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**EdF** · October 20, 2018, 11:09 AM

My temps for smoking pretty much match yours - 225-250. I use a Thermapen Air to monitor them. But for heavier smoke, you want the bottom poppet closed and the top one open. For the chicken I'd do half and half (both open) for a bit stronger flavor rather than the full Monty. Also, with the chicken, I'd put the thermostat to max. Not sure I'd use a water pan for the chicken - you want to keep that skin dry (butter outside; some oil between the skin and meat).

**JakeT** · October 20, 2018, 01:38 PM

Timcee, it sort of depends on how long you're cooking for. If I use the top poppet only it's for a cook no more than an hour or two depending on wood and ambient temp. Longer cooks I'll go 50/50 usually. BBQBILL has talked about how much better his bark and smoke flavor is during the winter. That's because you're not getting the benefit of the smoked heat unless the fan is drawing air. Try going full boar top poppet and test your results!

**lostclusters** · October 20, 2018, 04:05 PM

What is the moisture content of your wood?

**JakeT** · October 20, 2018, 04:08 PM

Timcee it can vary so much. I've gotten great smoke flavor with 50/50 before and I've gotten very little. If you're cooking at 225 with an ambient air temp of 60, you'll probably get a lot of smoke flavor. This is because the fan is drawing smoke more often. If you're cooking at 225 with an ambient temp of 97, the fan is barely ever on so your smoke profile will be much less. This all can change based on how windy it is too. I'm sorry I can't really give you a specific answer.

**Ricardo** · October 20, 2018, 06:08 PM

I made some rookie mistakes and got it way too smokie. So in the spirit of sharing, I can tell you that both poppets open will definitely give you a strong smoke taste. Too much for what we like at my household, but the KBQ definitely will deliver more smoke flavor if you want. So start adjusting your top poppet to increase smoke flavor. I would not go 100% top open either... just some adjustments and fine tune to your liking.

Another mistake I made was not having enough thickness of lit coal bed, so that contributed to a more smoke intense flavor. The bed of coals purifies the smoke, it burns impurities as smoke and hot air is forced through the hot coals and the hot air+smoke mixture moves into the cooking chamber... so if you see the holes drawing smoke and hot air through, you don’t have enough coals to essentially purify the hot air and smoke mixture. You should not be able to see the holes in the fire box. If you do, add wood to increase thickness in lit coal bed.

Hope this helps. I’m going to be doing some tests here shortly, will be ensuring a thicker bed of hot coals and will have top poppet fully closed. I’m looking for a milder smoke flavor that what you have in mind.

Perhaps you can extract some of these rookie mistakes I made and use that to adjust further increasing your smoke flavor.

Cheers,
Ricardo
PS: I did get some out of this world bark. Simply amazing bark. Not sure if that’s beginners luck... will find out soon.

**Ricardo** · October 20, 2018, 06:23 PM

I’m using seasoned oak. It’s not kiln dry, just seasoned dried. I believe you want to use just seasoned dry.
From what I understand, kiln dried wood will not give you much of a smoke flavor.

**Timcee** · October 27, 2018, 04:28 PM

Ricardo Good enough coal bed? Got some wood in yesterday and gonna hope for the smoke flavor god to visit..

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**JGo37** · October 27, 2018, 05:55 PM

My temps match too - for PORK, and I don't vary coals and wood chunks. I'll just say this - my Weber Performer and Weber Limited don't match in cook times or results at all. Using the CL Performer for the first time I thought I had it nailed, but no. Learning curve started over.

Weird...

That said, my beef rib cooks are a bit hotter (+/- 270F median), a bit shorter, and a bit more sear than pork. I'm doing a full packer beef eye tomorrow - it's brining overnight now - and I'll document it.

**daveki** · October 28, 2018, 10:58 AM

I just joined and haven't had a chance to read through all the posts, but I am wanting to get a smoker and am leaning towards getting a Karubecue C-60. From what I understand the KBQ is designed for beef and pork ribs and briskets. Will it do a good job on smoke curing Jerkey and what about meat sticks, bratwurst, sausage, I deer hunt and would really like to make some venison jerkey. Will it smoke wild game, turkey, ducks, fish. I was leaning towards getting a cookshack Amerique but then discovered the KBQ and read a lot of good reviews on it so am leaning towards the KBQ now. Just wondering if it will be a good fit for me, as I am new to the smoking craft? I hope I can get some good feedback here, cause I am ready to pull the trigger on a smoker very soon. So can the KBQ do it all?

thanks in advance,
davek

**overeasy** · October 31, 2018, 10:16 PM

I had the same issues initially with my KBQ. Flavor profile not satisfactory. Managing the coal bed and adding bits of open bottom poppet valve when fire is burning clean is how I've gotten the smoke profile where i want it. I use oak 99.9% of the time. But as far as the texture of the meat coming off the Q? You'll be hard pressed finding one better! I have a lot of confidence when I'm cooking on it. Best of luck to you!! Keep the faith and you'll get it.

**overeasy** · November 11, 2018, 10:05 AM

SORRY FOR SLOW RESPONSE! Yes, when fire is burning clean. And the bottom of the grate is all coaled up I will open the bottom poppet a bit. 1/8" or so. The time it's open is pretty short. Usually when I'm not busy with other things and can concentrate on the fire or my beer. Otherwise it's closed with the top wide open. Bill has a switch and turns the fan off when he adds wood. I've just been closing the poppets checking their position afterwords making sure the wood hasn't bumped them out of wack. This is to prevent sucking ash into the cook chamber.

**cabbot1** · December 1, 2018, 07:23 PM

Has anyone used mesquite on any cooks with the kbq? I am gonna buy a 1/3 cord of wood but not sure if I should get hickory apple or mesquite.

**BBQ_Bill** · December 1, 2018, 11:55 PM

Howdy cabbot1 and Timcee

In my yard are mesquite, pecan, white oak and applewood with probably around 10 cords of stacked wood total.
All have 'date cards' attached to each pile, with the date that the wood was stacked written there on the card in pencil, because rain or shine, pencil stays there, legible for years.
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On another note...
I just cooked/smoked a large amount of salmon with all applewood.
This was my 1st cook/smoke with this wood, and my second time smoking salmon in a KBQ.
I kept the bottom poppet fully open, with the top poppet set at about 3/16" open and smoked the fish with the lid on the firebox.
I closed the top poppet right before a wood add and opened it shortly afterwards when the smoke died down a bit.
This was a short smoke and the salmon turned out pleasantly and lightly smoky per the customers.
When I opened the hot holding container in the lunchroom, that nice smoky aroma filled the room.
This smoked salmon went away very quickly.
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Currently, I have a VERY large amount of mesquite and I use it faithfully to smoke my two main products.
These standard products, which are KBQ smoked on a regular basis are the most wonderful Texas style packer beef brisket and the incredible Texas style smoked beef ribs.
These ribs are sometimes the NAMP 123 cut when I can get them, but generally the more available NAMP 130 cut.
(3-Rib plate and 4-Rib chuck)
They are truly exceptional when smoked in the KBQ and the bark has been called "unearthly" on these meats.
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My temperatures are:
200°F average for salmon.
230°F average for beef brisket. (for NO sizzling meat edges)
235°F average for beef ribs. (for NO sizzling meat edges)
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Beef steaks are better with the KBQ than any I have done in probably 30 years prior using other cooking or smoking methods.
I still need more experience with beef steaks before I advise anyone regarding the best KBQ temperature.
Was gonna do turkey, but backed out when my brother-in-law said he already had one in his smoker.
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Hickory is the "King" of woods according to some championship pit masters.
There are some blind taste tests have been conducted with hickory coming out as the winner.
I would dearly LUV to have a large amount to smoke meats with.
Basically, I would gladly trade two cords of mesquite for one cord of hickory.
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My best suggestion would be to use the hardwoods and/or fruit woods that are indigenous to your area.
Mesquite is VERY plentiful here in the Phoenix area where I am, and the KBQ "tames" this strong flavored wood nicely.
MANY pitmasters shy away from mesquite, but I personally think it is a great wood to use having learned how to successfully master it in cheap offsets.
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As far as smoky flavor, what you are talking about is the creosote in the smoke.
The KBQ smoker was originally designed to produce the "Holy Grail" of smokes.
This is the smoke that most pitmasters are striving for.
It is light blue in color, wispy, and is small molecule smoke, which contains "good" creosote, AKA Dr, Jekyll type smoke per Meathead.
(Hardwood or fruit wood smoke with the "good" creosote in the smoke)
Generally found to be produced from a smaller hotter fire with good airflow.
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Bill Karau's KBQ originally would only produce this type of light blue "Holy Grail" type of smoke.
Then, he changed the design a bit, and the current model KBQ allows over-the-fire smoke as well. It has an "over-the-fire" poppet, and an "under-the-fire" poppet.
This over-the-fire poppet and smoke is generally heavier, thicker, larger molecule smoke.
However, this heavier smoke profile leans towards the Mr. Hyde type of smoke that contains "bad" creosote.
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I too like the flavor profile to be a bit stronger than the "ultra-light" flavor of the under-the-fire (bottom poppet) only smoke.
This light smoke flavor is a great introduction for those that have not eaten real wood-smoked meats before.
As I have said in another post, in an offset, it is quite easy to get too much of the "bad" type of smoke and creosote on the meats.
This is basically a smoky coating on the meat product that contains too much "Mr. Hyde" type creosote in it.
Bill Karau with his KBQ smoker, makes Dr. Jekyll (good creosote) light smoke profiles or lighter smoky flavors easy to get, which is actually what most people want.
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Remember, Aaron Franklin, Tootsie T., Myron Mixon, Tuffy Stone, and thousands of other top BBQ Pitmasters if not using the KBQ, use ALL over-the-fire smoke to produce some of the best smoked meats in the world.
These pros all know how to get a good mixture of the two commonly known and recognized types of creosote on the products they smoke.
I honestly do believe however, that there are more than just the two creosote types. My thoughts are that there are many creosote types in-between the two commonly recognized "players" in smoke flavor.
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For more of my thoughts on Smoky Flavor from the KBQ C-60 Smoker, go to this post HERE and then...
...scroll down through the "Book-Post" there to the 4) Smoky Flavor information in that very long post.

Smoke On!

**Santamarina** · December 2, 2018, 12:31 AM

Jonesing for a KBQ even more now. Used my COS stickburner today for a brisket. The cold wind was strong, the cook chamber seal not so much...temp drops galore. Also had a few damp logs. That certainly didn’t help holding temp. Every 30 minutes I’d say, "This would be so much easier with a KBQ!"

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