks on the coals after you put your meat on. It's really not that big a deal, and if you're using a water pan, you need not worry about a temp spike at the start of the cook.

 

[barbefunkoramaque]

Frankly, its more Bullchit to preach to the mass of inexperienced bbqers. Depending on the scale of what are cooking... one brisket in a weber versus 50 packers in my 6600 lbs Brazos... thin blue is important. For those of us that do not wrap, its very important near the end of the smoke.

The hotter and faster you cook... it is almost not an issue. Myron Mixon comes to mind.

In addition... the better you get and the larger your tool box gets of tricks of the trade, you begin to realize no one thing is that important...

if someone does not believe me... meet me at Mt Zions... the only BBQ place in Texas in my region that has a rep statewide and we can sit and eat while we comment on every rule in the book they break.

Myself, I used to worry about smoke quality, heart wood, stripping the bark, preheating whatever until I went to hot and fast. You cook a 14 lber brisket in 4-6 hours there is little white smoke can do to screw it up within reason.... on some guys weber, going low and slow.... he can screw it up quite a bit.

This will be 2 questions...
What is the importance of thin blue smoke?
Should I wait till thin blue smoke happens before I place my ribs or brisket or what ever Im going to be smoking?