Controlling Flare Ups when using Smoker Box on Genesis E-310

[black05tj]

Just got the Weber smoker box for my Genesis 310, and the maiden "smoke" with it was going well... for a while.

I just threw on some sausage and veggies, and put some pecan chips (soaked for 20 mins) in the box just to try it out and get a feel for how it works without the worry of ruining any expensive cuts of meat.  About 15 minutes after the food went on (after grill pre-heat and smoke started per weber's instructions for the box), I noticed the smoke rolling out and smelling bad.  The chips were on fire!!  Got the water bottle, and a few spritzes later the flames were down.

Now for the question:  how does one go about controlling such flare ups - preferably before they happen?  Granted, I'll use my wsm for any serious smoke, but for adding a little light smoke flavor on the grill I'd like to be able to use this box effectively.  The box sits on the far right with the box down beside the right flavorizer bar/burner.  I had that one set on the lowest setting, and the other 2 up about 1/3 between low/med.  The wind always seems to blow in my backyard, so I do need to get a permanent wind block set up (flames sometimes get put out by wind gusts).  I'm guessing the added air flow through the grill definitely helped the flare up, but I"m not sure if just cutting the air flow due to wind will 100% correct the problem.

Any thoughts or tips will be greatly appreciated!

 

[s2k9k]

I'm not familiar with your setup but flare ups are usually caused by too much heat and/or O2 so it sounds like you are on the right path. I would try and block the wind so you can get both burners on low and prevent excess O2 from getting to the chips. I would probably do some trial runs without food to figure out the best setup for it. Might take a little playing with to figure it out.