Ashes

[BrianInOhio]

When I did my first smoke my two pieces of wood were reduced to nothing but fines ashes to the point I could blow them and nothing would left. Is this normal?

 

[old sarge]

I typically get ash, sometimes there will be a tiny remnant or two of charred wood. I can say that when I do ribs, I will more likely have the remnants but on a long smoke like a butt or brisket nothing but ash. Seems pretty normal to me.

 

[barelfly]

Like David mentioned, I do get ash as well. The amount varies based on the length of the cook. Yesterday, the salmon I cooked for use a short period, 1.5 hours, and just had charred chunks. But, the long cooks, the chucks have broken down and there’s ash and bits of chunks.

I have a chuck roast in right now for a QVQ process, smoking to 130*, which will be about 2.5-3 hours, but I used a ramp up period to 150, then to 225. I’ll report back to see what the chunks look like after I pull it to put in the Sous Vide.

 

[BrianInOhio]

Dave and Jeremy I should have went into more detail why I asked the question. I’ve been reading about blue smoke. All I got was white smoke doing the ribs. Does this mean my wood is igniting in a short period of time and is this the norm?

 

[Lonzinomaker]

I have started using fewer large pieces rather than many small pieces.  Now I get more charcoal than ashes.  Smoke is "bluish" and less opaque and not totally white, not sure it is really thin blue smoke.  My AMAZN tube does give off a bluer smoke which is my reference.
I do use a boat I made to put the wood in otherwise the wood burns instead of smoldering. With the boat the smoke seems milder and not as harsh as when it burns.
I am using big box store wood, moisture is 15-18%.

 

[barelfly]

From a few posts recently, the thought was gradually ramping the temp up would help from combustion occurring. So, 150* then to the target temp if smoking at 225. You could use a further step I guess, if smoking at a higher temp. I have been smoking at 250* lately, so I’ll try that next.

But one thing I’ve learned with my smoker is where the hot spots are. I placed chunks front, middle and back in a cook to see what happened, and got more ash on the back compared to the front. You can also use a foil boat like Dave suggests. I do that with chips especially. But for the chunks, I usually place in the middle and I don’t allow the chunks to sit over the holes on the bottom of the holder. This seems to help quite a bit.

But, with my smoke yesterday and today, I didn’t see the big plumes of smoke pumping out like I have before using this ramp up, it was a steady stream of light smoke. Perhaps that is the key??? I don’t know if it is but I think I’ll start going with this process from now on.

With these units, to get to temp, the burner goes full on to heat up and cycles on off, so, the point I read was starting at a lower temp, doesn’t go full blast to heat. Gradually heats, which makes sense.

And I apologize for not crediting this to those who spoke on this. I saw it recently and in the past, but don’t remember who wrote about.

HOpefully that helps some.

 

[old sarge]

Dave and Jeremy I should have went into more detail why I asked the question. I’ve been reading about blue smoke. All I got was white smoke doing the ribs. Does this mean my wood is igniting in a short period of time and is this the norm?

Ah, the never ending quest for thin blue smoke (TBS). Some days I get the wispiest of smoke and some days it is a little more pronounced, whitish but not gray, moderate but not heavy.  Just good.

 

[barelfly]

This photo was from this morning, using the ramp up 150 for 45-60 mins then bumping to 225*.

This is as about as thin as I’ve seen, at the beginning of a smoke for me.

 

[swthorpe]

The smoke that I see in the early stages of a smoke looks similar to Jeremy's photo.    As for the wood, I do get some ash but also chunks of leftover charred wood.

 

[NDKoze]

This photo was from this morning, using the ramp up 150 for 45-60 mins then bumping to 225*.

This is as about as thin as I’ve seen, at the beginning of a smoke for me.

I am a very firm believer in the ramp-up method. Just as Jeremy suggested.

 

[Ken]

I've been using the foil boat now and have noticed a much milder smoke.  The foil screen has been mentioned but I've not tried that.  I smoked some steelhead a few days ago and used some kiln dried alder that I've had for a while.  I've only used the alder once and the results were quite harsh and could not be used for snacks at a family gathering.  I ended up making a salmon chowder that worked fine.  I used the foil boat this time and what a difference.  I did the ramp up method too.  The flavor was nice and mild, only a bit stronger than apple.  I'm going to go back to hickory for something next.