Hello Everyone,
It's been a while since I've been here. Unfortunately, due to some unplanned issues, my smoker has set unused for many months. Now, as the weather here in Northern IL is getting nicer, it was time to get the smoker back out for some babyback ribs.
I think I did everything according to what I remember. I had remembered that I had problems before with my wood catching fire. I had been using the chip screen as a bit of a buffer, and I did that again today. No matter, the 3 pieces of hickory pieces still caught fire (3.625 oz total). I quickly pulled out the smoke box, threw the burning pieces in a pail of water, made a foil boat and inserted 3 new pieces of hickory, and put the smoke box back in the smoker. I was loathe to open the smoker, but it seems to be going along better now. So (finally) my question...
Is it typical to have to double insulate the smoke box to keep the wood chunks from catching fire? The wood has been sitting in the garage, so it could be a bit dry. I checked the wood moisture before starting and the 3 pieces were at about 18%. I want to get this figured out, because we are planning to get back into smoking meats again.
Thank you.
Steven
It's been a while since I've been here. Unfortunately, due to some unplanned issues, my smoker has set unused for many months. Now, as the weather here in Northern IL is getting nicer, it was time to get the smoker back out for some babyback ribs.
I think I did everything according to what I remember. I had remembered that I had problems before with my wood catching fire. I had been using the chip screen as a bit of a buffer, and I did that again today. No matter, the 3 pieces of hickory pieces still caught fire (3.625 oz total). I quickly pulled out the smoke box, threw the burning pieces in a pail of water, made a foil boat and inserted 3 new pieces of hickory, and put the smoke box back in the smoker. I was loathe to open the smoker, but it seems to be going along better now. So (finally) my question...
Is it typical to have to double insulate the smoke box to keep the wood chunks from catching fire? The wood has been sitting in the garage, so it could be a bit dry. I checked the wood moisture before starting and the 3 pieces were at about 18%. I want to get this figured out, because we are planning to get back into smoking meats again.
Thank you.
Steven