The other day I came across an article that discussed the history of smoke signals. One particularly interesting section mentioned how the smoke signal is one of the world's oldest forms of communication. Instantly, I thought about grilling (of course) and how nowadays smoke signals provide a way for our grills to talk to us.
If you're grilling like a true Weber enthusiast, you know your lid must stay closed while cooking. This keeps heat inside and allows the grill to cook your food the way it was designed to. However, with the lid closed, you can't see what's happening inside of the grill. To remedy this problem, we have lots of tools that help us understand what's going on at any given time. We use timers to help remind us when our food is done and meat thermometers to help ensure our meal is grilled to the appropriate doneness. But one simple, and often overlooked indicator is the color of smoke. This is where paying close attention can make all the difference in your grilling results.
Smoke is a natural part of grilling and it infuses foods with that woodsy, BBQ flavor we all love. White colored smoke coming out of the grill signals that the food is being grilled correctly. At this point, just relax and let the grill do its job. But black smoke is a signal that the grill needs to be adjusted. It could mean that you have some flare ups occurring inside the grill. If this is the case, don't worry. Just open the lid and move your food to an indirect area on the grill. Then, lower the temperature inside the grill by either closing the vents on a charcoal grill or turning the controls knobs to medium or low on a gas grill.
And that's about it. So let's recap.
Step 1: Pay attention and read the smoke signals.
Step 2: Adjust your grill if necessary.
This simple knowledge will help ensure that your grilling is done to perfection every single time. Now get out there and fire things up!
User Comments
Dec 23, 2012Kevin says...
Hi Mike,
Congratulations on the Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker. It is one of my favorites, so much so that I own 8 of them! Sounds like you were on the right track with 250 degrees. The temperature will drop when food is on and usually takes 15-20 minutes to equalize and begin to go back up. I like opening the vents in the bowl a quarter of the way open and the lid vent half way. I control temperatures from the lid vent, not the bottom vents. I like those staying a quarter of the way open at all times. If I continue to have lower temperatures, I adjust the lid vent only. If that's all the way open, I then will open each bottom vent to half way. One thing you did not mention was the water pan. Usually for 6-8 hour smokes, add 2-2.5 liters of water. For longer smokes, 14-16 hour, add 3-4 liters of water. If you had to much water in the water pan that could have caused the temperatures to be a little low. I will tell you it does take some time for the smoker to get back up to temperature, say 10-15 minutes. Overtime you will get very good at it, all it takes is practice. Hope this helps. Happy Holidays and Happy Grilling!
-Kevin
Dec 22, 2012Mike says...
Kevin, recently purchased the SMC and tried my first turkey. At the start the smoker was at 250 degrees. Once the meat had a chance to warm I added the wood chips. From that point on the temp dropped to 200 and I could not get it back up. I added more charcoal. More pre-lit charcoal, and at no time did I remove the lid. I tried about every configuration on the vents you could think of. I read where people are smoking various kinds of meats for different lengths of time, which requires opening the lid and losing heat, and still have everything done at the same time. How are they getting the heat back up so quickly? I'm using the same charcoal I used in my old Coleman where maintaining heat for 12-14 hours was never a problem. Any suggestions?
Oct 9, 2011Kevin says...
Hi Nosehair :
This is a great question. Here are a couple of tips I can give you from my experience. I usually start with the bottom dampers open about a quarter of an inch and with the top damper opened all the way. I then adjust the temperature of the smoker using this top damper—leaving the bottom damper opened at a quarter of an inch. Also make sure you have enough charcoal fuel and water in water pan because this will really effect the temperature of the smoker over time. In the end as long as you can keep your Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker at 225 degrees Fahrenheit, in the you are on the right tract. Keep up the good work and Happy Smoking!!-Kevin
Oct 8, 2011Joel says...
I'm experimenting with the air vents on my Smokey mountain smoker but would love on where to start in terms of how far to open them. I started with both the upper and lower vents about half way open. The heat seemed very high when I first assembled the smoker over the brackets that had turned grey. The heat then dropped and I opened all the vents (upper and lower) all the way open and it has been holding at 225 very consistently. Does that sound right?
Aug 14, 2011Lisa says...
Bought a Weber kettle after one that was free wore out and the only complaint is the handles could do better by being wood. We replaced the handles on the old one with wood and they tend to stay cooler. No other complaints about it love the vent control we have with it and the long handle that has replaced the little spinner on the bottom...
Jun 26, 2011SM says...
I just bought Weber Grill Spray to try on our new gas grill, it was the worst spray I have ever bought. The food stuck to the grill after using half a can we gave up and switched back to PAM. Don't buy it, cost is almost $3.00 a can and it doesn't work.