White powder coating pit

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Smokin J's PIts

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OK Brethren, I have a dilemma. Saturday I cooked chicken in my offset smoker, I used KBB in a chimney to get things started, I have a fire basket that I made out of expanded metal and I loaded it up with HEB Mesquite Lump, and I also had a few small pieces of mesquite thrown in there for good measure. 3/4 of the way thru the cook I opened the cook chamber and everything was coated in a white powder type of substance. It looked like what I would expect to see if zinc was burned in the fire box, or maybe lead. Never the less, I threw out the chicken, and Sunday morning I washed and scrubbed down the pit, reasoned with olive oil and a small propane torch. Started it back up Sunday, again filled the fire basket with lump, this time with B&B Oak Lump, I had enough left over that I used that in the chimney to get everything going, and I used my Temp controller on it this time. Everything went good for the most part, cooked a shoulder, and when the bone started to separate, I wrapped in foil and back on. When I opened the cook chamber to check for probe tender again everything was coated in the same white powder, since the shoulder was wrapped I decided to keep it. Has anyone experienced anything like this before? In both instances I only had very thin light smoke coming out, I was outside with it the entire time so there was never any dirty smoke or anything that would have alarmed me to it. Both cooks used the minion method, and I cooked the chicken at 350, and the shoulder at 275.
 
Never have...

What pit are you using? What are you seasoning the pit with?

Is it possible that the seasoning did not get above 450 degrees to form a polymer coating? If the seasoning was still tacky it could be airborne ash embeding into the soft tacky oil. But to have that much ash in the cooking chamber could be a whole different issue in itself with airflow stirring up the ashes.
 
Im using a New Braunfels Classic Hondo, with a replaced fire box, a heat baffle, strips welded to lid with nomex door insulation to seal up the cook chamber. Most of the time I use lard or bacon fat to season it with, but my wife threated to remove certain anatomy if I took the rest of her bacon grease again, and I was out of lard, so I used olive oil. I pre heated the pit to around 400 and I only rubbed down the cook chamber, and I have a mini weed burner that I put in the fire box and ran it keeping the pit between 500 and 550 for an hour, when it cooled off enough to touch it wasn’t tacky, now that’s not to say that it didn’t change though out the cook, but it doesn’t seem like it would 5 hours into it. I have had problems with ash using just charcoal, but never with lump. I have cooked with lump around 15 times the exact same way as I cooked the chicken, and that was the first time running into this problem.
 
If you used mesquite wood both times, it's the mesquite. It's a normal condition if the fire is burning clean. All I use is mesquite and I get the white "soot" coating to some degree on all cooks. It doesn't harm the food or the pit. I think the level of the wood seasoning has something to do with it too. I use pecan every now and then and the pit is black as coal. It's just the nature of the woods..
 
That was my guess too. The fine powder is probably ash from the wood. Was there any wind that day? Maybe you got a gust into the firebox?
 
Pit Bull, the second go around, I only used oak lump, I suppose there could have been a mix in there but B&B is usually a pretty good product, with the white residue from mesquite would it produce that much from a couple of pieces about 3 inches wide and about 10 inches long? I have experienced a white haze before while using mesquite but this was more like someone threw a hand full of flour in front of a fan and coated everything, the chicken almost looked grey that’s how much was on it.
 
I'll see those little "snow flakes" as I call it once in a while, it's harmless.
 
Shagdog, Saturday, it was minimum maybe 5 to 7 MPH, it was still enough that I took out the pop up canopy to sit under, Sunday I used a homemade guru type device, from past cookings I know that with my fire basket fully loaded with lump, I can almost fill up a small coffee can with ash, and I had roughly the same amount from both cooks this weekend, I actually think I had a little more on Saturday than I did on Sunday, but then again I only used lump Sunday.
 
Smokin J's PIts said:
Pit Bull, the second go around, I only used oak lump, I suppose there could have been a mix in there but B&B is usually a pretty good product, with the white residue from mesquite would it produce that much from a couple of pieces about 3 inches wide and about 10 inches long? I have experienced a white haze before while using mesquite but this was more like someone threw a hand full of flour in front of a fan and coated everything, the chicken almost looked grey that’s how much was on it.
Click to expand...

That sounds a little off. You didn't by any chance get some pictures of it?
 
No I don’t, the first time around I just assumed that there was something in the lump, seems to be a common occurrence. I can take pics of the pit from Sundays cook as I haven’t cleaned it out yet, and post them tomorrow. I did call the local HEB manager this morning and asked him if there had been any complaints, he told me that he has yet to receive any about the B&B, but he has almost as many complaints about the store version as bags sold.
 
Just a guess is it possible that the ash is getting pushed from air movement in the FB or pulled up from the draft and sticking to the pit seasoning. I have used B&B allot and never had an issue in the Drum, WSM, Kettle, or my Stick burner( only use Lump to start out) I also use the HEB Lump quite a bit I get a Bag everytime I go in it's good stuff.
 
Bluedawg, Its completely possible, I am just now starting to cook at higher temps than normal, so with the higher temp would mean more air flow than what Im used to, so it is possible. Do you have any suggestions on how to mitigate this, maybe with a water pan.
 
I don't know what your FB looks like if you have room you could try a baffle above the basket theory here is it will disrupt the air flow enough to keep the ash down in the bottom.Water pans make you burn more fuel and use more air to get the same temp.
 
A 5-7 mph wind isn't much, but I suppose it could be enough to contribute to an ash problem. Have you tried positioning your pit roughly 90° to the wind? That should give you equal air pressure at both the inlet damper and the stack. Just guessin' here, but it might be worth a try.
 
If your fire basket (or anything else) is made from galvanized metal, you will get white (yellow white) powder until the galvanization is burnt off.
 
pmad said:
If your fire basket (or anything else) is made from galvanized metal, you will get white (yellow white) powder until the galvanization is burnt off.
Click to expand...

Everything is A36 Steel, no galvinized, or zink coated, I even replaced the bolts with all stainless.
 
Bludawg, what do you think, about 3 inches above the basket, I think I could go a little higher but not much, I wonder how that would affect the heat distribution. It would be easy enough to try, I just might give it a go and see how she runs.
 
I think it would be fine gives enough clearance for proper circulation and like a UDS it would even out the heat
 
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