Fuel, Oxygen and Smoke Question

[pjlstrat]

First off I just read the "Taming the savage kamado" post from 2016 by CeramicChef This is a brilliant post!! Thank you!! As a Ceramic Engineer, I am a bit embarrassed that I did not think to do this when I got my Primo XL, but you can be damn sure I will do so now.

However this brings up a question I have been wrestling with for years and maybe you folks can help with. I have read in numerous books and websites the need to burn clean. Meaning plenty of oxygen or you get white smoke, and you want blue smoke. I admit I have seen both out of my primo but not much of a rhyme or reason why, other than when I start it.

I guess my question is, for a long slow cook, when I damp everything down, haven't I starved the fire of oxygen by default? Therefore the undesirable white smoke is unavoidable? I am obviously missing something as I, and many others much better than I am, make brilliant food with this setup, but this has always bothered me. There have been times I have tasted, or think I have tasted the Creosote flavor form a starved fire, but maybe that is my head playing tricks since I am aware of this and worried about it.

[LA Pork Butt]

One writer of a book I read recommends leaving the bottom vent wide open and using the top vent to regulate the temp. I have a Smobot controller which recommends setting the bottom vent open half way. The Smobot controls the temp by adjusting the top vent. That seems to work quite well for clean smoke.

[Troutman]

+1 on the Smobot. I'm not a kamado owner but if I were that's what I would buy.

[smokin fool]

On my Keg it seems to be the opposite.
Since I heeded your advice on the amount of charcoal I use it seems keeping the bottom damper near as closed as possible
allows me to use the top damper to sorta, kinda, maybe control temp better.
Then there's a lot of variables like outside temp and wind but last couple of cooks this was the norm.

[Mosca]

BGE.

The fire doesn’t know how big it is; it only knows how hot it is. You aren’t starving the ratio, just the size. I get almost no smoke at all for most of the cook. I’ve found that I need to start an hour earlier than I think I should, and use about 10% more lump than I think I need. Vents open, then close gradually as it approaches target. For really low, like 225, I clamp down both upper and lower vents. When using a DigiQ, I clamp that down to almost completely closed. It stabilizes, smokes gray and white, then thin blue, then not at all.

Regarding wood chunks, just because they aren’t smoking doesn’t mean they aren’t flavoring. Let the thick smoke burn off before adding the meat to the kamado. I put mine on before starting the fire, and make the wait part of the overall wait for clean smoke; someone else might get clean smoke, then add the wood chunks and wait again. I don’t think it matters which, do what works for you.

It took me at least a couple dozen low and slow cooks over a few seasons to figure it out. Once you get it, it becomes second nature.

[Troutman]

BGE.

"The fire doesn’t know how big it is; it only knows how hot it is."

When I first read that Mosca it stopped me in my tracks, that reminded me of my first wife....aggggghhhh perish the thought !!!

[Oak Smoke]

Hahahaha, is there going to be a sub forum for this topic?

[fttank]

This is the first I've heard of the SmoBot. My experience has been that small changes to the chimney vent can make significant changes to the pit temp. More so than the firebox vent. Good stuff.

[Oak Smoke]

The Smobot is an amazing tool. It will control pit temperature to within 10 degrees on almost any cook. The food probes work great. I like that it is wifi. I can check my cook and make adjustments from almost anywhere. It's one of those things that does what the manufacturer says it will do.

[LA Pork Butt]

+ 1 for Oak Smoke

[Henrik]

I can vouch for the Smobot, I love it.

[mountainsmoker]

Just a couple thought while I have not cooked on this particular one over my 40 years I have used several others. Most of them worked best with the top shut down to 1/4 and the heat controlled by the bottom vent. If you want to get precise get a Digi-Q, Party-Q or similar.

[LA Pork Butt]

I have used the PartyQ, and I got good results. But, as Oak Smoke wrote the Smobot stays within 10 degrees of the target temp. The PartyQ certainly is more accurate than your oven’s 25 degree swings. The WiFi on the Smobot is a great help. All of the controllers available improve your cook. It is a matter of preference.

[Henrik]

The issue as I see it is that you’re assuming that the fire is bigger than it is. 3-4 lumps of charcoal can burn cleanly and still maintain temps.

[pjlstrat]

Make perfect sense, thank you.

[pjlstrat]

First off thank you to everyone who responded!! This was of great help. I do not have a smobot but do have a digi-Q and I have found the digiQ helped me a lot with temp control. Those with a Smobot:

1. Are you using it on a Kamodo?

2. How do you sent your bottom vent when using the Smobot for low and slow?

3. Are you using any wood chunks and if so do you foil wrap and punch holes?

[LA Pork Butt]

1. Yes, Large BGE
2. Half open and use a wind shield because of the gusty winds here in Dallas.
3. A large chunk of wood either on the small fire or just next to the fire.

[pjlstrat]

Thank you LA Pork Butt

[Henrik]

1. Yes
2. 1/3 to 1/4 open
3. Yes, 2-3 chunks straight onto glowing embers