# I've tried everything. White smoke!



## rybro (Jun 19, 2017)

Hey guys,

I haven't posted in a while, been busy with my 1 year old. I've been smoking for about a year and half now...love every minute of it. But I've run into a problem, I'm getting a lot of white smoke and having trouble achieving good blue smoke. I never had the issue on my Weber Kettle w/ Slow-n-Sear.

Recently, I bought a 22.5" WSM. Now, I've searched through these forums as well as others and have tried many of the different tips and tricks...without any good results.

I use Kingsford Professional Briquettes. I've tried Western World Wood & Weber Wood. I always place the wood away from my initial lit coals to let them warm up. I let my initial briquettes completely ash over before dumping into the WSM. I've tried different variations of the minion method. Lot's of money being spent on dry runs lately. The top vent is always open. The bottom three I've tried many different setups. Generally, I just leave them wide open until it starts to approach temp then adjust. I've had to pull wood out during a smoke...because they are basically on fire and smoking like crazy. Doesn't matter where I place the wood, buried or not, every time lit coals start to get to them white smoke starts rolling. I am basically having white smoke for 75% of the cook. I've been pretty frustrated lately. Sorry if I missed anything, I will try and answer any other questions. Please help me!


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## crankybuzzard (Jun 19, 2017)

Do you have a picture of the white smoke?  I've seen ok smoke confused with white because of the "clean, clear, blue" we often refer too.

Chunks buried in coals WILL be white smoke at first but usually clears up after a couple of minutes.  

One other question, does the WSM have vents at the bottom and exhaust ports at the top?  If so, what is the vent position at the bottom and is your exhaust wide open?


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## rybro (Jun 19, 2017)

CrankyBuzzard said:


> Do you have a picture of the white smoke?  I've seen ok smoke confused with white because of the "clean, clear, blue" we often refer too.
> 
> Chunks buried in coals WILL be white smoke at first but usually clears up after a couple of minutes.
> 
> One other question, does the WSM have vents at the bottom and exhaust ports at the top?  If so, what is the vent position at the bottom and is your exhaust wide open?


I will do a dry run tonight and get a few pictures. It appears too white to me, I can't even see through it most of the time. But, a second opinion is always welcomed! 

My exhaust is ALWAYS wide open. The three intake vents at the bottom vary. But usally, I leave them wide open until I almost get to temp then adjust. Usually closing one, the 2nd about half open, and the third all the way open. That usually holds around 240 for me, which is the target temp I like to smoke at.


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## smokinbill1638 (Jun 19, 2017)

What are you using to start charcoal?  wood - how much, what kind, where from?  I have found that 3 chunks works well.  I have also found that I have to wait about an hour to let everything get to the right temp.  I use a coffee can in the middle, put unlit charcoal around it, put coals in middle, pull can and wait.


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## rybro (Jun 19, 2017)

smokinbill1638 said:


> What are you using to start charcoal?  wood - how much, what kind, where from?  I have found that 3 chunks works well.  I have also found that I have to wait about an hour to let everything get to the right temp.  I use a coffee can in the middle, put unlit charcoal around it, put coals in middle, pull can and wait.


I use a chimney to get my charcoal started - Two newspaper pages under the chimney. About half a chimney. I use 3-4 chunks. I've tried Weber Cherry/Apple and Western World Hickory/Apple. I purchase these online (Amazon) and sometimes at the store (True Value, Lowes, Wal-Mart)...just depends who's cheaper. They all seem to give me the same results. 

I have tried the method you speak of a few weeks ago and I still had A LOT of white smoke.


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## smokinbill1638 (Jun 19, 2017)

are you soaking the wood or leaving dry?  Have you cleaned and burnt out?


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## rybro (Jun 19, 2017)

smokinbill1638 said:


> are you soaking the wood or leaving dry?  Have you cleaned and burnt out?


I do not soak my wood. Most seasoned BBQ guys tell me soaking the wood is worthless, so I've followed their advice up to this point. Not sure what you mean by cleaned/burnt out? If you mean clean the smoker...then yes I have. It's brand new, about 2 weeks old.


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## smokinbill1638 (Jun 19, 2017)

I wash my smoker with mild detergent, rinse well, then start hot charcoal fire in it without water to burn out any residue.  I was thinking that maybe it is something left over from manufacturing on the inside that is giving the white smoke.


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## justplainbob (Jun 19, 2017)

have you tried with no wood at all?

does everything fit tightly together?

only time my chunks catch fire is if there is a leak like i didnt close the door properly or put the pieces together properly

my 2 cents - start a ring of charcoal and close all bottom vents -see if it get keeps going


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## rybro (Jun 19, 2017)

JustPlainBob said:


> have you tried with no wood at all?
> 
> does everything fit tightly together?
> 
> ...


I will try tonight, but I always close off all vents after I'm done using it. There is always unlit charcoal left the next morning, meaning the lit coals were starved of oxygen.


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## rybro (Jun 19, 2017)

Also, whenever I take the wood out during a smoke...the white smoke stops.


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## justplainbob (Jun 19, 2017)

i think you've got the answer 

too much wood?

green wood?

bark?

1 chunk goes a long way for me 

good luck


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## birdman080 (Jun 19, 2017)

One thing I have started doing is taking my wood chunks and putting them in my oven and "pre-heating" them at about 300 degrees while lighting the smoker and bringing it up to tempt.  It seems to help reduce my white smoke time to about 20 - 30 minutes


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## dward51 (Jun 19, 2017)

The wood chunks will "catch fire" and it will smoke white for a while.  But then once the wood chunk is fully lit and starting to carbonize and become a glowing coal, the smoke will turn bluish.  Give it a little more time.


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## rybro (Jun 19, 2017)

JustPlainBob said:


> i think you've got the answer
> 
> too much wood?
> 
> ...


It's not green wood. No bark. I've tried just one before and 4....they all smoke almost the entire smoke regardless of the amount. I am absolutely baffled right now.


Birdman080 said:


> One thing I have started doing is taking my wood chunks and putting them in my oven and "pre-heating" them at about 300 degrees while lighting the smoker and bringing it up to tempt.  It seems to help reduce my white smoke time to about 20 - 30 minutes


I have always done that. Does't seem to make a difference in my WSM.


dward51 said:


> The wood chunks will "catch fire" and it will smoke white for a while.  But then once the wood chunk is fully lit and starting to carbonize and become a glowing coal, the smoke will turn bluish.  Give it a little more time.


My white smoke lasts the majority of the smoke. I have been pulling the carbonized wood chunks out and they are always just billowing with white smoke. They shouldn't be, but they are.

Sorry guys, but so far everything suggested I've done. I'm literally just confused on how it can produce white smoke for almost an entire smoke. By the time it's done, It will only hold temp for about 2 hours and all of my unlit charcoal are almost gone. I'm starting to wonder if it is the airflow. Not really sure.


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## pops6927 (Jun 19, 2017)

Check your thermometers, you may be at a higher temp than you think.


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## gmc2003 (Jun 20, 2017)

Rybro, I have the WSM 22 and normally run with two of the three bottom vents closed. I adjust the airflow with the third vent. If there is any wind blowing I use the vent that's opposite of the wind. I also place two or three chunks away from the open vent trying to reduce flareups. Hope this helps. Top vent is always open and water pan is foiled and empty.

Chris


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## jarjarchef (Jun 20, 2017)

So stupid question. Most vertical smokers that style have a water pan. Is yours full of water? If so, maybe the white smoke you are seeing is steam. I know there are some great suggestions on here and I agree with pretty much all of them, but if you are preheating the cook chamber to anything over 212°F you are running a chance of boiling the water. Actually the higher the temp, the more likely you are. I had a friend discribe the same thing to me a while back and we went through basically the same steps described by most here to solve. Then we realized it was steam when we saw all the water build up under the roof we were under.

Just throwing another theory out there..... I could be way off base on this situation, but worth a thought for a minute.


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## cmayna (Jun 20, 2017)

Pops6927 said:


> Check your thermometers, you may be at a higher temp than you think.


This is what I was thinking.  Interesting that you can accomplish blue smoke with your weber grill via a Slow N Sear, which is what I have, yet can't get blue smoke with the WSM.  Maybe its the vent positions as what gmc2003 is suggesting.


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## sauced (Jun 20, 2017)

I am also guessing the problem lies with the vent positions.....


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## rybro (Jun 20, 2017)

-I've tried all 3 sets of my probes - all different manufacturers. They are all reading the same give or take a few degrees. I'm confident it's not running at a higher temp. 

-I have been using water. I used water in my Slow-N-Sear and never had steam problems when it was boiling. Should I not be using water? But I believe the smoke looks like smoke, not steam.

-I didn't think of the closing the two vents closest to the wood....I will have to try that one.


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## natej (Jun 20, 2017)

There is a finite amount of variables that can possibly be causing your white smoke issue, my suggestion would be to write down every single one, 1 variable at a time do the opposite of what your doing ( dry run of course, no meat) and sooner or later you will find the root of the problem.

Just my .02 cents


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## mike5051 (Jun 20, 2017)

I've got an 18.5 WSM, 4-5 chunks of dry wood mixed with a full ring of charcoal.  I turn my chimney upside down and light that amount of charcoal.  I foil the water pan, no water. Top vent wide open. Two of the three bottom vents closed and start with the third wide open.  I'll end up almost closing it and running for 8-10 hrs between 225 and 250 without touching it.  During this time there is an almost invisible smoke coming from the top vent, but the smell of smoking wood in the air.  

If I lift the lid for any reason during this time, like when checking ribs for bend test, the smoker will put out some white smoke for a while once I'm finished futzing with it.  

Mike


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## rybro (Jun 22, 2017)

I'm 30 minutes into a dry run, holding at my 230 temp. Is this not dirty smoke? I'm showing what I see against a black background and the green grass. I have my top vent wide open. Bottom vent furthest away from wood open, other two closed. 













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## rybro (Jun 22, 2017)

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## mike5051 (Jun 22, 2017)

Do you have water in the pan?  Could be steam, it still doesn't look alarming to me.

Mike


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## gmc2003 (Jun 23, 2017)

It doesn't appear to be billowing white smoke. You'll be fine and it should settle into TBS once the wood is charred over.

Chris


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## smokinbill1638 (Jun 23, 2017)

Looks good to me, I normally run mine about an hour before I put the meat on but that is definitely a thin smoke.


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## rybro (Jun 23, 2017)

Thanks guys. I must have been spoiled using my slow n sear. he he he. SO much blue smoke with that. It took about 1 hour 15 minutes to get thinner than what I posted. I'm guess I'm just an impatient person.


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