Lack of smoke...

Sam

New member
Messages
2
Grill(s) owned
  1. BFG
I’m new to the pellet world. I have a faithful stick burner but wanted something that I can set it and get some sleep.
I noticed while using the BFG that there literally no smoke. My temps would be spot on but absolutely no smoke. So I started to play with the feed rate and saw promising results when the feed rate was all the way up. Then the temps started to fluctuate horribly. So now I’m back to square one. I have only used a bag of rec teq and tried a premium mix the local Bbq store makes.

I have tried the extreme smoke setting and still nothing... My brother bought the Memphis elite and his smokes just fine. I know it’s apples to oranges but I’m still in my 30 days and am wondering if the $3000 was worth it.

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I’m new to the pellet world. I have a faithful stick burner but wanted something that I can set it and get some sleep.
I noticed while using the BFG that there literally no smoke. My temps would be spot on but absolutely no smoke. So I started to play with the feed rate and saw promising results when the feed rate was all the way up. Then the temps started to fluctuate horribly. So now I’m back to square one. I have only used a bag of rec teq and tried a premium mix the local Bbq store makes.
I have tried the extreme smoke setting and still nothing... My brother bought the Memphis elite and his smokes just fine. I know it’s apples to oranges but I’m still in my 30 days and am wondering if the $3000 was worth it.

I ran into the same problem when I first went from stick to pellet... I feel you brother!!!
After many testing, pellet swap, talking to friends with pellet smoker and just reading through comments here I ended up getting "BIG D" heat diffuser.
I use lumberjack pellet for my cooks, whatever flavor you prefer. I tried treager and didn't really like...

Here's my email address for if you need more info and can share some of my experience going from stick to pellet...
[email protected]
 
I ran into the same problem when I first went from stick to pellet... I feel you brother!!!
After many testing, pellet swap, talking to friends with pellet smoker and just reading through comments here I ended up getting "BIG D" heat diffuser.
I use lumberjack pellet for my cooks, whatever flavor you prefer. I tried treager and didn't really like...

Here's my email address for if you need more info and can share some of my experience going from stick to pellet...
[email protected]
I just got my BFG and have noticed little to no smoke. Is this normal, as my offset stick burner gives off plenty of smoke..
 
I don't own a BFG, but my experience with my 700 suggests that you're going to need to augment the smoke with a smoke tube or makeshift smoke "burritos" or such.

A pellet grill produces smoke when the fuel is burning colder than the optimum for best heat to fuel consumption ratio. You have to "run it rich", like your car when they used to have a choke in the carburetor. If it runs rich (too much fuel to air, it smokes. As you push more air and fuel into the pot, it burns more efficiently and thus produces less smoke.

Given that your BFGs have the same burn pot and just run more fuel and air thru them to get the same temps a 700 gets with less fuel and air, a BFG burner is working harder and thus producing less smoke.

I'm surprised they didn't scale up the burn pot on the BFG.

One thing you can do to increase the smoke by decreasing how hard the burn pot has to run, is to use an insulation blanket to keep heat in. Especially in cool weather or at night.
 
There are youtube videos of folks installing smoke generators on their BFGs. One problem was that the smoke all poured out of one vent and didn’t flow across the entire grill due to the short stub pipe coming off the generator into the BFG. A fix - which the gentleman noted but didnt try - would be to lengthen the stub inside the grill so that the smoke would discharge in the middle of the grill.

most pellet grill - at least the recteq’s - don’t produce heavy smoke at higher temperatures. However, at the higher temperatures one could utilize smoke tubes or a smoke generator(s). Smoke tubes have worked for many on this forum, including me. AND, if you get tired of your BFG and want to sell it, give me a pm shout! 😉
 
I have read this thread with interest. I am a former stick burner (Lang 84) and am used to a fair amount of smoke. When I did my 1st cook on my BFG I was so shocked with the lack of smoke that I was on the phone with customer service while I was cooking thinking that it wasn’t working correctly. They told me there was smoke but I couldn’t see it (?).

I love the convenience of the BFG and it is certainly a quality constructed piece of equipment.

I have worked out a solution. I soak wood chunks (chips burn to fast) and place them in small aluminum pan on top of the heat deflector under the drip pan. I get about an hour of good smoke from 1 pan of chunks.
The quality of my product is good and the convenience aspect of the BFG is outstanding. I am slightly perturbed that I have to take this extra step on such am expensive unit.
 
So when you put wood chunks on the deflector plate, does anyone know what the minimum temperature that you should run at to get them smoking? I'm looking to smoke some pork roasts tomorrow and would like to try this out.
 
So when you put wood chunks on the deflector plate, does anyone know what the minimum temperature that you should run at to get them smoking? I'm looking to smoke some pork roasts tomorrow and would like to try this out.
Crank your grill up to max to get things smoking, then lower your grill to your desired smoking temp. This is pretty much what Smoke Daddy recommends with their Heavy D diffuser.
 

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