Help! No Smoke!

BethV said:
@TexasManInCajunLand I ran the pellets from yesterday this morning and it started to smoke immediately. That tells me it's not the pellets. Had it not smoked this morning right away, I would have thought the same thing. I didn't even need to try the RT pellets.

@Beach Bum made a good point. I can't even imagine how hot the interior of the 590 was prior to starting it up. Maybe that temp was already so hot that the grill reacted the same way it would if I were running it at 275. Then I would not really expect too much smoke if any at all.

For future cooks on seriously hot days, I will check the internal temp of the grill. And at least keep the lid open to let out some of the hot air. I started that cook yesterday at 3:00 pm. Right at the peak of heat.
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What did the grill show as the internal temp during this issue? And again, at 275 I'm still getting good smoke.
 
TexasManInCajunLand said:
What did the grill show as the internal temp during this issue?
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@TexasManInCajunLand I honestly don't know. I was having problems with the grill being offline from the get-go. I was busy working with that and didn't pay attention to anything else including the "no smoke" issue. I was busy trying to fix that problem.
 
BethV said:
@TexasManInCajunLand I honestly don't know. I was having problems with the grill being offline from the get-go. I was busy working with that and didn't pay attention to anything else including the "no smoke" issue. I was busy trying to fix that problem.
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I ask because if the ambient temps are causing the internal temps to skyrocket, then I can get on board with the heat outside being the cause. But if your chamber is maintaining proper temps then I'm 99.999% (Hey...there's always a chance! ;)) certain that it's just an issue with the pellets.


Full disclosure! I'm not a rocket surgeon, so I have been known to be wrong about things of this nature. I'm just saying that from my experience, this is the most logical explanation.
 
TexasManInCajunLand said:
I ask because if the ambient temps are causing the internal temps to skyrocket, then I can get on board with the heat outside being the cause. But if your chamber is maintaining proper temps then I'm 99.999% (Hey...there's always a chance! ;)) certain that it's just an issue with the pellets.


Full disclosure! I'm not a rocket surgeon, so I have been known to be wrong about things of this nature. I'm just saying that from my experience, this is the most logical explanation.
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@TexasManInCajunLand, How do you explain the grill working perfectly this morning with the same pellets from yesterday?
 
I'd try adding a large water pan to add moisture and act as a heat sink when it's that hot. May help.

Also, why the hell are you guys smoking when it's that hot?!?!?! Id be in the shade sipping on cocktails and eating ice cream :cool:
 
BretM said:
I'd try adding a large water pan to add moisture and act as a heat sink when it's that hot. May help.

Also, why the hell are you guys smoking when it's that hot?!?!?! Id be in the shade sipping on cocktails and eating ice cream :cool:
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Ha Ha! I question that myself!
 
BethV said:
UPDATE:
Problem Solved! It's the outdoor temperature that caused it to stop smoking.

I got up this morning (temps outside 73 degrees). I removed all of the questionable pellets except for the small amount that was in the auger. Added RT pellets (just a small amount to make sure I could monitor the auger). Fire box looked normal (took a photo in case I needed it).

Set the temp to LO (180) and within a few minutes there was smoke. A lot of it. More than I would normally expect. And it smelled like pellet smoke. That smoke would be coming from the pellets from yesterday that were already in the auger. The RT pellets never even got to the fire pot. She's back!

I smoked chicken the day before yesterday. It was about 111 degrees when I was doing that and I had no smoke issues. Yesterday it was 114 but my Thermoworks Smoke X said it was 118 where the grill was located (in shade with a ceiling fan going).

In the heat of the day, I was able to turn the grill off yesterday, restart it at LO. I let it run to about 210 and it never smoked (I did this when I was trying to figure it out). So I decided just to cook the tomahawk anyway, I had trouble keeping it under 265 by that time.

So the moral of this story is that it's not in my best interest to smoke when the weather is super high. This is very unusual for Southern California. Thank goodness!! I know many of you live in areas that have these high temps. It just did not work for me.

Thank you all for coming to my aid. On a holiday weekend yet!! I truly appreciate it.
Grateful that my grill is healthy and smoking and life again feels normal (sorta).

Happy Labor Day!
Beth
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Glad you figured it out. I moved from the Silicon Valley to South Carolina 10 years ago. Native Californian (born at Stanford Hospital) and I still have lots of friends there. Truly distressed over all the drought, fires, and other disasters that have hit California these past years. Hope this heat wave breaks very soon!
 
Yea if you’re running fine and normal, then it has to be the pellets. I run lumberjack too and get plenty of smoke from them. I’ve got a bag of hickory char by Lumber Jack but havent got down to them yet. I understand they don’t smoke much but more of a charcoal taste. But there regular hickory, apple sand cherry pellets has done fine on the smoke when at 250 or less.
 
There are heating pellets and cooking pellets. Sounds like you just got a bad batch of pellets. It happens. Swap them out next time and try another brand or blend. At least your steak tasted good.
 
Ogreman23 said:
There are heating pellets and cooking pellets. Sounds like you just got a bad batch of pellets. It happens. Swap them out next time and try another brand or blend. At least your steak tasted good.
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@Ogreman23 ,@Beavercreek_smoker thank you for your responses. I know this was a very long post with many responses which I greatly appreciated. Several responses before yours I explained what happened. It was not the pellets. The pellets have been working fine since. It was extremely hot temperatures that caused the no smoke issue. It was 118° in my backyard which is unprecedented where I live. Even though my 590 registered lower temps inside, the outside temp altered the performance of the grill, creating that no smoke effect. Needless to say, I won't be cooking outside if we ever have temperatures like that again.
 
118!!! Holy smoke, I’m in the mid west where we go from -20 to a rare 100 but usually never over mid 90s a few weeks a year. I cook year round but I don’t think I would stand out there unless I was in the pool at 118.
 
Beavercreek_smoker said:
118!!! Holy smoke, I’m in the mid west where we go from -20 to a rare 100 but usually never over mid 90s a few weeks a year. I cook year round but I don’t think I would stand out there unless I was in the pool at 118.
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@Beavercreek_smoker definitely my mistake and a learning experience in the end. The pool was hot! We have solar.☀
 
Well Beth, glad conditions are a bit more favorable this weekend, at least in terms of temperature. The brushfire smoke is still hanging around. The starting temperature in my Bull for beef ribs yesterday was 70 degrees. Last weekend was close to 140.
 
I was goofing around with my Bull today and discovered my own little riot mode. I‘m still trying to determine if the smoke was pure or acrid but you have to admit, it is a real smoker. I didn’t even have any food in it at the time and no, it wasn‘t on fire. That was one angry Bull. Haha.

1601268403544.png


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Was there any resolution on this? I have the same issue, literally no smoke. I see a bunch when it first ignites but literally undetectable smoke there after. I've tried at least 6 different pellets and all produce no smoke. I'm in Cali and it's the same result if it's 90 or 50 degrees f. It's frustrating, this is supposed to be a SMOKER I bought a smoke tube but it seems to produce a lot of ash Even some friends ask me why my smoker doesn't smoke... ;-(
 

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