PenultimateGriller

12 hours ago, David Chang said:

i don't think you are but i though i'd ask, you are not placing any wood  that's not fully dried for smoking right?

no - fully dried wood chunks for smoking.

45 minutes ago, C6Bill said:

I set my vents to approximately where they need to be for 250 when starting the fire with a looft lighter. I never have them wide open and have to dial them back down. Light the fire add the drip pan/grates and walk away. And i don't use any type of briquette, never have never will. Plus if you have a looft lighter why even mess with a briquette. Light it and let it do its thing, let it get to temp and sit for an hour to make sure the temp is stable. 

I tried this method, but the grill took over 2 hours to come up to temp. That won't work for me

Quote

At this time i'll add aluminum foil on the bottom grate as a direct heat shield,

There is heavy duty aluminum foil added to the bottom grate - a full covering from left to right.

Food goes on top grate. I don't think fat is hitting the fire

Hi All

I own a KK 32.

During low and slow cooks i can't seem to stop thick white smoke billowing out after the first hour of cooking. I suspect that it is the clean burning, ashed over charcoal lighting neighboring pieces and the restricted airflow causing poor combustion of those unlit pieces, but i don't know how to stop it, or if i should care.

Generally i use Kingsford Blue or Fogo Lump charcoal during cooking, and havent tried CocoChar yet, although i do have some in the shed ready to use when my current supply runs out.

Timeline as follows

I light charcoal either using a looflighter at the front right of the basket (one grapefruit size area), or 12 fully ashed Kingsford briquets in a chimney which i dump into the front right so it can be accessed later.

I'll set the top damper 1.5 turns open and the bottom damper fully open on the left wheel.

I'll add the bottom grate with a digital thermometer over the unlit side while i put rub on the meat

Once temp hits about 185-195 i'll close the top down to 1/8th of a turn and close the bottom left damper leaving the small pencil hole open on the bottom right.

At this time i'll add aluminium foil on the bottom grate as a direct heat shield, move the thermometer up to the top grate and wait for 200-225 before i add the meat. All throughout this process the KK is giving lovely thin blue smoke. This whole process takes about 45 minutes.

Food goes on, beers open and i sit back and marvel over my domain.

After about an hour, thick white smoke starts bellowing out the top causing mild panic. It generally settles down again after 20 minutes or so. I'm not trying to win a BBQ competition, and all my friends still tell me they like the food, but in the continuing march for greatness; is there a way to prevent this? Or should i not care?

14 hours ago, DennisLinkletter said:

I tried to call but got your voicemail..

once you learn the top damper setting.. Lite your charcoal, dial it in, walk way and just trust it.

 

Thanks - I did try calling you back. 
so I open the top damper to my grills’ ‘250f setting’ and don’t open the bottom vent at all?

Hi - no matter what I do I cannot keep the temp from rising and rising throughout the cook on my 32” BB
 

ive lit charcoal a bunch of different ways, with and without chimneys. now I’ve settled with lighting one golf ball spot at the edge of the basket with looflighter as I thought it would help the coals burn slower by going from one side to the other rather than out. 
 

My top vent is 1/10th turn after friction stops. My bottom vent is the tiniest sliver of the left hand vent (first small notch).  
 

I’ve let the cooker come up to 225 Both fast and slow, by opening the dampers and then closing down when I approach 180, and also keeping the dampers choked down the whole time. 
 

No matter what, the grill just keeps climbing slowly. I’m sitting about 2h into a cook now and the grill temp is 312. I cannot keep it at 225-275 no matter what I do. It usually rises to 350. 
 

i don’t know if I can close the top vent any more without stopping airflow. 
 

how do I fix this and get consistent lower temps?