Duration of smoke

[erictepe]

Hi Everyone,

I just received my #1 on Tuesday (happy birthday too me!) and seasoned it on Thursday. Today (Saturday) I started a 4lb pork butt a 11:30am at 225. I used 3.5oz of the hickory that came with unit. Here is what is going on: It seems like at about 45 minutes in there was a lot of white smoke, the at about 90min in there was some very lite smoke coming out. At about 2:30pm (3hr in) I don't see any smoke but the air coming out of the hole on top smells reasonably smokey. My question is-how long will that 3.5oz produce smoke?
Thanks
Eric

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[old sarge]

The smoke will be more visible initially, and taper off as cooking time goes on. Do not worry.  There can still be fain wisps of smoke still present but do to lighting, may be difficult to see.  You will be fine.

[DivotMaker]

Congrats, and Happy Birthday, Eric!  Sarge is right - there'll be smoke inside the box, even when you don't see much coming out.  You're probably looking at a 5-6 hour cook to reach 200 degrees (for pulled pork, 175 for sliced).  3.5 oz was probably plenty for that length of time.  Your meat will only absorb smoke until it hits about 140, so a lot of smoke after that will only make it taste "over-smoked."  You'll be fine.

Hang out here when you can, and post something on the "Introductions" section so we know a little about you!  Oh, and post some pics of your work - we love pictures!

[DivotMaker]

Here's a general rule of thumb on amount of wood:  Ribs or pork loins - 2.5-3 oz.  Pork butts (8 lbs) and briskets - 5.5-6 oz.  The idea is to keep the smoke rolling until around the 140-degree range.  These smokers are really efficient, so it doesn't take much wood to get a good result.

[erictepe]

Thank you Sarge and Divot. I will stop worrying.
Eric

[swthorpe]

Good advice.  You will notice the amount of wood that is left over when you finish the smoke.  I would end up with charred chunks of wood left over, so now I break the wood chunks up and I just have white ash left over after a 3 to 4 hour smoke.   

[DivotMaker]

I even split the hickory dowels down the middle.  I lay them flat-side-down, and find they burn much better than putting them in round (whole).