Newbie question

[jaywhitKY]

Newbie to forum and smoking. My question is about my BS611. I used it once to smoke a whole chicken. Turned out great, no problems. Just used a second time, and I noticed some grease/black liquid coming out around the bottom of the door area. Wasn't a bunch, just curious if that is a normal thing. I noticed that inside the door the gasket at the bottom was not as firm as the side one. Should I be concerned? Other than that I love it!! Thanks for your help.

[Gafala]

Open your vent if you haven't done so it sounds like you have a black rain problem, cause your vent is closed.

[KyNola]

That is not normal.  Certain meats, particularly poultry give off a lot of moisture and you want that to escape quickly for a number of reasons.  You just encountered one of the reasons.  The moisture is condensating inside the tower and running down the walls and out of the bottom.  It tastes terrible if it drips down on to your meat.  It will also prevent the temp in the tower from rising.  Gafala has given you the correct info.  Open your vent 100% to allow the moisture to escape early on.  There are several views about whether or not to leave your vent open 100% all of the time.  I removed my vent years ago but others still use the vent to control the heat.  If you plan to use the vent to control heat just be sure it is open enough so that you do not have any smoke leaking out between the generator and the tower.  That will cause smoke to back up into the generator, thereby destroying it over time.

Welcome from a fellow Kentuckian!

[renoman]

You will still get "some" black rain dripping down your door even if you completely remove the vent mine drips on every smoke.

[dave01]

I have no black rain since I removed my vent

[jaywhitKY]

That sounds about right. I was told from someone who had the smoker that they kept theirs almost closed, with just enough room for the wire of a temp probe. I thought that strange but tried it.  Gonna try some more meats this weekend, but with the vent open!! Glad to see another Kentucky resident KyNola, I'm from Henderson. Thanks for your tips!

[TNRockyraccoon]

I get a lot of black sludge in the bottom of my OBS. I keep my vent open 100% . I smoke a lot of meat but whole young chickens are the main victims. As mentioned, they do have a lot of moisture and drip a lot of grease.

Ideally,  I'd love if it didn't do this but I just don't think you can avoid it if your doing chicken. I've smoked pork butts, fish, and numerous other cuts but none of it is as messy as a whole chicken. imho.