Big burps

[slojoe]

I've read about the smoke belch, today I had several, within 30 min of startup, the smoker started chugging like an old train, bout 5 in a 2 min period. Does anyone have the real "scientific" reason for this, or is it just..Stuff happens.

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[WeekendWarrior]

If I had to guess, I would say it is from "wood gasification".  Heated wood gives off a flammable gas, which I assume is building up in the smoke box.  Once it builds up to a certain ratio, a burning piece of wood causes it to "explode", giving you the puff!

[Pork Belly]

I have not had this problem yet. It is likely caused by combustion of the wood as previously mentioned.

In order to have fire you must have air, fuel and heat. Remove one of the three you cant have fire.

I use a chip screen on every smoke, I believe it restricts some available air. I also try to put my wood in the back of the box away from the vent hole. You can also try soaking your wood for 20 to 30 minutes, by adding moisture you affect how much heat it absorbs and how quickly. Some guys wrap their blocks in ventilated foil with good results.

[swthorpe]

This is a common issue with #2 and #3 smokers and has to do with wood combustion.   If your wood is dry, then you will experience the burps.   Small burps are probably OK, but I have had some where it seems like the door is going to blow off.   Some folks have advocated slowly ramping up the temp in the smoker; for example, set the temp to 150 and let it cycle through one before upping the temp to 225, etc.  This gives the wood time to slowly warm up and begin smoking while avoiding the combustion.   

The method that I have adopted and is working great is to put foil around the wood to diminish the air flow hitting the wood.  I set the temp to 225 and let it heat up.  I have not experienced the BIG burp with this method, although I will still get a couple "puffs" if the wood is dry.  Give the foil method a try and I think you will be OK.

[slojoe]

Thanks, I may try that tomorrow, cooking the other half of the butt, gonna brine this one to see any difference.

[WeekendWarrior]

I would love to be able to see inside, and see how long it takes to completely burn the chunks.

I would guess the larger the chunks the longer the smoke?

But if the Q comes out tasting great, I wouldn't mess with success.

[Pork Belly]

Post your results on the brine experiment, I am interested in how that turns out. I haven't brined a but yet and am curious as to how much of a difference it makes.

[slojoe]

Should be able to post sometime late Sat PM, I'm gonna rub a little Plowboys Yardbird on it just to make me feel better, I've always put somtin' on the butts.

[DivotMaker]

Joe, type in "combustion," or "smoke belch" in the search bar (above right) and hit "enter."  LOTS of discussion on this subject.  If you can't find some satisfactory answers, let us know.