Clean Fire in a Oklahoma Joess Bronco

[deboy922]

In the thread https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=305886 , I read a post from @16Adams saying - "PS and a very personal opinion. I think the best tasting smoked meat comes from a drum. A clean fire drum."

@16Adams and others please give me some more advice as I am not happy with my smoke taste from my Bronco, and I suspect I am not running a clean fire.

16Adams provided some earlier advice - "For simplicity sake I run exhaust wide open and intake at #2. I don't usually place meat until startup smoke has calmed down. Last thing I do before shutting lid is add wood split or chunk. I don't use external thermometers until late in a cook, if then so not sure exactly what temperatures are running. Oklahoma Joe's thermometer usually says 250+-20° with my set up."

Say for babyback ribs...do I fill the basket with Cowboy briquets and put it in the Bronco...light up 6 briquets in a chimney and add to a divot in the center of basket...close lid with both vents wide open...temp gets to about 225, close intake to 2 and leave exhaust to wide open...let it go for 30 minutes or so until startup smoke reduced...open lid throw on 2 or 3 chunks of wood... put in heat deflector and grate...put ribs on grate and close the lid...temp should run 250 or so on the Bronco temp gauge.

Please advise.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[sudsandswine]

Is the unpleasant smoke flavor you’re detecting just due to the juices and fat dripping onto the diffuser and/or coals? That’s kind of inherent to cooking on a drum, hard to get away from that. Some people like it, it’s off putting to others.

 

[Charny]

In the thread https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=305886 let it go for 30 minutes or so until startup smoke reduced...open lid throw on 2 or 3 chunks of wood...

Try putting the wood under the charcoal.

Common belief is that the charcoal burning above the wood will burn off more of the sooty compounds in the smoke. Putting the wood on top leaves more of those compounds.

Some prefer to do both. It depends on what you want, how much draft you have going through the smoker, what flavor you prefer, etc.

A config that allows for more airflow through the smoker, while maintaining temps, should also help.

 

[16Adams]

I seldom use my deflector preferring to hang. Even when using the grate I usually remove the deflector.
Clean fire. My experience. I use a mix of briquettes and lump, leaning heavier to lump. I'll fill the basket full then take that and fill my chimney up with that, sometimes 3/4 chimney. Then I'll take your hot coals and spread over the unlit coals in the basket. My wood chunks can be a mix of bottom, middle, top or not at all. I've also been known to stock up on chips at $1 a bag during closeouts and thoroughly mix in. After everything's going (grates or hanging system to hot to touch I'll place or hang meat.

This is where a clean burning coal is crucial. Nasty burning coals .ake nasty food. Exhaust wide open and control temp with intake.

I'm at 3500 above sea level. Altitude can make a difference based on my PBC. Lessons learned there carry over

 

[deboy922]

Is the unpleasant smoke flavor you’re detecting just due to the juices and fat dripping onto the diffuser and/or coals? That’s kind of inherent to cooking on a drum, hard to get away from that. Some people like it, it’s off putting to others.

That could be part of the equation. But I have not been satisfied with what I think is the smoke profile. I have definitely had it too dirty where it smells/tastes ashtray-ish. Or I get almost no good smoke smell/taste. I get more consistent and better smoke taste to me on my weber kettle cooking at higher temps with a small wood chunk on top of the hot coals on the side of the kettle...brats, burgers, and steaks with a touch of smoke that my family and I are happy with.

 

[sudsandswine]

Yes, but you can't really compare the two...aside from two different cookers, you're comparing two completing different cooking styles, where the food in your drum spends hours in there and what you're describing on the Weber is probably measured in minutes.

Aside from you trying different briquettes or using lump, my bet is what you're describing is just inherent to cooking on a drum. You could try putting a drip pan under whatever it is you're cooking to see if you get a "cleaner" smoke profile.

 

[SmittyJonz]

I’ve never liked Lump - prefer briquettes and 275*ish and many wood chunks (12-16) in UDS, small cabinet smokers, bullet smokers, file cabinet smokers, water tank smokers…….:..

I also like running water pans A) Helps even out temps and B) I don’t like the smell or taste of drippings hitting a Hot diffuser plate - drippings onto coals is OK ( if doesn’t cause grease fire or smother coals/fire.)

 

[Nuco59]

I'm a hold out- still use Kingsford on my 30 gallon UDS. It can take 45 minutes to an hour for the smoke to clear up to my liking. I look at the smoke (color /volume)- I will put my hand over the exhaust, sniff it. If it still smells like ashtray, I don't put meat on the grate. I just wait a while longer- not in a hurry most times.

Charcoal in a drum does not seem to lend itself to a clean fire since the control comes from metering /choking off the oxygen to allow x number of coals to burn. Add to that the chunks of wood that smolder (I do bury my chunks- it seems to help with a "cleaner burn") and the fact that fat will drip onto the coals... it's just not a very clean fire. I love the uds for what it is- and the food it puts out. I share Adam's thoughts on the flash back/ meat fog of the juice on the coals... but not everyone does. Mix it up some. Try omitting the wood once...or waiting longer at startup before adding the protein to grate...try a difuser. Good luck to you.

 

[Charny]

Charcoal in a drum does not seem to lend itself to a clean fire since the control comes from metering /choking off the oxygen to allow x number of coals to burn.

There is also the approach of methods like the snake or fuse, where the reduced immediate area of fuel available is the main limit on the rate of burn. And in that config you can leave the vents more open, so there is less choking.

I've been trying that with my WSM 22, with bricks in the center, and the snake on the outside. It's a new smoker to me, so I'm just getting started with it.

 

[mcyork28]

I have a Bronco and really like it. The one thing I noted in your process is putting the wood chunks on after the drum is preheated. I always add the wood and the charcoal at the same time. I think it burns cleaner sooner that way.