No or little smoke

[EGGARY]

I did 2 slabs of Spare Ribs today and there was very little smoke. I must be doing something wrong. I filled the basket with lump charcoal and lit the Lump with a Mapp Torch. I just lit the middle of the Lump until I felt the Lump was lit. I let the temp go up to 225 and let it sit before I put in the Heat Deflector, the lower grill, a drip pan, and the top grill. I then put on the ribs. I forgot, I put 3 nice size chunks of pecan and hickory on the lit lump before putting all the other grills, etc on. As I put on the ribs there was smoke.

I know one problem was, with the heat deflector, lower grill, and the upper grill, the temperature would go down quite a bit. I didn't let it get up to Temp before putting on the Ribs. Eventually the temp got up to over 200. I opened up the top vent to get things going. There was smoke as the Vent was opened up more. The Ribs came out perfect as I raised the temp up to 350 but in taste there was very little smoke.

What am I doing wrong or what can I do to get smoke ? From what I see, with the top and bottom vents just about closed, how would there be any smoke if there isn't enough air to get the Lump going ?

I guess it's back to the drawing boark.

Thank you.

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: No or little smoke

Put your ribs on the grill cold.. just as a glass with ice cubes gets more condensation, more vapor will condense on your meat if it's cold.

[MadMedik]

Re: No or little smoke

Now that fire is out can you see if your three pieces of wood ever caught fire? I have put chunks in also on a low fire temp and they never burned. Not much lump is need at lower temps and if limp gets going it may never ignite your smoking chunks.

[dub]

Re: No or little smoke

If the smoking wood flames and blazes,that might inhibit smoke production.

I don't think that was the case,since you didn't report a temp spike-that usually happens

when the wood flares up.

I advocate wrapping the smoking wood in foil and plopping it into lit coals-most of the time

that is dead center of the firebox. No way the wood will flame up if it's foiled.

That said,you want thin blue smoke-not billows of gray smoke and certainly not black smoke!

dub(foil the wood,not the ribs!)

[fcnich]

Re: No or little smoke

Just a thought, did you heat it up with the heat deflector and the grills installed? I heat mine up with all grills and deflector in the kk, i found if you dont, when you put all the stainless steel and deflector in they of course have to heat up and causes temperature drop. And as others have said on here, stir you charcoal just before you put the meat on for a more even burn, and more likely all the wood chunks will burn. Hope that helps some!

Carter

[Firemonkey]

Re: No or little smoke

Carter is right...when you add your grates, it will reduce your internal temps. The same is especially true with your heat deflector. I usually put the grates that I intend to use in the grill and let them come up to temp along with the rest of the grill. Then, once the grill has had some time to heat up, I will check the fire situation, place a few chunks of wood on or around the hot spot in the basket, and add the deflector. Unless I plan for a longer cook, where I mix 4-8 chunks of wood in with the lump, add the deflector and let it all come up to temp at once.

Unless you are tossing he wood around the outside of the basket - like around the edge with the deflector already in place - you should be getting plenty of smoke. If there is ever a doubt about your smoke wood being in proximity of the fire, just open the lid of the grill for a minute. The burst of airflow will quickly start the smoke rolling if there is wood to be burn. If not, you know your either need a new piece, or what you have is not close enough to the fire. You can also add wood with the deflector in place if you take a look at the general vicinity of the hotspot. I drop a piece or two down the front, and use my grill floss or my "charcoal stirring stick" to flip it into the fire.

If your not finding unburnt wood in your basket, it is definitely making smoke. Even in low airflow, it will char and provide smoke. Smoke flavor is a relative taste - some prefer heavy smoke, or an edgier flavor like mesquite, while others prefer milder smoke like peach or apple. I think it was szyzgies who described mesquite as resembling diesel exhaust or similar, while the doc uses it as his wood of choice. So what is it that you are shooting for? Can you give an example of the flavor you are after?