# Chips burning too fast.



## Dan0mite (May 6, 2020)

I have a masterbuilt propane smoker.  I’m having an issue with the chips burning out too fast, or at least I think so.  I have a approx 3x6 steel box with slotted kid I use for the chips, I have not been using the chip pan that comes with it.  I place the box of chips in the other chip pan. I get heavy smoke for about 10-15 min and then nothing.  There is no smoke and the chips are black with a little ember to them. 
So I have a few questions.

Should I always see smoke coming out? Or can it still be smoking with no visible sign?

If it truly is out, how can I get it to smoke longer? I’ve read soaking them or putting them in tinfoil, or do I just need to keep adding the chips?
Thank you.


----------



## forktender (May 6, 2020)

You should see a little smoke if your smoker is set up properly, you never want to see your cooker spewing thick white smoke. I'd try adding some foil over the top of your chip try, with just one or two pencil size holes poked through the foil. This won't work with a perforated chip try the bottom can't have any holes in it or it will just burn out too quickly. Find a small pan or soup can then add the chips and do the foil thing mentioned above.  You really only need an hour or two of smoke to get good smoked flavor on most things so as long as you are getting thin blue smoke for a few hours you should be good.


----------



## thirdeye (May 6, 2020)

There is an old saying about smoke.... 'Less is more better'.   You want a gentle flow of gray or blue smoke from your top vent, especially on longer cooks of ribs and heavy BBQ meats.  Here is a shot of one of my Egg's top vent.  It takes about an hour for everything to settle down enough to add meat.  The best test is to get close to your to vent and sort of wave the smoke toward your nose.  It should smell good to you and not burn your eyes or make you sneeze. 







My Big Chief fish smoker originally was meant to burn chips, and there are at least two types of chips a fine and a coarse.  When smoking wood pellets came out I switched and like the results much better.  If you can find a 1# or 2# bag of pellets maybe experiment with a blend of chips and pellets, or you might like all pellets.


----------



## Dan0mite (May 6, 2020)

forktender said:


> You should see a little smoke if your smoker is set up properly, you never want to see your cooker spewing thick white smoke. I'd try adding some foil over the top of your chip try, with just one or two pencil size holes poked through the foil. This won't work with a perforated chip try the bottom can't have any holes in it or it will just burn out too quickly. Find a small pan or soup can then add the chips and do the foil thing mentioned above.  You really only need an hour or two of smoke to get good smoked flavor on most things so as long as you are getting thin blue smoke for a few hours you should be good.



I put tinfoil over the lid of the chip box, but it still seems to burn out quickly.  I read the bag and it does say it will smoke for 30 minutes, so I’m probabaly getting the right smoke, just need to find something that smokes longer.   Thanks for the advice.


----------



## Dan0mite (May 6, 2020)

thirdeye said:


> There is an old saying about smoke.... 'Less is more better'.   You want a gentle flow of gray or blue smoke from your top vent, especially on longer cooks of ribs and heavy BBQ meats.  Here is a shot of one of my Egg's top vent.  It takes about an hour for everything to settle down enough to add meat.  The best test is to get close to your to vent and sort of wave the smoke toward your nose.  It should smell good to you and not burn your eyes or make you sneeze.
> View attachment 444072
> 
> 
> My Big Chief fish smoker originally was meant to burn chips, and there are at least two types of chips a fine and a coarse.  When smoking wood pellets came out I switched and like the results much better.  If you can find a 1# or 2# bag of pellets maybe experiment with a blend of chips and pellets, or you might like all pellets.



The meat came out with a good smoke flavor so I was getting some smoke.  Do pellets smoke longer?


----------



## schlotz (May 6, 2020)

With a proper draft and the Amazen Tray with pellets you can get up to 10-12 hours of continual smoke.


----------



## thirdeye (May 6, 2020)

Dan0mite said:


> The meat came out with a good smoke flavor so I was getting some smoke.  Do pellets smoke longer?


I've never weighed out equal amounts of chips and pellets and timed their burn time.  But for my tastes,  pellets put out a better flavor.  I even mix a few handfulls of pellets within my lump charcoal (but still add some hardwood chunks) so when my fire grows it finds new pellets.


----------

