Not getting TBS....

[derag2]

I'm not getting thin blue smoke out of my smokhouse it's just whitish grey.... I put my pellets in the micro for 50 seconds to dry them. I have the door of the mailbox bent open on the bottom for more air. I tried cracking open the door but the smoke is comming out of the door...... What am I doing wrong? Burning out of a amznps.....

 

[daveomak]

Drill holes in the MB....  Preheat the smokehouse so it's above ambient temperature so it can draft....

MB MOD 001.JPG

• daveomak
• May 7, 2016

 

[derag2]

I'll drill a couple holes and see how that goes... Thanks!

 

[derag2]

I drilled 4 1/2" holes plus took out the handle on the mailbox.... Still grayish white.... So you run heat all the time or just to start the draw? It draws fine with out heat so havnt put heat in it yet....

 

[derag2]

 

[fwismoker]

The only time you get TBS is when you have very good combustion (small hot fire)   TBS is actually very small smoke particles and your smoke is only slightly larger...so not a big deal for your purpose of adding smoke to the smokehouse.   Hope that helps.

 

[daveomak]

If the pellet ash turns white, you have enough air flow...  If some or all are black, you need more air....

As far as heat in the smokehouse, it needs to be warm enough for the smoke to flow....   If it's too cold in the smokehouse, that cold air creates a cold air dam, and stops smoke and air from flowing....    I usually need heat for the first few minutes to get mine warm and the smoke flowing...

 

[derag2]

Thanks guys...... My ash is pretty much all white.... I need to get it out of the garage and try burning some.... I'm not planning on using heat for smoking, for now it's cold smoke only. At some point I want to add heat for smoking Turkey's or sausage links and jerky...

 

[daveomak]

Think about a small space heater to warm the smoker and to warm the meat so it is above ambient temp..  You don't want condensate to form on the meat...   also a bit of heat helps for forming a pellicle....,

 

[derag2]

I could do the space heater, eventually I will get a hot plate. I will try that heater to heat the house when I get someone to help me move it outside... Then I'll get some better pics, hard to get a good look in my poor garage