FIRE!!!

[jaxtinner]

Hey Y'all,  I first want to say that I love my Smokinit #2 smoker!!!  I can't believe how easy it is to get great dishes out of it.  I have used it a number of times and had no quarrels.  However, last night, I was all set to put up two pork shoulders and was diligently watching my Redi-check thermometers and from the start the temp kept rising.  I had a fire!  I attributed it to some too fine wood shavings and went to all cherry chunks that I had.  Within fifteen minutes of starting the smoker, I was at 295 degrees, and I went to see what the hell was going on.  Another fire.  I aborted the whole plan as it was late and I intend to try again in a few minutes.  Am I doing something wrong?  I thought one of the beauties of this machine was not having to soak your wood prior to smoking.  Please advise.   And..........I love my smoker.

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[kz0m]

Here is some information I just posted on another FIRE post ;>)

This happened to me early on with my #3 before I got the 3D.  I was using very dry wood, the wood actually came from outside a grocery store used for smoking in a standard grill, not a smoker, it was VERY dry and before long, my temperature was higher than I had set it to and there was a lot of white smoke pumping out of the unit.
I have since learned several things, 1:  Use quality chunks of wood, I highly recommend www.smokinlicious.com  their moisture content is around 20%+ and burns slowly and will not catch fire like your son experienced.  2.  If you are using a dryer wood then use a foil boat, wrap the wood up in foil or at least half wrap in foil so it won't catch fire.  3.  If you don't already have one, get a chip screen to place in the bottom of your fire box, this also helped with my smokes.  4.  You can place the wood in the back of the fire box, it seems that is the cooler spot of the element so that may help from starting the wood on fire. 
I will say since I received my shipment of smokinlicious wood, I haven't had that issue at all anymore, that alone will probably solve the problem.

Hope that helps, there are others here that will also help out but the information I listed, I actually learned right here on this forum ;>)

Carl

[NDKoze]

Be careful assuming that the back of your box is the coolest part of the smoker. Mine is exactly the opposite. I found this out by testing with an empty smoker with about 6 wood chunks spread from back to front and found that the back of my box is the hottest and gets cooler toward the front. My back chunks were ash and the middle and front were just charred pieces.

Also, in most cases, you would be better off leaving the door closed and letting the oxygen starved Smokin-It environment put the fire out verses opening the door and flooding the smoke chamber with a fresh supply of oxygen. I have had wood burns with low moisture wood where I just stayed the course and couldn't even tell that there was a temp spike.

Chips are great for low temp smokes (200 dgrees or less) such as Fish and Jerky. However, I would discourage their use for 200+ smokes because they will have a tendency to start on fire as yours did. They are great for the low temp smokes though because they will start smoking at a lower temperature and stay smoking when the element starts cycling on/off. I would recommend get some good quality wood chunks from www.smokinlicious.com to use for your 200+ degree smokes.

Many people say that they have a stockpile of wood chips from their other smoker and want to use them up. I say why risk the possibility of ruining your more expensive meat with bad wood. Your wood cost you way less than the meat you are smoking. I use wood chips in my charcoal grill with good results. I have a stockpile of chips and wood dust that I may never use the rest of.

Don't be discouraged. We'll get you there.

[DivotMaker]

+1, to both comments!  Good wood is the key to success.  If you want to use up dry wood, wrap it in foil, and ramp your temp up by setting C01 to 150, for 30 or 40 minutes, then C02 up to your smoking temp.  Ease the heat to those dry chunks, and you'll be fine.