The Illusion

[smokestack willie]

This could be a funny one or nothing at all, just curious how many strive for the blue smoke or no smoke out of the stack, what's funny to me is especially in morning time or what time of day there's gonna be smoke depending at what angle your lookin at (sunrise-sunset)I can look face on my cooker and see just the heat coming out of the stack, and then walk around to the back and see smoke, not ugly smoke but smoke that will make ya think, I'm not burning clean. Anyway. Just a curiosity thing.:crazy:

[firecracker jack]

Yeah I have noticed the same kind of effects at times with my diamond plate pit.
Don't really know what to make of it. Maybe some others will chime in with some insight.

[TonyT]

I always go for a clean fire. If it's billowing white smoke, that never seems to be good for me from any angle. I do my prep for 30-40minutes while the pit comes up to temp, so it usually looks clean by the time I get there. Lately I'm noticing that I'm going by smell. If I don't notice a smell, or it smells sweet, I'm usually good to go.

[KC Transplant]

I think it has something to do with the heat. When it comes out of your smoker it's hotter and not visible, but once it gets in the air and cools the smoke becomes visible again. I very vaguely remember learning something about that. High school science class or some randomly learned tidbit. I'm sure there's somebody much smarter out there that can explain it.

[ironmanerik]

Smoke is incomplete combustion, if you're running clear you're running efficient. I have been intentionally running slightly inefficient lately just to get a little more smoke on the meat.

[lankster35]

On a long cook for a brisket I go for almost no smoke knowing i will get smoke of some sort when I throw on each new stick. A long time ago I always had smoke coming out and the result was exactly what you would think - more of a wood smoked flavor but many people thought it was too strong. To me, less is better - and my wife agrees so y'all know what that means.

[TroyA65]

I always go for a clean fire. If it's billowing white smoke, that never seems to be good for me from any angle. I do my prep for 30-40minutes while the pit comes up to temp, so it usually looks clean by the time I get there. Lately I'm noticing that I'm going by smell. If I don't notice a smell, or it smells sweet, I'm usually good to go.


Yep, I go by smell now. Appearances can be deceiving depending on temp, humidity, etc. but if it smells like you want your BBQ to taste, you're good to go!