Almost no smoke coming from my BFG running steady at 250 degrees. What's up?

[ppirichsr1998]

New BFG. 2 cooks

 

[sdynak]

Welcome to the forum.. sorry I don't have the BFG but the Bull. When I look for less smoke flavor I use 250 but when I want a smokier flavor I set on LO or 225. I was getting a lot of smoke yesterday on LO. This is the "Smoke" setting. The grills run efficient otherwise and do not produce a great amount of smoke outside of the Smoke setting. They are more like convection ovens that use wood fuel efficiently.

If you are looking for higher temp cooks with more smoke there are things out there such as a smoke tube to supplement that and I think some other generator devices. I don't have any of those. Honestly don't have a strong preference to have all food smokey I cook on it. I like the options to use Smoke & turn it up to just cook.

Sorry if this does not help but these units don't produce much smoke other then when in smoke or slightly above. Just not how they work. Not like an inefficient stick burner.

 

[ppirichsr1998]

New BFG. 2 cooks

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'm used to my Traeger which smokes all the time. I'll be smoking a leg of Lamb this weekend and we'll see how she does. Thanks again.

 

[mooncusser2k]

The smoke from a pellet grill can depend on multiple factors. A lot comes down to how efficiently the fuel is being burned, and temperature swings. For example higher temp = less smoke, because raising the temperature means it has to burn more fuel and burn it more efficiently (fan blowing more, etc). My RT-700 can smoke more in warmer weather because it isn't working against cold ambient temp. Your old Traeger may have smoked more also because it had more/bigger temperature swings than your RT.

Even if you don't see it billowing, you may still notice thinner/lighter smoke at the exhaust. It's still generating smoke and combustion gasses - because it's burning wood. And smoke tubes are an option to supplement that as mentioned.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

Try putting a blanket over it. Use wool or cotton, or get a welding blanket from Amazon or Grainger, McMaster-Carr, etc..

 

[Armando]

I had the same question, and yes keep at low settings below 225 and you will get some smoke. Not like those old smokers. But i find it suffecient smoke flavor and like was mentioned above very efficient smoker. Love it. just smoke at lower temps for a longer period of time. Best grill i have owned hands down.

 

[ondvirg1]

I do not recommend buying a BFG. Build quality is great but it does NOT smoke. Needs more BTU’s or better insulation it’s always heating and never gets a chance to smoke.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I do not recommend buying a BFG. Build quality is great but it does NOT smoke. Needs more BTU’s or better insulation it’s always heating and never gets a chance to smoke.

My theory is that most of the line of Recteq pellet grills all use the same burn pot size which requires that, when installed in a larger volume grill like the BFG, the burn pot has to run at higher output to maintain the equivalent temperature as a smaller volume grill. We all know that the higher the output of the burn pot, the more efficient the burning of the pellets, therefore putting out less smoke.

If the pot size was scaled up with a larger grill, the total volume of the burn pot would allow for more btu output while still burning "rich" (not quite enough O2 to burn at peak efficiency). My 2 cents.

 

[Motodad1776]

Maybe that's why the 590 works so well and produces plenty of smoke?

 

[101001011010010]

I have the same problem. The grill would be perfect if it produced any smoke at all, but it doesn't.