rorkin Posted August 25, 2006 Report Posted August 25, 2006 From what I am reading here most people control the temp mostly with the top vent.. This is contrary to my experience with horizontal smokers. Leaving the chimney fully open and controling the heat with the intake air.. This prevents creasoting. It seems that to do a 220 or so temp that most people are closing the botom intake or just only slightly opening. The top is then cranked down to aprox 1/2 turn.. Is this corect??? Is there no creasote precipitating out on cold surfaces ?? Rory
Curly Posted August 25, 2006 Report Posted August 25, 2006 I never had any creosote problem with my K in the 5 years or so that I've had it.
leejp Posted August 25, 2006 Report Posted August 25, 2006 No Creosote here... I ballpark the top damper and fine adjust with the bottom on my KK (much easier than my Sac K#7). In either cooker I've never had a creosote problem. I only burn good quality hardwod lump (Humphrey, Wicked Good, Royal Oak).
ThreeDJ16 Posted August 25, 2006 Report Posted August 25, 2006 Burning green (wet non-cured) wood might give you an issue, but if you use a good quality lump (fully carbonized) and a few pieces of dry seasoned hardwood for flavor, it should not be an issue. -=Jasen=-
Sanny Posted August 26, 2006 Report Posted August 26, 2006 Burning telephone poles and railroad ties again, are we?
mguerra Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Tar I have had a major problem with this. Normally I barely crack open the top damper for a low and slow. Then I use the Guru or the Stoker to"push" the smoke out through this tiny little crack. This has caused a tremendous build up of tar on the gasket and its' corresponding mating surface on the damper. So much so that it is nearly impossible to get the damper open for the next cook because it is glued shut from the tar. I have had to heat the damper top from the inside with a torch for quite some time to get it freed up. To avoid this I have been removing the damper completely at the end of each cook and sealing the top opening with a clay saucer base. After the fire is out, I replace the damper top and don't screw it shut. Dennis came up with a solution for me that I will try when it arrives. But I do think it might be a good idea to try to control the fire temp with a more open top vent and then use the bottom vent or Guru or Stoker for temp control. This might prevent the smoke from squeezing through a tiny, relatively cool top opening and precipitating out the tar. Somehow I seem to be the only one with this problem, so it must be my technique of barely opening the top. So don't do that.
tcoliver Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 How much smoke wood are you using and for how long? Seems like you would need an awful lot to create that much tar. Never noticed this on any cooks I have done.
smokykensbbq Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 I do the exact same technique mguerra does with the Guru and just cracking the top and I have not had any issues with this. I throw small logs onto my fires all the time to do low and slows at 225 degrees for hours with no issues. Mguerra are you using green wood for your smoke wood?
mguerra Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 fuel I use Royal Oak lump and dry smoke woods. One time I tried to bang my lid open by beating on the metal tang with a hammer and a 2x4. Don't ever do that! Yes, nobody but me has this problem, I don't know what it is.
Firemonkey Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Damn, I not sure if I should be jealous or what?! That is a serious buildup of goo, the likes of which I have never seen. I use lots of wood when I cook, and have nothing like that! Do you ever do higher temps? Maybe I never see the buildup because it burns off in subesquent cooks?
LPT41 Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Which smoke wood? Doc Guerra, Do you use different smoke wood or are you using that old south Texas favorite, Mesquite?
primeats Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 I have noticed quite a bit of ,for lack of a better term, tar coming out the draft door this past winter, I just thought it was because the cooker wasn't level. I just recently leveled it out by putting it "up on blocks" . These have been mostly low and slows, except when I forget to check the fire and it gets away from me. I seldom use any wood for the birds, and sometimes use hickory chunks for the ribs. I wonder if a "smoke pot" like Szyz's would cure your ills Doc? Hey...I made a funny!
cruzmisl Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 Hmm I've never had a creosote problem either. Doc I'm not sure if you know this but smoking meat with your old motor oil usually doesn't impart a desirable flavor profile Seriously though thats weird.
DennisLinkletter Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 Lots of tar... That's the first I've seen of your tar buildup.. Amazing is an understatement.. This is what I'd imagine happening in a restaurant.. Dj actually came up with both an after solution and a new production solution.. A solution might be a ring that screws onto the damper top shaft.. From center it will have three spokes and an outer ring that reduces the area of contact the top makes with gasket.. This should end the problems. For further production we'll add a positive V over the gasket area on the damper top so this V screws down onto the gasket also reducing the surface area touching.. thanks DJ!
ThreeDJ16 Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 Re: Lots of tar... thanks DJ! No prob Dennis! -=Jasen=-
DennisLinkletter Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 Better the condensation drips outside the cooker or inside? Normally I barely crack open the top damper for a low and slow. Then I use the Guru or the Stoker to"push" the smoke out through this tiny little crack. This has caused a tremendous build up of tar on the gasket and its' corresponding mating surface on the damper. Somehow I seem to be the only one with this problem' date=' so it must be my technique of barely opening the top. So don't do that.[/quote'] As I told Michael, we're now building #640 and I've never run across this problem.. I'm going to have to agree with him that this is caused by pressurized fan blown smoke being forced through a very small gap.. Probably solved by just opening the top a bit but I think the V over the gasket will stop condensation from dirtying the outer SS ring.. But then again, is it better the condensation drips outside the cooker or inside?
Firemonkey Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 Man, I wouldn't want that crud all over the outside of my cooker either! I'm also a but skeptical of a v shaped damper surface. I can see that sawing it's way through a gasket in no time. I like the removable spoke idea, so you can use it if you want/need it, and remove it if not. A couple Qs for doc- just wondering, do you ever do a higher temp cook without the fan, where the draft is opened up a couple turns? Maybe a 500 degree pizza session on natural airflow would burn it all off for you? And I know you like cooking butts, after seeing that buildup, do you use a drip pan under your butts? The only other person I have heard mention that kind of crust is dj, and I know he likes to do his butts Semi-direct (lava rock diffuser) and no drip pan. Maybe it's the grease that is causing the problem?
Fetzervalve Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 I don't think condensation dripping back inside would be good, however I suspect it will still condense on the edge of the damper, not on the v, since the v will likely still be too hot for condensation.
mguerra Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 ideas Once in a while I do a hot cook, but not over about 400 degrees. I do use plenty of mesquite. I use a basket full of lava rocks for a heat deflector and have never cleaned it nor changed the rocks. It is one scary looking hunk of black char! The grease has totally infiltrated all the rocks and solidified into one solid hunk. I just figure it burns off little by little each cook. However this may be part of the problem. Perhaps this massive accumulation of burned and non burned grease is vaporizing each cook and then condensing out on the relatively cool surfaces up top. So I took the lava rock diffuser out and replaced it with the stock heat deflector, which I keep cleaned. That may help. I have a spare top gasket but dread installing it because of having to clean thoroughly the mounting surface. That is going to be a chore! But the combo of keeping a clean heat deflector and opening the top a little wider might help the problem, plus whatever solution Dennis is sending me.
Firemonkey Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 Why not just burn a basket of fuel and see if it cleans up? A basket should last you a few hours at 500*, and $5 in lump sounds a lot more favorable than scraping the surface clean and replacing the gasket. You will probably see all sorts of smoke flowing out of there, too. I would bet the last beer in my fridge that the grease burning is your root cause, not smoke wood. I have done a few butts without a drip pan, too. But when i do that, I usually let it get good and hot afterwards, before shutting down, to burn the crud out.
