White smoke

[K-stater]

I have done 3 smokes on my 3. All of have seen is white smoke with the meat a tad bitter. I use smokinlicious wood and weigh before every smoke. Any ideas why I am not getting blue smoke.

 

[SuperDave]

What temps have you been smoking at?  I always correlate bitter with combustion. Try some experimenting by running the first hour at a lower temp.  Do you have a D model or analog?

 

[K-stater]

225 all three times and analog. I am gonna try lower temp. Like you said on some chicken legs today. Thanks for your input.

 

[K-stater]

I started chicken legs at 175, still white smoke. I can tell there is combustion, since I saw smoke poof out of hole. I hope I am doing something wrong, if not, I am very disappointed.

 

[Durangosmoker]

Try positioning your wood in a different part of the smoke box. I find that I usually end up with ash if I put my wood over one of the holes; end up with charcoal if it is between the holes.

 

[SuperDave]

My analog shoots a minimum of 40 degrees over dial setting. In my smoker, I block off holes in the bottom of the wood box with foil and use the chip screen. Last but not least, don’t be concerned about smoke color. You should be able to eliminate the bitter taste by eliminating the combustion. Do you have wood fire smoking experience? These smokers are really a different animal.

 

[K-stater]

Ok, gonna try again when I get home from work. Chicken legs again (cheap). 1.5 oz. Wood. Foiled the bottom of wood tray. I do not have chip tray, do you use it to get a little more clearance from heating element?

 

[SuperDave]

I do not have chip tray, do you use it to get a little more clearance from heating element?

Yes, but if you don't have the chip screen you can achieve the same result with wood placement in the box.  Some report the center to the back as being their hot spots and some the center to the front.  Without food in the smoker you can run a couple of runs and se where your hot spots are and place your wood accordingly.  I know it gets a little frustrating but just takes a little time to figure out the fine details.

 

[drains]

I double foil the bottom of my wood box and have no combustion problems.  Keeping the wood to the front of the wood box will definitely help since it is the coolest area. At least on mine it is.

 

[Grampy]

K-Starter, putting foil in the bottom should do the trick. As others have mentioned, combustion seems to be the culprit. I have an analog #2 and I have a piece of foil doubled over the same width as of the bottom of the wood box and I don't have any combustion problems.

 

[JustChillin]

I have a #2 and also use foil below my wood.

 

[K-stater]

I can tell now after 3 cooks I had a fire in my box, tonight I set temp at 200 and  put my wood in a stainless steel  sink strainer. I monitored the temp the whole time. 225 highest ,187 lowest after 3 cycles. This cook was the best I have had so far. I believe my wood chunks were falling on the heating element causing the fire. The previous smoke I did on chix legs, they were black, tonight, they ha the mahogony color I like. Do you all think I need the chip tray, or just put aluminum foil down over wood box? Thank you all for your input, I know I will eventually like this smoker once I get used to it.

 

[JustChillin]

I have a chip tray but rarely used it. I use it sometimes for small chips when smoking fish on lower temps but I always use the foil on bigger pieces of wood. Good luck on all future smokes.

 

[lightfoot]

K-Starter, putting foil in the bottom should do the trick. As others have mentioned, combustion seems to be the culprit. I have an analog #2 and I have a piece of foil doubled over the same width as of the bottom of the wood box and I don't have any combustion problems.

Do you poke holes in the tinfoil at all ? thanks in advance!