White smoke?
- Thread starter Greenenvey
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NDKoze
Moderator
I don't ever get bitter white smoke. So, it is not a problem for me. If you are getting bitter white smoke, your wood is most likely burning instead of smoldering.
I get heavy smoke at the beginning, but it is good quality smoke and not bitter or acrid in any way. So, why would I not want my meat in this smoke?
Just for the sake of being on the same page Jake. Do you have a Smokin-It smoker yet? Or are you referring to the smoke from your BGE?
I get heavy smoke at the beginning, but it is good quality smoke and not bitter or acrid in any way. So, why would I not want my meat in this smoke?
Just for the sake of being on the same page Jake. Do you have a Smokin-It smoker yet? Or are you referring to the smoke from your BGE?
Referring to BGE, WSM, charcoal grill, open pit fire. There's always been an amount of time it takes for the wood to heat up, combust and smolder. It's never been instantaneous for me.
I don't have an electric smoker. Old Sarge's #7 post from Amazing Ribs concerns me.
I don't have an electric smoker. Old Sarge's #7 post from Amazing Ribs concerns me.
NDKoze
Moderator
Thanks for the extra info.
I think you will find that 99% (if not higher) of the people using the Smokin-It Smoker put their meat in their cold smoker and start it up.
We call it Lazy Q smoking because it is so easy and requires so little manipulation. Just put your cold meat in the cold smoker, with the specified amount of wood, crank it up to your desired temp and walk away.
If you have trouble with combusting wood (I have had it a few times), it is usually a problem with your wood being too dry and can easily be resolved by throwing out your big box store wood and getting some high-quality smoking wood from a place like www.smokinlicous.com, www.mainegrillingwoods.com, or www.fruitawood.com. It is actually pretty cheap considering you are only using 3-6 ounces of wood at at time.
On the few times that I have had a combustion in my smoker I just let it ride and the low moisture environment of the Smokin-It smokers quickly put the fire out. The biggest thing is to not open the door and flood the smoker with fresh oxygen. That would really get the fire going. When it happened to me, I just let it ride and didn't notice any ill effects on my final result.
I think you will find that 99% (if not higher) of the people using the Smokin-It Smoker put their meat in their cold smoker and start it up.
We call it Lazy Q smoking because it is so easy and requires so little manipulation. Just put your cold meat in the cold smoker, with the specified amount of wood, crank it up to your desired temp and walk away.
If you have trouble with combusting wood (I have had it a few times), it is usually a problem with your wood being too dry and can easily be resolved by throwing out your big box store wood and getting some high-quality smoking wood from a place like www.smokinlicous.com, www.mainegrillingwoods.com, or www.fruitawood.com. It is actually pretty cheap considering you are only using 3-6 ounces of wood at at time.
On the few times that I have had a combustion in my smoker I just let it ride and the low moisture environment of the Smokin-It smokers quickly put the fire out. The biggest thing is to not open the door and flood the smoker with fresh oxygen. That would really get the fire going. When it happened to me, I just let it ride and didn't notice any ill effects on my final result.
SconnieQ
New member
Time for you to add a Smokin-It to your arsenal snakyjake! ;D ;D But seriously, there is no need, and no benefit to preheating an SI. It is advantageous to start with a cold smoker and cold meat. If you preheat your SI (to avoid white smoke), as soon as you open the door to put your meat in, you are introducing a huge blast of oxygen, which will ignite your wood, and defeats the purpose. SI's are very well sealed and insulated, and provide a controlled oxygen environment. Keeping the door closed is what gives these smokers a nicely balanced mix of oxygen, moisture, and consistent temperatures. Many of your traditional smoking techniques do not apply to SIs. Coming from a Weber Smokey Mountain background myself, it was a challenge to forget about all of that preheating, monitoring, mopping, spritzing, stoking, adding more wood, adding water to the water pan, etc. I had been fussing with it for 15 years, and wasn't sure I could give all that up, and get the same quality. Well, I get better, more consistent quality with my SI (and a lot more sleep!). I haven't used my WSM since I bought my SI. Not that the WSM doesn't create great Q, it does. I just prefer my SI. So I went from being a traditional BBQ snob, to a believer in the SIs. (BBQ snobs don't know what they're missing! LOL! 
) I'm not sure where all this concern over the white smoke is coming from lately. There is always going to be more smoke billowing out when the box is coming up to temp, because the element will remain on until it does. It tapers off. I don't recall anyone feeling this created a bad flavor. There just seems to be concern about the appearance. I've had plenty of white smoke come out of my WSM in the beginning of the smoke, and I never found that to be a problem either.
I think if you spend some time on amazingribs.com, you will find that the site is pretty biased against electric smokers in general. Heck, that darn site almost convinced me not to buy one! So glad I ignored their opinion. There's a fair bit of bias there, and BBQ snobbery, that I personally am working to shake off. And some pretty abrasive and rude responses to commenters that obviously are not experts, and don't deserve it. Unfortunately it's a great resource, and I go to the site begrudgingly if I have to, but I don't enjoy it anymore.
) I'm not sure where all this concern over the white smoke is coming from lately. There is always going to be more smoke billowing out when the box is coming up to temp, because the element will remain on until it does. It tapers off. I don't recall anyone feeling this created a bad flavor. There just seems to be concern about the appearance. I've had plenty of white smoke come out of my WSM in the beginning of the smoke, and I never found that to be a problem either.I think if you spend some time on amazingribs.com, you will find that the site is pretty biased against electric smokers in general. Heck, that darn site almost convinced me not to buy one! So glad I ignored their opinion. There's a fair bit of bias there, and BBQ snobbery, that I personally am working to shake off. And some pretty abrasive and rude responses to commenters that obviously are not experts, and don't deserve it. Unfortunately it's a great resource, and I go to the site begrudgingly if I have to, but I don't enjoy it anymore.
DivotMaker
New member
snakyjake said:
Jake, my post, right after Dave's link to the AmazingRibs article, explains the smoke issue. Also, I really like the amazingribs site, but Meathead hates electrics (he is truly the classic "BBQ snob"). I would put anything most of us smoke in our SIs up against anything he has ever smoked, anytime, any day!
Don't get caught up in this rampant "paralysis by analysis" that is going around. Believe the thousands of happy users/owners you find here, and trust that these smokers produce some of the finest Q you'll ever taste. I took a total leap of faith, over 3 years ago, when I bought my #1...BEST decision I ever made!
Here's the other thing to remember - if you like BBQ, you will find yourself using an SI smoker a LOT more than any traditional smoker, just because of the prep/cleanup/not having to babysit it. Throw the meat in, set the temp, and go find something better to do!
Jake - I had no intention of causing concern with the link but wanted you to read for yourself what "experts" have to say. In the link you can see that white smoke is not as bad as it is made out to be. So relax and enjoy. Just make sure you use a good quality wood; you'll get good quality smoke and the food will be absolutely delicious. Like Tony, I went electric and have no regrets.
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