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Old 06-01-2015, 08:36 PM   #1
cullenbranson
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Default Ash on food in a kettle

Any thoughts on probable causes for ash on my brats? Cooking on a OTS, 2/3 chimney of stubbs briqs, 1/3 lump, lit with a parafin starter in the cooker. Dumped the chimney and let the kettle heat for about 30 minutes. Seemingly a good clean burn. Bottom vents open about halfway, top open about the same. Put the brats on about a 4-mississippi fire. Also put some leftovers in with the brats on the cool side of the grill, which were wrapped in foil. Not a breezy night. I'm always very mindful to burp the grill when lifting the lid so as to not create an updraft (probably to an obsessive level). About my third turn of the brats/opening of the grill I notice a thin layer of what has to be ash all over the foiled food. Then a finger-swipe of a couple of the brats leaves me with a black finger. Closer inspection of brats says there is (what looks like) thin gray ash all over. A bunch of it. This has happened before, and I believe it was a big brat cook the previous time as well. Thinking I usually have a lot more dripping fat on hot coals when cooking brats, compared to other foods.

I am assuming it's a result of the fat dripping on the coals and ash just kicking up. The stubbs briqs seem to be extra ashy, but the brats themselves weren't going crazy with fat flying. Didn't think enough to produce the kind of layer of blackness experienced on the food. Does anyone else have this issue? Is something else causing this? I don't think I'm choking the fire down when putting the lid back on.
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Old 06-01-2015, 09:15 PM   #2
mchar69
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Sounds like it tastes like grilled brats - awesome!
Ever go to a house that caught fire?
Afterward, go in and rub your finger on some moulding, or the walls.
Betcha it's kinda black, but not near as tasty as your brats.
PICS?
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Old 06-01-2015, 09:26 PM   #3
cullenbranson
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mchar69 View Post
Sounds like it tastes like grilled brats - awesome!
Ever go to a house that caught fire?
Afterward, go in and rub your finger on some moulding, or the walls.
Betcha it's kinda black, but not near as tasty as your brats.
PICS?
Unfortunately no pics. Brats were covered with what had to be ash, as was the foiled food. It was bad black, not the good grilled-food black.
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Old 06-01-2015, 09:33 PM   #4
1buckie
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Could be dripping, but it's more likely just a little bit of stall in the airflow going thru.......cook just a bit hotter, TOP vent all open & see if it doesn't do better.....

Things like sausage have that thin sticky layer near the start of the cook (like 1st half) & any creosote that's floating will stick more than other things....happens with chicken sometimes too & I think it's me not moving the fire hard & fast enough.....but allowing the fire & smoke to vent freely really helps with things like this....

It's the way they were designed.....1958 brochure:



Bottom of the left page.....lid vent open.....the physics is still the same & at least somewhat like an offset or any other cooker as far as air throughput.....free flowing exhaust is a good thing.....
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Old 06-01-2015, 09:34 PM   #5
IamMadMan
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Is it possible that maybe your charcoal was damp?

When my use the kettle I dont have the round vent with 3 holes, just the one touch cleaner. I keep these fully open.
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Old 06-01-2015, 09:38 PM   #6
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Thanks, I haven't had any problems, but I guess I was doing it wrong.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1buckie View Post
Could be dripping, but it's more likely just a little bit of stall in the airflow going thru.......cook just a bit hotter, TOP vent all open & see if it doesn't do better.....

Things like sausage have that thin sticky layer near the start of the cook (like 1st half) & any creosote that's floating will stick more than other things....happens with chicken sometimes too & I think it's me not moving the fire hard & fast enough.....but allowing the fire & smoke to vent freely really helps with things like this....

It's the way they were designed.....1958 brochure:


Bottom of the left page.....lid vent open.....the physics is still the same & at least somewhat like an offset or any other cooker as far as air throughput.....free flowing exhaust is a good thing.....
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Old 06-01-2015, 09:58 PM   #7
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there is always ash on my food on the wsm. i tought it was just normal. cant fix it
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Old 06-01-2015, 10:10 PM   #8
1buckie
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IamMadMan View Post
Thanks, I haven't had any problems, but I guess I was doing it wrong.
If you don't get bulidup on the food, it's Alfred E. Neuman time...."What , Me Worry?"

Times I might pinch the upper vent would be to go from say, 425 down to 350......there it makes sense....restrict the flow for a time, level the lower vents to where it's going to be (see the future, in other words) & open the top back up when it gets close to right......

Brady, it may help some to test out using the top vent open.....WSM heads will have to answer that, I don't have one....
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Old 06-01-2015, 11:24 PM   #9
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I always leave the top vent open, never had a problem unless I stir things up or add some cold fuel trying to extend the cook.
Agree that drips would do it, but you'd see round balls of stuff in the ashes.
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Old 06-02-2015, 01:46 AM   #10
mbshop
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Suggest trying some other brand of charcoal and see what happens. The so called natural stuff tends to do that. Ash is just to powdery.
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Old 06-02-2015, 08:13 AM   #11
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Beautiful . . . could hang that on a wall
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Old 06-02-2015, 08:19 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bradymartin View Post
there is always ash on my food on the wsm. i tought it was just normal. cant fix it
The guy who sold me my 18 said that's why he was getting rid of it. all cookers work on draft if functioning well. Some ash is gonna get kicked up with the moving air. Cost of doing business
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Old 06-02-2015, 08:25 AM   #13
cullenbranson
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Maybe worth mentioning that the layer of ash, or stuff, all over the foiled food and brats was so uniform, that maybe it's unlikely that is was caused by flying ash from dripping fat. Also might have lied about having a good clean fire. I recall thinking the fire was a bit hot for brats, closer to a 2-mississippi fire, so I closed the bottom and top vents just a bit. Could I have choked it? And if so, could that produce the black all over everything?

Regarding fuel - I assume as MBSHOP notes then, that all natural briquettes produce a ton of ash? I would go all lump, but I seem to have a problem finding bags that I like to put in my kettle. Most of the lump goes straight through the charcoal grate. I've tried the second grate at 90 degrees method. Didn't find it too life-changing. Felt a little foolish continuing to burn that money up . . . without letting it heat my food.

Thanks to all for the input.
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Old 06-02-2015, 08:27 AM   #14
cullenbranson
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smoke ninja View Post
The guy who sold me my 18 said that's why he was getting rid of it. all cookers work on draft if functioning well. Some ash is gonna get kicked up with the moving air. Cost of doing business
I agree, and I don't mind a bit of ash. A bit is almost less a cost than it is a feature!
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Old 06-02-2015, 08:54 AM   #15
cullenbranson
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IamMadMan View Post
Is it possible that maybe your charcoal was damp?.
I don't think so. Opened a new bag Sunday. My bag of lump has been sitting around a while though.

How do you determine if you have damp fuel? What exactly will using damp fuel do to a fire?
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