Wood Burn Question

[Ken]

I just picked up a slightly used model 2 Wi-Fi.  I also have a Model 1.  I did a test burn as it seemed like it had almost never been used.  It held a very constant temperature between 249 and 251. After two hours I shut it down and checked the wood.  I ended up with a pile of white ash.  I smoked some chicken last night and used a chip screen from my model 1.  Still ended up with white ash.  My model 1 always ends up with a piece of black charcoal.  This is what I was expecting with the new smoker.  The chicken was good.  What should I expect? 

 

[lcdearman]

Ken, I have a #2 analog and I later added an external Auber, making it a #2 wifi. When it was just an analog, my wood would always come out as ash until I added the chip screen AND a single layer of foil under the chip screen. Then I got consistent charcoal. When I added the Auber, I started doing a ramp up to 150* for 30 minutes, then on to the cook temp. The wood was coming out almost completely unburned, just a little darker than when it went in. I removed the foil and the chip screen and now I get charcoal again.

My guess is that you can do the ramp to fix the wood turning to ash, or add foil and chip screen.

 

[Ken]

Thanks.  Since I tried the chip screen,  I’ll try the ramp up next.

 

[old sarge]

I typically get all ash; sometimes a few small finger nail sized pieces of charcoal.  Food is always smokey and delicious.

 

[barelfly]

Prior to doing a ramp up, I was using just foil under the wood chunks. I would also make sure that I was placing chunks away from the holes, thinking that may slow down the burn. I would get mostly charcoal.

But going to the ramp up, I don’t use foil and still place the chunks so they are not covering holes and I don’t get ash. Seems to work well for me and the 3D this way.