Problem Caused by Temporary Use of Smoke Boost

[G2EWS]

Whilst cooking the brisket yesterday I saw the latest version of the software had included 'smoke boost' so decided to turn it on for 20 minutes. I had already pre-heated the SF to 250

After this time, I turned the smoke boost off and the SM had dropped to 200. This makes sense in my mind, temp/fire turned down to create more smoke.

But after about 7 or 8 minutes the temp started dropping rapidly. I had no option but to run the SF down.

As soon as it was cool enough, I took it apart to find the fire box full of unburnt pellets with some spillage into the bottom of the SF.

My guess was that the the pellets were put in their to create smoke, but then it was unable to light them and more started coming out?

Cleaned it all out, pushed the pellets into the tray.

Started up the SM again.

Then I started to see smoke coming out of every area of the SM. I pulled the ash/waste fat box out and found the pellets I had pushed down had caught fire. Emptied the lot away.

The fire was obviously my fault for not realising the pellets would burn due to the proximity of the fire box. Obvious really, but happy to make a beginners mistake, spot it and deal with it very quickly.

I need to do some research on the 'smoke boost' feature. Unless, that is, you good folks know anything about it. I wondered if you cannot do what I thought? Turn it on and then off when you feel like it. Perhaps it needs to run through a cycle?

Anyway, at this time, I am putting it all down to user error until I find out more information. Silly me for trying a feature without reading about it first.

 

[Bruno]

Seems to me it would be something you start out with. One of these days I plan to make some beef jerky.

 

[JpsBBQ]

I’ve used mine without issue several times. It fluctuates temps down to like 160-200. It should not display the temps however, which is probably to keep you from freaking out. I don’t think pellets are ever designed to be burnt outside of the burn pot. Not sure if you might have overreacted and forced a problem by shutting down or switching the grill off? Really don’t know. I had an issue with a failed startup once. This was prior to the updates and have had zero issues since then. I did remove the three wire pieces that are supposedly a safety device for the auger. It has made a surprisingly significant difference in the pellet flow. Good luck.

 

[AHoneyman]

I would say that you do not want to "pre-heat" to a higher temp. At the higher temp, you are pumping in pellets at a faster rate and when you slow it down for smoke, pellets pile up, Start your cook at 200 (lowest temp) and switch to Smoke Boost as soon as you get to 200. When done with the smoke, turn the set point up.

The interesting thing that you said was that you saw the temp dropping. On my SF, I do not see the temp when I am in the Smoke Boost mode. Did you have an external thermometer?

And I agree with JpsBBQ.

 

[jmccrack650]

The interesting thing that you said was that you saw the temp dropping. On my SF, I do not see the temp when I am in the Smoke Boost mode. Did you have an external thermometer?

I think you can still see the temperature in the app when it is in Smokeboost. The grill screen does not show the temp however.

 

[JpsBBQ]

Not on my app. It simply says “smoke boost”. I used one of my probes to monitored the out temps in the pit for curiosity sake, but it does not display on my phone.

 

[G2EWS]

I would say that you do not want to "pre-heat" to a higher temp. At the higher temp, you are pumping in pellets at a faster rate and when you slow it down for smoke, pellets pile up, Start your cook at 200 (lowest temp) and switch to Smoke Boost as soon as you get to 200. When done with the smoke, turn the set point up.

The interesting thing that you said was that you saw the temp dropping. On my SF, I do not see the temp when I am in the Smoke Boost mode. Did you have an external thermometer?

And I agree with JpsBBQ.

That is a very good point, many thanks. I must say, I didn't realise until thinking about it that the smoke boost option would indeed run at a lower temperature.

Obviously I didn't do a good job of explaining. I noticed the temperature dropping when I turned off smoke boost.

Regards


Chris

 

[OILBOY1162]

Whilst cooking the brisket yesterday I saw the latest version of the software had included 'smoke boost' so decided to turn it on for 20 minutes. I had already pre-heated the SF to 250

After this time, I turned the smoke boost off and the SM had dropped to 200. This makes sense in my mind, temp/fire turned down to create more smoke.

But after about 7 or 8 minutes the temp started dropping rapidly. I had no option but to run the SF down.

As soon as it was cool enough, I took it apart to find the fire box full of unburnt pellets with some spillage into the bottom of the SF.

My guess was that the the pellets were put in their to create smoke, but then it was unable to light them and more started coming out?

Cleaned it all out, pushed the pellets into the tray.

Started up the SM again.

Then I started to see smoke coming out of every area of the SM. I pulled the ash/waste fat box out and found the pellets I had pushed down had caught fire. Emptied the lot away.

The fire was obviously my fault for not realising the pellets would burn due to the proximity of the fire box. Obvious really, but happy to make a beginners mistake, spot it and deal with it very quickly.

I need to do some research on the 'smoke boost' feature. Unless, that is, you good folks know anything about it. I wondered if you cannot do what I thought? Turn it on and then off when you feel like it. Perhaps it needs to run through a cycle?

Anyway, at this time, I am putting it all down to user error until I find out more information. Silly me for trying a feature without reading about it first.

I did a similar brisket last week but did a 2 hour smoke boost per recommended time for beef. No problems on this end.

 

[G2EWS]

As pointed out by others, I reckon the problem is that I pre heated to 250F, so when I went to Smoke Boost, it was feeding too many pellets into the fire.

Will definitely have a mess around again, but when it is not so important! ie, we are not all waiting for food!

 

[KevinD]

I have used Smokeboost twice and monitored pit temp with a temp probe. First time it stayed 190-200F, all is well. Last Sunday it stayed between 220 and 230F. Since my intended cook temp was going to be 225 after Smokeboost, what is the point?

 

[JpsBBQ]

My experience is that it fluctuates allowing the pellets to smolder quite a bit more than if just running at a constant low temp. It works great for me. Other manufacturers use the same or similar technologies to achieve variable smoke levels or boosts.

 

[KevinD]

I order to be effective it needs to stay below 200.

 

[JpsBBQ]

I order to be effective it needs to stay below 200.

I disagree. It simply needs to not burn efficiently. Camp Chef for instance has variable smoke profile that can be used at any temperature. Most manufacturers keep the function below 225. But what they are doing is allowing the pellets to smolder by elimination of the fan intermittently. They force an inefficient burn. That is why Weber chose to not show the temperature during this function. Some people would be freaked out by the variable temperature swings. Ironically, people are also disturb by not being able to see the temperature.

 

[OILBOY1162]

I use a Weber igrill ambience probe and see the temp go from 165 to 200. Good smoke.

 

[KevinD]

Well I will keep an open mind at this early stage. Thank you for the advice JpsBBQ. This is what these forums are about. Exchange of info. BTW OILBOY, I had terrible luck with the iGrill temp probes. I use Oprol (Amazon)