Pre-burn charcoal briquettes?

[pknj]

Hey all, wanted to know if anyone pre-burns their briquettes when smoking? I have the WSCG and a kettle with SnS and I almost never pre-burn, but I know the ultimate goal is a small, hot fire. I did a brisket the other day (first time in a looooong time) and actually did (mostly) separately light coals before adding, to keep that initial burst of white smoke away when they first light. Seemed I got a more direct beef flavor than my usual cooks, but I might be imagining that.

Is this overkill for most backyard cooks? A better way to manage the smoke flavor? A good reason to have to stay outside with a beer for the whole cook? Just looking for opinions although my bet is it doesn’t matter too much. Separately, I would think it would matter less with lump, but I have less experience with that.

[RonB]

When cookin' hot and fast, I let the white smoke dissipate before adding food. When using the SnS for low and slow, I let the white smoke dissipate for the initial 12 briquettes and add them to the unlit charcoal in the SnS. I also add wood chunks at this time.

[mountainsmoker]

I agree let those first 12 burn down till white then add the rest and your wood chunks.

[mountainsmoker]

Well since you have a SnS you know that nearly all of the coals are not pre-burned. There is really no reason for it. The coals light as the old ones come in touch with them. In my experience so few coals light at a time that the older coals keep a nice light smoke as the new ones slowly light. You probably have a 80% old to 20% new igniting at any one time in the SnS over the 6-8 hour smoke it can provide. I have never noticed a white smoke coming from it and I use it nearly every week or more often.

[pknj]

Thanks all. I wondered if it made sense to add say 15 hot coals every hour or so, to keep the white smoke off (I think some stick burners do this), but the lesson is that using the SnS/Minion Method keeps the ratio of hot vs newly starting at such a level that the bad smoke is not an issue.

Thanks all - why I love this place.

[SMOG MAN]

There are some variables to your question, a small cooker that just needs a little more fuel, just add a few briquettes at a time as needed. A larger unit that may need a bigger boost, yes I would get them lit and ready before adding them.

[JeffJ]

Once the 'starter coals' are good and lit they are making contact with such a small number of unlit coals at any one time that the white smoke is minimal. It's further minimized by the slow-light process. That's been my experience. For example, with my WSM, after a couple of hours I won't see any smoke at all even though it may take 6 more hours for the remaining unlit coals to catch fire and burn out.

[pknj]

And it is a fairly low oxygen level at that point, now that I think about it, compared to the open burn of a chimney starter. Thanks for pointing that out.

[jfmorris]

I have been smoking in an offset for 30 years, and a kettle for 2-3 years, and pre-burning or lighting the charcoal before adding fuel is not needed - and it pretty much defeats the purpose of the Slow 'N Sear, where by design you don't want all the fuel ignited at once. Same thing for snake, minion and other methods of smoking on a kettle or a Weber Smokey Mountain.

You are worrying way too much about a tiny bit of initial combustion smoke as the fire moves across your Slow 'N Sear. It's so gradual, its not like lighting an entire chimney at once - just a briquet or two at a time is catching.

With my offset, when using charcoal I just dump it straight from the bag into the firebox, after raking existing coals to one side. I kind of use a minion method there too, and treat the firebox like I do the SNS on my kettle, letting it burn from one side to the other, rake the coals, do it again.

[pknj]

I think you are right - since my concern is on the smoke level in the food, my focus should be on temp control and how much wood chunks I add.

[Steve R.]

The thread title reminds me of a real blast from the past, but without the drama.

[pknj]

Ha! I had forgotten about that one Steve. Man, I could have accidentally started the war again!