Wood Catching on fire!!

[Jboom]

New here with a #3, great forum to start and I hope it grows...

So I noticed this thread has not been touch on in awhile and hopefully that's a good thing!  Tonight I did the "seasoning" of the smoker. 

I followed the directions and put two of the supplied dowels (105 grams = about 3oz) and cranked er up to 250.  We'll after about 30-40 minutes I heard a big WOOF, followed by a hissing sound and I was inside the house.  I thought it was my dog getting after a cat again but then I saw him laying in the couch...just kidding!   But this happened two times in the first hour and half.   I didn't open the door, it was about 40 F outside with little wind.  After one of these the temps were reading HHH on my maverick so it must have been at least over 350....YIKES!!!!  And it actually blew one of my two probes completely out of the smoker thru the top vent....that actually scares me because i have a young child at home and I would hate to see that if it happened and someone was near, or trying to "smell the  smoke" as I sometimes do!

Just wondering if this is an issue that needs to be dealt with(ie experimenting with wood types and moisture content) or what???  I would think that a "flare up" could be detrimental to certain smokes with the huge spike in temps and a billow of bad smoke in the chamber....not to mention the possible wellness risk!

Please advise...

[DivotMaker]

Jboom,

There has been quite a bit of discussion on this issue, and many of us have found that ramping-up the temp slower solves it.  In my #1, I never experienced this at all.  When I was testing the digital model 2, I had it happen.  Check out this post, with some videos of it:

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1345.0

I now set my temp to 130 for the first 1/2 hour, then move up to my desired cook temp.  This lets the wood start smoking (usually at about 12 minutes), then "rest" with the element off for a bit before the blast of heat hits it again.  Since I've used this method, I haven't had any more combustion.  You did right by not opening the door.  Not good to introduce a big blast of fuel to the fire!  The "belch" is like a back draft effect, and is actually the fire being blown out.

In the models 2 and 3, the heating element is a lot bigger than the #1, and really puts a lot of heat to the wood quickly.  Give it a try next time. 

Another tip - don't bother with trying to check the temp in an empty smoker.  They're all over the page, as there is nothing in there to absorb and hold the heat.  It will only frustrate you.

[swthorpe]

I have a #2 and have experienced this issue on several smokes.  I am currently testing Tony's method of heating the unit slowly in the first half hour before raising the temp to the desired setting.   After a couple of smokes last weekend, I am now testing with an initial temp of 80F to let the smoke get rolling.  With a set temp of 80, the unit is actually heating up to 110F or so, according to my Maverick.  After the #2 cycled off, I gave it a few minutes and then raised the temp to 225F or so for the rest of the smoke.  Last weekend, this worked well and all I got was nice light (vs. dark) smoke coming out of the top.

I have a pork loin on tap for tmw with 3.5oz of hictory/cherry mix.   I am going to try the same game plan with an initial set temp of 80.   If all goes well, I will post a summary in the Anything Goes forum.

[DivotMaker]

That's a good point, Steve - the temp swing of the analog.  I tested my method with an Auber/bypassed smoker.  I didn't consider the analog swing.  I bet you are dead-on with your method for the analog dial.  Thanks!

[kujobie]

I have had some issues with flare ups.  I find soaking the wood seems to help. 

[Three Sons BBQ]

Interesting.

Recall another post or blog on a different site I believe from when I was just deciding whether to buy the SI3. It said the mod he did and very much enjoyed was drilling out the inlet at the bottom of the unit to effectively double the area.

I didn't put much stock in it... But curious if anyone heard of this???

[DivotMaker]

I read that, Steve.  It was in reference to using the AMNPS in the SI (Amazin Pellet Smoker).  Drilling the bottom hole larger, for the stock element, would make flare-ups worse by far.  There is a very controlled amount of air entering the smoke box through the small hole in the bottom, so introducing twice as much would allow twice the "fuel" to the smoldering wood...and, poof!  Several tried to discourage that guy from drilling out his unit, but I think he eventually did in order to just use the AMNPS  exclusively.  Might as well just buy a box and AMNPS if you're going to do that!

[Spresso]

one more thing you can do is put  some aluminum foil at the bottom of the smoke box.  it will restrict the airflow and put a bit of insulation between the pieces of wood and the heating element.
works for me.  and make sure you place the chunks where the smoke box is the coolest.
Zed

[DivotMaker]

Hey Zed, glad to see you around here again!  Been awhile!

[Spresso]

thanks Tony...
i'm feeling guilty 
I will post a bit on your calling members thread...

[swthorpe]

Thanks for the tip, Zed.  I will try that the next time out, along with raising the temp slow.