# charcoal smoking like crazy



## smokymcsmokster (Aug 22, 2014)

i use a kamado joe and whenever i light my charcoal crazy amounts of insanely thick really smelly smoke comes out for like 20 minutes. no wood added just charcoal. how do i avoid this smoke?


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## themule69 (Aug 22, 2014)

smokyMcSmokster said:


> i use a kamado joe and whenever i light my charcoal crazy amounts of insanely thick really smelly smoke comes out for like 20 minutes. no wood added just charcoal. how do i avoid this smoke?


You didn't say what charcoal you are using. You didn't say if you were using a chimney. You don't have your location on your profile. All of that would be helpful info. But you need to wait till the smoke clears up however long that take. I can be cooking in about 15 min. with my BGE.

Happy smoken.

David


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## smokymcsmokster (Aug 22, 2014)

I'm using maple hardwood charcoal that we got here in canada at costco. I'm not using a chimney I'm using weber starter cubes . i do wait till the smoke clears up, but its the smoke thats an issue my neighbours above me aren't too pleased it was insane amount.


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## 5oclocksomewher (Aug 22, 2014)

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__ 5oclocksomewher
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__ 5oclocksomewher
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I get a lot of smoke when I first start my 2 chimneys of charcoal.  After about 10-15 min it slows down and after 20 min the charcoal in the chimney is red hot and ready for my fire box.  After that I add my 2 mini splits and get a little white smoke for 5 min, then TBS.


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## oldschoolbbq (Aug 22, 2014)

Get a Stickburner.


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## noboundaries (Aug 23, 2014)

Not sure you can avoid that smoke no matter what you do.  I light my partially full chimney on my gas grill's side burner.  Heavy blue smoke for about five minutes.  If I leave the burner on the coals are ready in about 10 minutes.  If I turn it off once they get started it takes about 15-20 minutes.  Less smoke with lump but I use KBB cause I'm cheap when it comes to fuel. 

Once I load the hot briquettes in the smoker on top of the cold briquettes and wood it will easily smoke heavily for 20-30 minutes until I get hints of blue.  Same thing happens whether I'm using the WSM or the Kettle.  Never noticed a foul smell though.


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## thinblueduke (Aug 23, 2014)

I've got neighbors above me that I need to worry about as well.  Not sure whether this applies to your situation, but with my ECB, thick (white) smoke is usually a result of the fire not getting enough oxygen.


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## noboundaries (Aug 23, 2014)

The heavy smoke has more to do with cold fuel, whether charcoal or wood.  Not enough air can result in a cold fire, relatively speaking.  Sufficient air helps a fire get hotter quicker.  Until the fire grows hot enough to equalize the fire triangle (Heat - Fuel - Air) you get incomplete combustion of fuel and a lot of particulates in the form of white/grey smoke.  As the fuel heats up you get a cleaner burn. 

Pre-heating fuel helps it burn cleaner, but that's hard to do when you first start a fire.


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## themule69 (Aug 23, 2014)

smokyMcSmokster said:


> I'm using maple hardwood charcoal that we got here in canada at costco. I'm not using a chimney I'm using weber starter cubes . i do wait till the smoke clears up, but its the smoke thats an issue my neighbours above me aren't too pleased it was insane amount.


Invite them down for some Q. In the future they will like seeing your smoke
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





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Happy smoken.

David


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## shaggy91954 (Jan 28, 2015)

themule69 said:


> Invite them down for some Q. In the future they will like seeing your smoke
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's exactly what I was thinkin mule.  Great minds think alike............or was that drink alot............hmmmm............i've drank too much to remember.


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