Wood Chunks Burning Instead of Embering-Smoking

what makes you the chunks are burning vs smoldering??

I wonder if placing the wood chunk in a foil pouch (with a few holes in it) would prevent the wood from going up in flames. I do a foil pouch w/wood chips on my gas grill with great success.

If the chunks are burning instead of smokdering you may need to gently bend your heating element down just a hair

don't soak the wood chunks you could end up with some nasty tasting creosote on your Q

I'm always in this KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid) logic, so I'd just move them around in the smoke box until I found a sweet spot. When positioning them at the edges of my box, all they will do is char, oh well!

Agree with cal.

First and easiest thing to do is modify the placement in the woodbox.

I'm curious, how do you "know" what they are doing. If it's the after effect, all wood will turn to ash.

KEY thing is flavor, how does the food taste? Is 4 - 5 enough or do you want more.

Keep in mind, you don't want to see gray/white smoke, that's impure smoke. The best is the clear/blue smoke

When I first got the AQ I didn't feel as I was getting enough smoke. I bent my element up. As I stated in another post on occasion I am getting chunks burning (full fire). I have since bent element down and place chunks in box were they will not be over element. In case anyone is wondering how I knew I was getting flames-- I open my door when I see nasty yellow smoke to evacuate it and this is when I saw fire.

quote:

Originally posted by Chef-Boy-Arnie:
If the chunks are burning instead of smokdering you may need to gently bend your heating element down just a hair

don't soak the wood chunks you could end up with some nasty tasting creosote on your Q

Sorry, I’ve never experienced that with my AQ.

I have had the wood chunks burst into flame if I open the door during a smoke, but as a rule they go out shortly after the door is closed.

Have you ever noticed what sounds like a small explosion in the smoker?

Chef-Boy-Arnie: The first smoke I did in my new 045, I had a "Big Bang" that set off all of the dogs in the neighborhood. Yes it was that loud. I was talking to someone at Cookshack about ordering something, and mentioned that I had a "Big Bang", and several small bangs. I was told by them that this is caused by having too much wood in the smoker. I have cut back on the amount of wood I use. The result is no more "Big Bang".

I make sure to weigh the wood I put into the smoke box and I am certainly not overloading the box based on weight. I also just out 2 small pieces of wood into the box and still get the "Big Bang" - sometimes even with just a single piece of wood so I doubt it is the amount of wood. The "Bang" occurs (I think) when the wood lights on fire in the smoke box and then uses up most of the air inside the smoker. At that point the fire goes out and the then the outside air rush back into the smoker causing the bang. I always have the Bang using hickory but less so using apple wood. So I'm not hearing how it can be avoided or how Cookshack can modify their design to prevent it from happening.

I smoke quite a bit and use hickory a lot. I've never experienced the infamous bang you describe. I know it occurs but it may not be a phenomenon exclusive to hickory.

I've had a 055 for about 6 years and never had the bang until today.

Was smoking about 4 slabs of loin backs and put in about 6 oz of - - - wait for it - - - hickory. Had the temp set to 250 which is higher than I usually go.

The smoker sits on a back deck, right outside my office window. BANG!!! (and the dawgs started barking) I looked out the window and the whole area was covered with a haze of smoke.

I didn't immediately go look at the smoker but seemed to me there very well could be some bulges in the sides. Not so.

But it was an experience!!

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
I smoke quite a bit and use hickory a lot. I've never experienced the infamous bang you describe. I know it occurs but it may not be a phenomenon exclusive to hickory.

I have experienced the "Bang" one and it scared me so bad I started looking for the packing crate the smoker came in. It was my second smoke, and I was sending the dang thing back before it blew itself and me up. About 45 smokes later all with hickory, it has never happened again.

Hickory used in more smokes than any other wood? May occur more with hickory cause it's used so much.

quote:

Hickory used in more smokes than any other wood? May occur more with hickory cause it's used so much.

Agree....

The "bang" is not a function of the wood type, it's a combution issue and could occur with any wood.

The biggest culprit is a lack of airflow. Sometimes people block the upper vent hole and sometime they block the lower.

That's not the only cause of it, because it can happen if those two issues are avoided.