Started seasoning process with digital thermometer down the smoke hole to see temp. Reading. 15 minutes in, the thermometer showed 515 degrees and smoke was coming out the door and smoke hole at a pretty good rate, then I heard a loud woosh and a tremendous amount of smoke came out of the door. Does anyone know if this is normal? I turned the unit off after hearing and seeing this. .thank you for any info.
Seasoning process
- Thread starter K-stater
- Start date
SconnieQ
New member
All is normal. Continue with seasoning. Don't bother to measure the box temperature when seasoning. It's going to read very hot, since it is an empty box, and there is no meat (heat sink) in there. Smoke coming out around the door is normal when seasoning. This will become less and less as the smoker becomes more seasoned with use. The big whoosh you heard is called the "belch". It happens when your wood combusts. It is common during the seasoning process. If you find it happening a lot during a normal smoke, it often means your wood is too dry. There are a couple solutions for combustion, such as buying good quality smoking wood from a source like smokinlicous.com, or create a "foil boat" for your wood chunk. With quality wood, you should not need to foil boat. Just resist the temptation to put your face over the hole while sniffing the smoke. 
Thank you SconnieQ. I will start seasoning process again tomorrow and walk away. This is one of the reasons I purchased the Si 3, this forum is wonderful. I did order some wood chunks from smokinlicious tonight and I am chopping at the bit to use this weekend. Is it okay to use the wood that came with the unit to smoke with?
