Not Enough Smoke

Granted, a 20 lb brisket is a monster but 6 oz of wood should have produced ample smoke flavor.
Check to see if the heat elements are making direct contact with the bottom of the wood box.

The ambiant outside temp shouldn't be a factor. Keep in mind, apple wood produces a very mild smoke flavor. What ratio of apple to hickory?

Problem was that the wood did not get consumed. usually after a cook there is nothing but ash in the box. I have been using the hickory/apple combo with good results for a while now.

Checked my elements and they are not touching the box. I have done nothing to move them. Are you supposed to have metal to metal contact with the element?

quote:

Originally posted by HAC111:
Checked my elements and they are not touching the box. I have done nothing to move them. Are you supposed to have metal to metal contact with the element?

Yes.

I could be wrong, but I doubt the outside temp has much to do with the wood chunks not being completely turned to ash

I have used the apple/hickory combo as well as a cherry/hickory combo on 20 lb packers and do not use any more than I use for smaller briskets (3 to 4 oz) because I did over smoke one once.

The last couple of years I have been hauling my AmeriQue around in the back of my truck quite a bit and have found a need to adjust my element a couple of times to keep the wood chunks going. Luckily for me it is well seasoned enough it has carried me through with enough smoke flavor most of the time

Thanks for the input. I will adjust the burner up so it touches the wood box.

Sounds like your wood may have drawn a little moisture out of the air and since the element isn't working as hard it has changed the burn time .

In keeping with the KISS philosophy, seems to me it is either the heating element (if the meat was done rule that out) placement of the wood in the box, or the wood itself? Just a thought.

quote:

Originally posted by Cook One:
In keeping with the KISS philosophy, seems to me it is either the heating element (if the meat was done rule that out) placement of the wood in the box, or the wood itself? Just a thought.

I did not change anything from the way I have always have put wood in the box. I have never had a problem like this before.

The meat was done and it was great just did not have enough smoke flavor because the the wood did not burn.

I try to live by the KISS creed. If it aint broke dont fix it. Not looking for trouble it found me.

Are you using wood from the same batch or is it a new batch? I received a free 20 lb box of hickory from Cookshack and have had trouble getting it to burn. Tried all the tried and true techniques but the stuff's just been stubborn. It looks so clean cut up like it is, I've come to the conclusion that it needs more seasoning. I'm letting the chunks sit outside in the containers I use and figure it'll be good to go in a couple months.

I've had my Amerique for close to four years. I posted here a question about the 'quality of the smoke' that I was getting. The Amerique put out a heavy black smoke that turned things bitter.

Someone on this forum suggested that I do TWO things that really made a difference. One - place the wood chunks in the smoker and cook them at 250 for overnight and then store them in a sealed container. Second - start up the smoker with the chunks of wood in it and watch for the smoke to change from heavy dark smoke to the light almost clear gray smoke as the smoker heated. Then place the meat in and step back. Sure it adds a bit to the cooking time, but it sure improved the quality of the product.

These two suggestions made a HUGE difference to my Q. It was explained to me, that because we travel summers in our RV, the wood chunks we carry have absorbed lots of humidity. The wet wood doesn't burn properly and produces creosote which is just NOT good tasting.

Hope this helps.

May be completely irrelevant but I have noticed my palet having trouble picking up smoke in my foods lately. While others insist it's there. I had some smoked cheddar that I had in my fridge for a few weeks. I cut a slice last night and my first thought was somebody put unsmoked cheese in my smoked cheese bag. I had some friends over and I sliced up some for them and they said it was smokey enough for them. I think my point is, be ware of your sensitive palet. After you get your element worked out, you might try using 100% hickory instead of the blend. I even throw in a little bit of mesquite in my beef smokes.

Your wood is too wet. let it dry out some more.

I have a smokette 008 that I didtn't think had enough smoke so I added a cold smoker to the side and now it really has the smoke.
Now I might buy a ameriQue 066 because its much bigger

Thank you all for your help.

I bent the burner up slightly so it was touching the wood box. This fixed the problem as I had sucess with my last cook. All of the wood was consumed during the cook.

I must have bumped the burner down gradually over time.

Seems like every time I smoke lately I have inconsistent smoke. Tried smoking some tenderloins at 225 today got zero smoke. Have the burners bent up to come in contact with box and the bottom of the wood just turned black. After the "smoke" threw in a different wood at 300 and still got very little smoke. One chunk burned down the other just got chared on the bottom smoke never got rolling. Any one have an idea?

I had the same problem. I was storing my wood in the garage where it absorbed a lot of moisture. A couple of days before I was going to smoke ribs, I brought a few chunks of apple wood into the (air-conditioned) house to de-humidify. Problem solved. Lots of beautiful pale blue smoke with chunks burned down to ash. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

When I lived in Houston we had the same problem with Humidity so I started storing my wood chunks in heavy duty gallon zip-lock bags and problem solved.