Ladies 'n' Gents.
I'm not new to smoking and barbecue, nor to electric heat, having started with a cheap off-brand hardware-store electric UDS and using a cast iron skillet as a wood box. That was a long time ago. I learned to get good grub from it and better when I graduated to a Pit Barrel Cooker and helped other folks with their stick burner. Furthermore, I'm scientifically trained, so should understand the physics involved. 025 as instructed in the YouTube videoI, used the recommended two wood chunks and saw a blue-gray smoke exhaust for about three to four of the six hours. Which is why I find myself confused and puzzled:
I next did an 18-hour beef brisket, loading with three chunks of hickory from the included supply. The heating element and its controller appeared to perform their jobs perfectly, taking about 90 minutes to come to my preset 225degF and then holding steady with only a trivial oscillation of three to five degrees around the set-point. (I couldn't do any better with any wood/charcoal burner I've used.) I got a nice stream of blue-gray smoke for about three hours' time, certainly enough to season the initially cold meat, which I learned from Meathead Goldwyn on Amazing Ribs. A trickle of smoke and the smoky odor continued, dying out around ten.
The product was excellent--as good a brisket as I've ever done--but there was little to no smoke ring. So what, I guess, if the food was otherwise good. But surprise: When I cleaned out the cooled cooker, the wood box had what appeared to be intact wood pieces with no or little sign of char and no ash.
What am I missing? As shown in the video, I'm putting the box directly atop the heating element's enclosure. The wood was dry, as received. Huh!?
Cheers and salaams,
dk
. Some folks add a bit of charcoal to the wood chunks. Likewise, the smoke density is very low after the initial start-up phase, after the cooker reaches temp and begins to cycle. I rarely see smoke after that point.