Lone Star Grillz Mini question?

[The Bird]

I have a LSG mini and have about 6 cooks under my belt. I use lump charcoal (12 pounds) and about 4 to 6 pieces of pecan the size of a fist. I've noticed that I get a lot of white smoke out of the stack instead of the blue tint. This happens with or without water in the pan. I use a fireboard controller with Guru fan and run at 250 F. Any suggestions or comments?

[nweave2614]

How are you loading the firebox? Per recommendations you should be piling the coals all the way to the top and not leaving a thin layer all across the bottom. I use the T Plates to load mine, I will say on my last cook the smoke did not smell as good and I had a fair bit of white but my other cooks have all gone very well with thin and blue.

[pjtexas1]

I'd worry more about the smell of the smoke and taste of the food over what color it is. If it smells and tastes good there is no issue. I've had my cabinet for 5 or so years. It never really runs clear. I just wait until the exhaust smells good and put food on. Run your fingers thru the exhaust... it'll smell good or like an ashtray. Come back in 10 minutes and smell again. You could try smaller chunks.

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[The Bird]

I use the T plates as well, just as you say I fill the charcoal to the top and your presentation looks very similar to what I do. I know that in my stick burner I seldom see white smoke? Just curious if anyone else was experiencing this. Thanks guys!

[pjtexas1]

Originally Posted by The Bird

I use the T plates as well, just as you say I fill the charcoal to the top and your presentation looks very similar to what I do. I know that in my stick burner I seldom see white smoke? Just curious if anyone else was experiencing this. Thanks guys!

It's very different than a stick burner as far as the fire is concerned. There is very little air moving thru a cabinet. The maze will help as it allows more air vs lighting a full basket of charcoal and letting it burn on its own.

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[luv2smoke]

I don't have an LSG but I do have a cabinet and I've never experienced the white smoke that you have described. I do get a little nasty smoke on start up but once up to temperature I'm either running clear or thin blue smoke.
Perhaps you might try starting your coals with less lit coals at start up this way you have a smaller fire requiring more air to maintain temperatures. A small hot fire will burn cleaner than a large fire that's just getting a puff or two air once in a while from your controller.

[markrvp]

I'm running the same Fireboard/Pitbull fan setup. I'm guessing the smoke looks worse when the fan is running at full speed? And then when the fan shuts off and the temp starts to drop the smoke looks great? If so I notice the same thing. I'm going to try and open the top damper just a bit to see if it will draft a little more. I think the ideal setup is to get the top damper and the fan gate adjusted so that the fan doesn't have to run much at all.

Another thought is to go into the settings of the Fireboard and limit the speed of the fan to 50% I will probably do this as well. I think when the fan runs at 100% it causes more charcoal to ignite faster than usual and blows the "gunk" from the charcoal into the smoke chamber before it can burn off in the firebox.

[The Bird]

Thanks everyone for their input. Happy smoking!!

[Bacchus2b]

Did you ever try to cook without the fan and just control with your dampers? How did it look there?