Not enough smoke

[Big Bobber]

I purchased a propane smoker this spring with the wood tray for chips or wood. I don't seem to get as much of a smoke flavor as I do with my charcoal smoker. I haved tried dry, soaking, chips, chunks. Any advice would sure be a great help.

Thanks

[leechlake]

I would try something dry that is finer than chips, more like sawdust. I'd assume it isn't getting very hot.

[harvey lee]

I use to have this issue with my electric smoker with chips.

Now I turn the heat up all the way in the smoker to get the chips going, then I put the food in and crank the heat down.

This seems to work very well for me.

[otterman91105]

When smokeing something how often do you add wood chips?

[eyeguy 54]

don't put water on the wood... it's a myth

[Big Bobber]

When the smoke stops. I think I am trying to smoke at too low of a temp to get/keep the wood burning enought.

[KEN W]

Does the burner shut off when it reaches the temp you have set?Most likely happens on hot days.The temp inside is high enough to keep the burner off.Which means no smoke.

[pikestabber]

I purchased a propane smoker this spring with the wood tray for chips or wood. I don't seem to get as much of a smoke flavor as I do with my charcoal smoker. I haved tried dry, soaking, chips, chunks. Any advice would sure be a great help.Thanks

Try wood pellets. I think it's Luhr-Jensen that makes them. They smoke at a much lower temp than wood chips, give plenty of flavor, and last longer before burning up. No need to soak (and for the record, I agree with eyeguy...no soaking chips is ever required...it just messes up your temp and then the wood has to dry out to smoke, otherwise you're steaming!). I won't go back after using pellets for about a year now. They come in apple, cherry, hickory, alder, and mesquite that I've seen.

[SkunkedAgain]

It sounds like your wood isn't burning, but it seems relevant to ask what the wood tray looks like in the end. Is there unburnt wood remaining or is it burned to charcoal?

I had trouble when I first got my propane smoker. The wood chips would flame up quickly and wouldn't give much of a smoke. I started buying the bigger chunks and now get long smokes. However, I do a mix of (generally) cherry sawdust, chips, and big chunks. The small stuff goes quickly and the big chunks smoke for a long time.

If your wood isn't burning, go to smaller pieces. If it's burning to fast, go to bigger chunks

[OnAFly]

I have had an issue on very hot days with my electric where it holds heat too well and the element doesn't turn on long enought to produce a lot of smoke. I kept the vents open and adjusted the door latch looser so it leaked a little. This let enought hot air out to force the element to turn on more often and produce more smoke.

[BobT]

I still think the best smoker is an old steel refrigerator.

[Walleyehooker]

Sounds like you need to turn the heat up and don't soak the chips it only takes longer as they have to dry out to smoke. I just used an electric smoker and found I had to turn the heat way up for a while to get the chips to start smoking.

[Agent Andy]

I have the same problem with my gas smoker. I use green maple that I cut in thin cookies ( take the log and cut small sections). I then place just above the flame on a screen mesh that is heavier then window screen. It gives you all the smoke you need and you can also run the flame on the lowest setting. Good luck.