Venting

[smokergirl]

Hiya everyone!,

Being the rookie that I am, it has dawned on me that I have no idea about the whole venting thing. I caught my 7 yr old spinning the vent on the top the other day. (oh yes he is a treasure) Throughout the whole process should I adjust the opening or just leave it from the origional? I usually have it about a third open- for pork ribs I mean.

[Gizmo]

The rule I use for standard vent use is to open it far enough that the smoke does not back up out the smoke generator.  For Jerky and Fowl, open it 3/4 to full open to allow moisture to escape out of the box.  The wind has some factor on how wide to open it.  If you have a wind blowing, you might need to close it down some as the wind will blow through the smoke gen vents, into the box, and out the vent on top.  If it is wide open, you will loose a lot of smoke out the top with the vents wide open. 

[La Quinta]

SmokerGirl...I just leave mine 3/4 to 2/3 open on hot smokes...all the way open on cold smokes...(which I haven't done very often).

[Oldman]

The rule I use for standard vent use is to open it far enough that the smoke does not back up out the smoke generator.

Agree.

[westexasmoker]

I run my vent full open, but I also tend to use more smoke than is the rule of thumb, and typically mesquite hickory combo.

C

[NePaSmoKer]

I put my finger in the vent, close it just till its tight on my finger (be nice  :o) 1/4 to 1/2" Like olds said you dont want smoke to back up into the smoke generator.

nepas