sweet blue from the WSM

[rookiedad]

i recently got a wsm after a long time of using chunks in a tray on a gas grill. when using the grill i had nice smoke. it was feint and near white. now with the wsm the smoke looks a little greyer and seems somewhat less than sweet. i am using the minion method with chunks spread through the charcoal. i keep the top vent open at all times and close the bottom vents 1/2 way when it gets to temp. flavor is nice and smokey but way more pronounced than with gas. i am adjusting this with the amount of chunks. does anyone have any suggestions to clear the air? thanks.
phil

 

[brdbbq]

Mine did the same thing when I went from the gasser to the WSM, Nature of the beats I think ? Still like the results more better and no soot taste. You might want to play around with your charcoal to wood mix. That is just a thought and not the Gospel. Also browse the Virtual Bullet....http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/I need to look around it more just have not had the time.

 

[chad]

i recently got a wsm after a long time of using chunks in a tray on a gas grill. when using the grill i had nice smoke. it was feint and near white. now with the wsm the smoke looks a little greyer and seems somewhat less than sweet. i am using the minion method with chunks spread through the charcoal. i keep the top vent open at all times and close the bottom vents 1/2 way when it gets to temp. flavor is nice and smokey but way more pronounced than with gas. i am adjusting this with the amount of chunks. does anyone have any suggestions to clear the air? thanks.
phil

I use the modified Minion method - ie. fill the charcoal ring and leave about a "1# coffee can" sized space in the middle. I put 8-10 "chewing gum pack" sized pieces of wood in the charcoal different distances from the center. I light it off with about 15 pieces of Kingsford started in the chimney with maybe 2-3 small pieces of wood. The hot coals are poured in the middle and the WSM is put together. I often put 1 or 2 small pieces of wood in the middle before I pour in the lit charcoal.

I start with all vents wide open and then adjust as need to stabilize the temps. I usually wind up with the lower vents shut 1/2 or more and sometimes have to reduce the outlet vent, too. It usually takes 30-45 minutes for things to settle down.

After all this I get nothing but sweet blue for the duration of the burn. In my opinion, less is more with the wood in a WSM.

 

[BBQchef33]

the WSM will give off some white smoke if your using large/alot of chunks.. it the nature of the beast when those chunks ignite, especially if you are layering the wood throughout the charcoal.. it causes them to light off at different times, so u see the smoke throughout the cook. i see it all the time.. soetimes very heavy when several are taking off at the same time.

Also, keep inmind, you may be seeing some steam mixed into the smoke from the waterpan boiling. Hold your hand over it, see if what your feeling is more steam than smoke, especailly if your fire is burning hot.

I use more wood than most people in the WSM, sometimes 20-30% of the fuel load is wood. This causes more tending, spikes, drops, etc, and also some heavy smoke as the chucks light off. If you want to start from the beginning, just add 5-6 chunks... or use the cahd method above.. and see how that goes.. using kingsford, and small chunks should give u clean smoke and rock stable temps.

 

[tommykendall]

I'm getting the same chit at Poobah but have never experienced a bad taste. Yes I think there is some steam factor, but the initial white smoke episodes from a chunk ingniting are short-lived.

 

[icemn62]

I have only used my WSM about 3 times. Never got a bad taste, but the 1st time I saw the grayish smoke, I just thought it was steam.

The last cook after the initial firing of the wood chunks, I barely noticed the smoke, especially since I don't have to sit next to the smoke and tend it too hard.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

Here's a thread, but the photo never made the migration

Phil's post here appears that he has altered his method, from 1.5 years experience

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9099&highlight=50/50

 

[BBQchef33]

i think Bill means im using less wood.. we used to be near half, if not more, in chunks. I have reduced it to maybe 1/3. i still use heavier wood loads at times, but thats not direction I would give you since you just got the WSM. I think it be best, as a new WSM owner, to shoot for rock steady temps at first with more charcoal and less wood. It is the wood that causes the temp variations. Learn the vent work with a fuel source that is stable and wont be the cause of extreme fluctuations.

I changed techniques in competition, not backyard. I still use the heavier load in the yard. I changed due to burn times and temperature fluctuations. I found at times, toward the end of the fuel load, about 6-8 hours, that i had alot of unburned wood, and no charcoal left. Found myslef adding a chimney of lit charcoal to get the wood to light up again. After a few times, i just increased the charcoal, and reduced the amount of wood... still using much more than most people wood.:wink: We can get a 10-12 hour burn, yet still takes alot of vent work. (Right rob? )

I am still experimenting with different techniques. I have seen another method using bags of chips.. layer of charcoal, layer of chips, layer of charcoal, layer of chips.. etc...finish with a layer of charcoal, get the temps up and add some chips on top when the food is first put into the cooker. This caused heavy white smoke out of the top, that I though looked nasty...but still produced a winning product. 4th place at the Jack.

BUT... these are experiments.. get your foundation first.. For starting out.. I would recommend start with a heavier charcoal base and work your way up to more wood if your looking for heavier flavors. Alot of people are very happy with just a couple of sticks, and without the heavy wood, you should see mostly clear smoke.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

Agreed Phil, I was talking about less wood now, because 1.5 years of experience (including Comps) has improved your craft and results.

To be honest, I don't get the temp spikes some of you get using more wood. But my vents, and I switch throughout the cook, are top (mostly) 100% open, bottom 3: just a hair open, or 2 open slightly (1/4) 1 closed, alternate after couple hours to 1 open 2 closed, then after opening to wrap or something, 2 open 1 closed (open always meaning 1/4 to 1/2, depending on temps)

So I do need to tend a little, but once I lock in, I go do whatever I need to do, and sans wind (which I cover with box if so) then I'm dialed in for hours at a range of 210-230.

Wish I could find that picture. Some might be shocked at the amount of wood.

 

[BBQchef33]

i'll get the pic from the old forum.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

i'll get the pic from the old forum.

Delete this post when you get to it, but:

I think there was an issue with the amount of pictures. I remember having to go back and modify the picture content. IF you recall, I had all these Hero's and Philly Cheesesteaks that were in .bmp format and hogging space, so I had to delete a ton of stuff before migration.

Short story, forget it. I got the pic, its upstairs on the "wired" computer that we only use to pay bills. Hope to repost tomorrow.

Have a good weekend Pooh (you need it after the black apartment of death post)