Thick White Smoke around the hour mark on low and slow cooks

[PenultimateGriller]

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?

[5698k]

Could it be the fat from your protein dripping down onto your fire?


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[C6Bill]

Two issues I see, number one no heat soak and no drip pan.

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. As already mentioned, the smoke you are seeing is fat hitting the fire. 

[Troble]

Ditch the kings ford blue briquettes. Get a drip pan or put foil down to prevent fat dripping as mentioned 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Troble

[PenultimateGriller]

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

[PenultimateGriller]

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

Edited June 3, 2023 by PenultimateGriller
more concise

[Firemonkey]

I concur that smoke that far into the burn is likely fat dripping

@PenultimateGriller use your nose.   What’s the smoke smell like.   Fat burning and a nasty chunk of not fully carbonized lump will smell very different.   It’s also ok to open the grill and look down in there to see what’s going on.  

since you say it’s not fat, getting pieces of lump that aren’t fully carbonized does happen.   Royal oak seems to make it their trademark sometimes.   

[C6Bill]

It’s hitting the foil and burning, use a drip pan

Edited June 3, 2023 by C6Bill

[Troble]

I usually open my vents depending on how much time I have then once it gets to 200 I put in the drip pan and close the vent to the appropriate setting I want it to cook at 

generally it takes about an hour before the meat goes on 

your KK isn’t producing white smoke on its own. Even when you do a burn in that’s at higher temps and it doesn’t produce white smoke. White smoke is fat. Get a drip pan or get a foil food/turkey  tray at the grocery store and put it under your meat. Agree with bill that fat drippings are burning on foil 

you should never use kingsford blue in your KK

Edited June 4, 2023 by Troble

[David Chang]

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?

[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.

[tekobo]

I had an attack of the dreaded white smoke this evening.  I am desperate not to offend my neighbours in Italy and was horrified to see these plumes of white smoke coming out of my KK when I lit it.  This was down to the fact that I did NOT put a shield in when I cooked my ribs low and slow(ish) last night.  My cocoshell briquettes (yes they are briquettes but are very very good and are my go-to) were soaked with fat from last night's cook.  Past experience says that you can never get rid of that fat and they will smoke for ever more.  I aborted the cook, will wait for everything to cool down and will then dispose of those coals and start fresh.  From what you described of your set up @PenultimateGriller, this does not sound the same as your problem but I can empathise. 

 

 

[Firemonkey]

@tekoboHere where I live the only thing the neighbors would find offensive about that smoke is that they didnt get any of the ribs.   once that smoke gets on the wind it makes people hungry.

[tekobo]

@Firemonkey, that reasoning says I should invite my neighbours round to keep them on side.  Not a bad idea, once I have got better at working my 16.  

[MacKenzie]

I think that's the secret, they need to know the smoke does not represent a problem, just you cooking.:) 

 

[tekobo]

I've just remembered that one neighbour said she was from Mexico.  She is the one most likely to be upwind of the KK.  Will try to win her over with @Troble's Al Pastor recipe one day soon....

[C6Bill]

@tekobo I wish I was your neighbor from Mexico lol

[djami]

Hello PenulimateGriller,

Your fire may not be hot enuff.  Even tho you may have had good blue smoke when you started BBQing [maybe you didn't] ... your fire may have cooled down somewhat or the fire is beginning to burn new, unlit charcoal chunks or wood chips or briquettes in your coal basket, in your case.  [agree with others - briquettes are not a good idea.]  

When you fill your basket with lump charcoal [recommended by most - not those wimpy grocery store briquettes ] ensure you light the entire basket of charcoal.  If you light a portion of the charcoal hoping the heat will eventually spread to the other unlit charcoal in the basket; the newly ignited charcoal will give off white smoke which we do not want.  This likely your problem since in your original posting you admitted to having an "unlit side" and lighting your fire in the "front right of the basket," etc. 

Recommend lighting the entire basket of lump charcoal.  For standard KK BBQs, I see no need to transfer coals from a chimney "for use later."  [yes, there may be times when that is needed but not for "standard" KK cooks.]   Properly size and fill your charcoal basket and properly light it so the entire basket of coals is ignited.  Use your KK vents to properly regulate the temperature and do not add or stir around burning charcoal embers.  Use your Komodo Kamado "technology" to do your heat distribution for you.  That includes vents and deflector plates ... and the resizing of the charcoal basket to accommodate  an adequate amount of charcoal for your cook.

Bottom line: your charcoals are not hot enough nor have they been burning long enough.  White smoke is a sign of a dead or dying fire - and you want to be cooking on a live one.  Possibly a dying fire in your case.  Also, make sure you remove ashes frequently so the air flow is not disrupted.  Finally, ensure your bottom and top air vents are properly set for good air flow and temperature.  I do not believe you have a wood problem - rather you may have a fire problem.  Just my thots ...     

Here is a good article on white vs blue smoke  https://barbecuesgalore.ca/blogs/master-your-grill/charcoal-bbq-tips-what-is-bad-thick-white-smoke-vs-good-thin-blue-smoke    Sorry Dennis - I did not see the komadojoe in the article. 

Good luck.

      djami - Virginia 

 

[DennisLinkletter]

On 6/4/2023 at 11:58 PM, PenultimateGriller said:

no - fully dried wood chunks for smoking.

Two problems..  You only want the foil to be a couple of inches larger than the meat you're cooking and then you must use a drip pan on top of that.  Drippings on for foil will burn up.

How are you using your smoking wood?  Are you using a foil pouch?  If you're just mixing it in your charcoal it makes sense that somewhere down the cook a piece of smoking wood is going to off gas and create white smoke.

Properly carbonized charcoal should not create white smoke at any time.. 

If you want to use Kingsford use their competition lump briquettes which is excellent.. The blue and white bag Kingsford has additional additives that help you light it and control the temperature so that you can use it in an open pit barbecue..  It is designed for those rings on the beach