How to Get Good SMOKE on a Charcoal Grill
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- Are you looking for tips and tricks to get good tasting smoked food on your charcoal grill? It all starts with understanding the science of good smoke. Just because you've got smoke doesn't mean that your food will taste good. It is easy to have too much smoke or the wrong kind and your food will end up tasting bitter. Do it right and makes some good BBQ.
I'll also answer the question: Should I soak my wood chips? And do a taste off following the rules vs breaking them and getting bad smoke.
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I'm frustrated that it took me so long to discover this video. It is very well made and explains why the quality of my smokes have been inconsistent. Thank you so much.
2:55! After watching hours and hours of content from a multitude of different creators, this has got to be the most helpful tip of all on burning a clean fire and “good” smoke. Just take a whiff, folks! It’s really that simple. No one in their right mind would take a big whiff of that white, billowy, rancid smoke. So, why would you cook your meat in it?!
Ryan, thanks for explaining the concept, and also your take on how long to let charcoal burn in the chimney in a later video,really honed my kettle game. I also love my Spider Venom. I did a 9 lb pork shoulder started at 12am -8am @ 225 on the Venom. 8am it was probe was at 165. I wrapped it raised temp to 250, pulled it of at 203, then rested it in a cooler for 2hrs. Amazing pulled pork, moist and totally rendered. Keep up the good content!
Keep up the good Q! That sounds amazing. People think that these videos state the obvious, but I don't think they realize all the little things they've learned along the way that make a big difference.
Good video. One thing that you didn't mention is that when you initially take the time to let the cooker get up to temp, the unlit fuel also gets up to temp. That allows the unlit fuel to light quickly without bad smoke.
Thanks, Jon. I should have mentioned it, but didn't think about it when I was making the video. Quite a few people had that question in the comments and it would have been good to share.
Great video. You can also put your hand over the exhaust for 3 seconds, it your hand still smells bad, the smoke is not yet clean. I just wish it didn’t take so long for my Kamado Joe to produce clean smoke. I may have to start using a chimney like on my Weber, at which point I may as well use the kettle. Keep the great videos coming.
Thanks, Pat! Just don't burn yourself with the exhaust. Kamados are a whole different beast. They take a lot longer to heat up and burn so efficiently for low and slow that sometimes you really have to choke down the fire to keep the temps in range. I usually use the chimney for the kamado to help speed things a long too.
this is why I am adding a weber kettle to my kamado for smoking - the ceramic egg it is just too efficient when it comes to keeping temps, great for fuel consumption, bad for clean wood smoke as vents practically close down once the temp is reached so wood can only smoulder....
Thanks for this - great video. Did a beef roast this weekend that was ok but just a bit overly smoky, and not in a good way. Now almost 100% sure it was just because I put it on too early 👍
I recently got a like new Weber kettle at a garage sale. I actually like the flavor more than any other grill/smoker I've had and it's so much more enjoyable than the likes of my pellet smoker.
My home made grill from pipe casing is much more better than a Weber . Don't ask me why? IDK WHY? it is it just hold heat better cause your getting that metal casing hot
Good info, thanks!
I like using my Rotisserie accessory with the 22" Weber charcoal Grill.
...Lid off and spin the rotisserie right over a hot spread out layer of coals / and a small amount of flavor wood.
...End up with a light smoke flavor on the food item I am cooking. And the wonderful magic flavor from some of the fat dripping onto the coals and that flavor coming back up over the food item. And of course, the self basting of rotisserie type cooking.
...For larger items like a beef rib roast, I've tried low and slow with lid on, coals to the side/small amount of flavor wood, until the internal temp is about 110-115°f
Then finish hot and fast with the lid off over hot coals, to get an excellent crust and reach an internal temp of about 130-135°f
this is why I am adding a weber kettle to my kamado for smoking - the ceramic egg it is just too efficient when it comes to keeping temps, great for fuel consumption, bad for clean wood smoke as vents practically close down once the temp is reached so wood can only smoulder. Hoping that weber will let me run a hotter fire to achieve same temps, lose some fuel efficiency and gain a cleaner smoke
Can’t use my Kamado to smoke in warm weather for those same reasons. Only in winter can I open the vents enough to get a decent fire and keep temps “low and slow”. Very frustrating and has caused me to quit using it for smoking.
I had no idea i’d learn as much as i did. I always did the whiff test, but i never really knew why lmao.
Thanks, again Luke. Theres a pretty big difference in the two smells. That good smoke smells great and makes it all worth it.
thank you I learned more than from the book 🔥
I have a hard time getting into longer books and learn a lot more from seeing things in action. Thanks!
Wives are the ultimate litmus test! Thanks for the video!
The bad flavor was mostly from un heated charcoal not the wood. Let the charcoal smoke mellow then put wood over charcoal then begin to put on meat.
The bad flavor can be (and often is) from white smoke from the wood igniting then being put out due to smothering. I’ve had it where my coals are all lit fully, I add wood, but there isn’t enough oxygen getting in so the fire on the wood basically lights and then gets smothered and produces white smoke. It’s almost like lighting a candle then blowing it out; all that smelly white smoke is produced and it’s a LOT of it.
Great stuff! I learned this the hard way by ruining food!
Thanks! From failure you learn, from success not so much! Of course sometimes I have to repeat the fail just to be sure :)
I never did understand how it's possible to get clean smoke with the snake or minion method. As the unlit coals catch across the grill shouldn't they be producing dirty coal smoke as they're igniting? I run into that problem sometimes which is why I'll use lump at times since it generally burns cleaner than briquettes.
Nice vid, man. I always enjoy your content.
I've used both methods and it follows the principle of having a small hot fire. The burning coals dry out and heat up the charcoal and when the fire gets to it, it lights faster than if it had started with cold charcoal. If you ever refuel in the middle of a cook, you'll get the white smoke, but not when it is burning regularly.
@@GrillTopExperience Good info. Thanks!
Ah... the video that comes out a year after I learn this lesson the hard way.
Everyone and I mean everyone has to learn this lesson one way or another. You are rocking it now!
@@GrillTopExperience I learn best the hard way.
Good video. My coworker said he didn't like smoked bbq cause it tasted like wood. I think he had dirty burn, overpowered smoke.
That happens a lot because most people don't understand the concept of good smoke and less is more. I know that I didn't. I've gotten the smoke so clean that you could bake bread and no one would have known it was baked with fire. Once you learn how to control it you can match the people's preference.
Oak is one of my favorite BBQ woods, then Mesquite Wood. Pecan is a hot burning wood. i use it to. Not much smoke flavor > Hickory is like oak but with a bitter taste. Which is good on hams ect 👉👉 I like grilling with wood more than charcoal.. my mixture is ? 75% wood and 25% charcoal or like most of the time 100% wood > Cause the charcoal burns a little bit longer than wood > Most of my BBQING is done with in a Hour! 30 min smoke and 30 min flame broiling
Very cool bro, I’ve always wondered if it really mattered. Great experiment.
Thanks for checking it out CJ. Sometimes it's the little things that make the difference.
I love that smokey flavor.
Hello. I already commented on your previous video about the clean smoke. My concern was how to MAINTAIN clean smoke on a weber kettle. It's hard to achieve such thing when you try to keep a low temperature and at the same time a good raging fire that will burn the wood properly in such a small chamber.
- I personally use the snake method of 2+1 on top briquettes, with a starter of 13 briquettes and this gives me a steady 225 temperature after 30min which will get up to 250 after 2h+ with both up and down vents fully opened. This is when I'll start adjusting the vents whenever the temperature will get to 275 till it gets back to 240. Usually it's once per hour adjustment.
- I usually use 3 chunks of wood during a long cook (which i believe is more than enough to get the smokey flavor) . First chunk is the biggest, at the size of a fist, and the one with the most important role because I have enough time to let it get properly burned till it starts giving thin blue smoke. After that i put my meets inside.
- And now i go to the main concern which is the "how do u maintain the smoke from the rest 2 chunks without burning them dirty". What i personally do is to cut a chunk into 2 smaller pieces and use a flamer to char it outside before i open the lid and place it on top of the lit coals. I realized that this way the next piece of wood will go straight to the thin smoke. Another way if you dont have a flamer is to place the chunks on top of your lid in order to keep them as warm and dry as possible and this will allow them to catch fire faster. Sorry for the long post. Greetings from Greece the land of flesh!
Problem is on a long cook using the minion method you’ll get constant ignition and bad smoke
I would recommend large chunks of wood vs chips or soaked chips. Woodchips tend to burn vs smoke, especially when there's a lot of air flow.
Great advice. Chunks are good for low and slow. Chips are OK for hot and fast if you want a burst of smoke.
Hello there. big fan here! I have been reading a lot about dirty and clean smoke and how to accomplish the later one when smoking meats. I find a bit confusing, even contradictory that you must burn your charcoal/briquettes at over 600 degrees and yet keep the grill temperature at 225-250 degrees. I have a Webber kettle and every time I feed a few briquettes into the Webber basket (I usually only use one basket for indirect heat), or place a chunk of wood, I can't help to get that white dirty smoke. Other than the snake method which I saw your video, is there a way to accomplish clean smoke using the standard Webber charcoal basket? Thanks!!!!
Since the baskets come in pairs, could you put your new wood and charcoal in a second basket in the kettle and use it when needed so it is already dried out?
question. what if your broken inside and enjoy the overpowering camp fire smoke flavor.
hahaha, man this video could get a few new viewers! Awesome video man, I honesty want to start cooking like this now!
Thanks, man. I'm just living the dream making videos and hoping other people like them too.
What’s wrong with smoke as a campfire
How do you navigate needing to top up the charcoal basket part way through a cook?? Take off your food and wait for the smoke to clear up then put it back on?
Usually it's wrapped by then and doesn't matter. If it isn't I'll do what you described.
Hi there Mr GTE, thanks for the video! Question.. sort of having an problem, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong here. I put the wood on top of the charcoals and wait maybe 10 minutes or so for the whiter smoke to clear out like you (and many others) have said to do, then once the smoke turns more blue, I added my food. The problem is I get that thin blue smoke for maybe 10 - 15 minutes tops, and then it just disappears entirely. I finally broke down on a cook and opened the grill to see what was going on to find that all 4 wood chunks were pretty much almost all the way broken down - like almost ash only about 15 minutes into the smoke, and there wasn’t any more smoke at all being produced. So I was forced to add more wood in the middle of the smoke. The steak still turned out great, there wasn’t anything wrong with it, but I think it could have been better with more of the right amount of smoke. So.. What am I doing wrong here? How do I get the wood to last longer?
The amount of smoke flavor you like varies widely from person to person. If you wanted more, you could put the food as the white fades to blue or add some wood chips when you put the food on because they'll light a bit quicker. If you want to use the chunks, you could preheat them by leaving them on the grate while waiting for the charcoal to start burning and they'll light faster once they touch the coals.
A strong smoke flavor is a bit harder with the hot/fast cooks.
Every smoker I buy the flame goes out and so the smoking wood doesn’t stay alight and burn properly. Even with the bottom vent completely open and getting the flame going before putting the lid on it still goes out. Any tips?
How about adding additional Charcoal, is that smoke bad for the food? I'm using the indirect heat method where the Charcoal are on one side and the food is on the other side (indirect).
When I add a few Charcoal, I get that new burn smoke. Should I put the vent above the Charcoal until it clears up? Currently, I'm having it face the indirect direction.
I like heavy onion smoke. MORE THE BETTER. and oak does it for me. CAUSE YOU CAN GET TO MUCH OAK SMOKE as Well... There hot smoke and cool smoke. Cool smoke is stronger than hot smoke. Cause the fire is burn a lot of elements out of the smoke
How does this apply to the snake method?
The snake method is all about a small hot fire because it'll only burn so much charcoal at any given time. I like to start mine with a dozen briquettes or so in a chimney or with a fire starter. You still want to wait until the smoke dies down before you put your food on. A related question is: does that mean I get the bad smoke throughout the whole cook because charcoal is always lighting? No, as the fire gets closer it dries out the charcoal and it lights quickly so you avoid that initial smoke.
I’ve read that it helps to put the wood under the charcoal which keeps it from igniting. What do you think? Could you test this?
I did that test and there is a DIFFERENCE. That one surprised me: th-cam.com/video/azMY5lQtbmY/w-d-xo.html
@@GrillTopExperience that is awesome. Thanks.
You’re a lucky man.
so, if you're setting a snake with multiple wood chunks around the snake, won't you get "bad smoke" as the snake burns around and a new chunk catches?
There is a video for that th-cam.com/video/kGMr9CYAvXU/w-d-xo.html
What about when you're using a smoker with a side box with a charcoal basket in it? I usually fill it up with unlit charcoal then dump some white hot coals over it and it does smoke like crazy and I don't know how to get it not to smoke. My reasoning for doing it this way is one because I don't know of another way and 2 because I was under the impression that you don't want all of the charcoal lit at once so it lasts for hours smoking my meat. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
How could you run clean smoke for longer periods like briskets,
I see some responses that might be answering me question but I just want to be sure before I double smoke my ham for thanksgiving. Usually I light 4-5 coals and put them into a bed of unlit coals and place a chunk of wood onto the 4-5 lit coals. Wait for it to get to temp and for good smoke to come out of the vents. Will the unlit charcoal be producing bad smoke as they light? Also if I need to add a couple chunks of wood as I cook do I need to take meat off for wood to finish lighting? Or does the drying out principal apply to unlit wood also. Great video thanks!
The charcoal in the kettle will light quickly once you start getting clean smoke. You'd want to remove the meat to add charcoal if it's uncovered, but I bet you could add a small wood chunk or two to the lit coals without it putting off enough bad smoke to notice.
Thank you for making this video. I'm a new homeowner & thus, a new charcoal griller and your videos have been very helpful. There is one confusion I have that I hope you can help clarify. Doesn't the "snake method" of low and slow cooking contradict the idea where we should heat up our charcoal first on a chimney, wait till it's fully burnt with clear smoke, then use it for cooking?
Since the snake method will light up fresh charcoal with our food already in the kettle, doesn't this result in black smoke?
I ran into this question when I was grilling up some chicken thighs, but my pre-lit charcoal was starting to die down and lose temperature during mid cook, so I threw in some fresh charcoal into the charcoal basket. But then I wondered, "wait, this is going to create black smoke from the newly unashed charcoal i just threw in and my chicken is still on the grate". What would you advise?
That's a great question and it shows that you are really thinking about the concepts. The snake method works because the charcoal is in the grill and getting pre-heated and dried out. Once the fire gets close enough to light the charcoal, it does it quickly so you don't get the same bad smoke.
If you need to add charcoal to a cook, it's better to light it in a chimney and toss it in once it is lit, but I wouldn't stress about it as much. Once the food has been on for an hour at thigh grilling temperatures, it isn't likely to absorb much smoke flavor at that point. The best option comes with a bit more experience and that is starting out with enough charcoal for a cook like that.
@@GrillTopExperience Appreciate the response! Can't wait to level up with my Weber kettle and continue to watch your content! P.S I'm using the Weber performer, and your video on the weber performer models helped with my decision in pulling the trigger!
Very good insights here! So, out of curiosity, why do u not get dirty smoke with low and slow SNS method where u only light 12 coals initially on one side and then the other coals continue to ignite through out the cook? Same as snake method. Is it because the fire is not as intense and is more gradual that it doesn’t produce dirty smoke? Cheers!
That's a really good question and I've used the SNS and the Snake Method for low and slow. Both rely on a small hot fire to get good smoke. The charcoal near the fire is warming up and drying out just waiting for the fire to touch it so it ignites. That happens quickly so you don't get the bad smoke you get when you first light cold charcoal.
Am I the only person that likes that extra smoke flavor?
God no, your not the only one.
@@danielploy9143 thank you, I was beginning to think everything I know is a lie
@@Spoons7414 thank you for this comment. I was having a crisis of conscience.
No.... you're not alone.
Smoke from wood is different from the smoke from the burning charcoal
So, one thing I don't understand about this is how the snake method is valid considering that you're supposed to wait for the white smoke to dissipate. Since you're lighting the coals at one end of a bunch of unlit coals, won't they just release a bunch of white smoke the whole time you're cooking? Is it different for indirect cooking?
This is a common question. The charcoal and wood in the snake dries out and preheats so that it lights very quickly when the fire touches it. That keeps it from smoldering and producing a bunch of bad white smoke.
Hello Ryan, I recently picked up a Spider Venom and a Skyflame charcoal basket (Slow & Sear knock off) What is the set up for low and slow 225-300 with the Venom in order to not get bad smoke. Any tips or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Chad. Your channel is great! Plus I also have the same Genesis grill model that you have or had with the sear station. Thanks!
The principles of getting good smoke on any charcoal grill are the same. As long as you let the charcoal burn until the white smoke is gone and don't use too much wood it should turn out great. Keeping a cook journal helps recreate success
@@GrillTopExperience Thank you so much for responding. My wife has the same reaction when food tastes like a fireplace.
Haven’t tried the ‘snake method’ yet, but now I’m thinking there would always be white smoke as the next briquettes are starting to burn.
I should have mentioned it, but the snake method warms and fries the charcoal that is next in line. Once the fire gets to it, it lights quickly and cleanly. Cold charcoal would smoke a bunch!
What if you have to keep adding wood for a long cook? Do you have to keep taking off your meat to avoid the white smoke?
Usually, I'll have enough wood to keep the smoke rolling until I wrap the meat. If the meat has been on for a few hours already it won't absorb much more smoke and can get away with adding wood and charcoal if you have to.
@@GrillTopExperience Thanks , man
So does the bad smoke theory apply to wood chunks too? I would think not since when using the snake method wood chunks light during the cooking process. I’m so confused 😜
You can get bad smoke with charcoal and wood. The snake method works well because you have a small hot fire rather than a big smoldering one. That makes it so the wood chunks burn hot enough to get good smoke.
So then how are these people using the snake method to smoke meat and it not be too smokey?? Bc the new charcoal is constantly lighting up for the first time through the entire cook ?
And they never say the meat is too smokey or was cooked in bad smoke so I don’t understand this.
Never soak your chips. It just creates steam... Fun fact, why do you think they used hardwoods to make boats? Brcause they dont absorb water very well
The steam can most often create a nice flavor, way better than smoldering wood not getting enough oxygen.
@@danielploy9143 exactly. its all about a clean burning fire. If your wood is not getting enough o2 to burn clean, soaked or not, its gonna taste bad.
I preferer a very light hint of smoke flavor, so i use hardwood lump since its all hardwood anyway. I do not add any more wood pieces to my fire, just a nice clean lump fire
1:39-1:45 😂😂😂😂😂😂
This guy is recording in 4kHD
Your lady super feminine. Good for you Chad
I lost all respect for you the second you called a grill a bbq.
The oxford dictionary defines BBQ as a metal frame for cooking food over an open fire outdoors. Even if you take the narrower term regarding low and slow cooking, you'll find that you can do that on a kettle too.
@@GrillTopExperience a British definition? Wow. The British must have world famous bbq and know everything about it
Honestly with a comment like that I don’t really think anyone would care for your respect.
What you are saying, though refusing to say, is that BBQ grills are suck. Period.
Save your money, gather the kids and make a far superior mud rocket stove.