Old timer at a competition told me I was choking my fire

Back in 2019 at the Memphis in May contest, a guy named Earl walked past my rig and said 'you're starving that fire, son'. I had my intake vents barely cracked because I thought less air meant more smoke flavor. He showed me how to open them up to get a clean burn and suddenly my temps were steady at 225 instead of bouncing all over. Anyone else get a tip from a random stranger that totally changed their cook?

2 comments

2 Comments

nelson.finley17d ago

Man that Earl sounds like a legend. I had a similar thing happen to me at a local competition in Ohio. A older guy named Bob walked up and told me my smoke was way too heavy and bitter. He said if you can see the smoke from the street, you're doing it wrong. I was so focused on that thick white smoke I thought it meant flavor. Once I opened up the vents and got that thin blue smoke, everything changed. My ribs went from inconsistent to competition worthy in one cook. It's crazy how one simple thing can turn your whole cook around. What other tips did Earl give you?

rowan66617d ago

That thing about seeing smoke from the street really hit home, @nelson.finley. I used to think thick white smoke was the whole point of BBQ, like you were really doing something. Earl set me straight on that too, told me you want the smoke to smell good when you walk up, not choke you out. Once I saw how clean that blue smoke kept my cooker, I felt like an idiot for all those years of billowing out the neighborhood.

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