Smoke from the pellet hopper

S

Silverback51

Member
I have a MAK 2 star with the optional cold smoker box. Started it up yesterday afternoon so I could cold smoke 3 pork bellies that I had cured for bacon. And I have done this many times in the past.

This time however the majority of the smoke is coming out of the hopper lid, not the smoker or cold smoker.

Anyone ever run into this?

Temperature was set at 215 degrees and the ambient temperature has ranged from the mid teens to high 40's during use. The MAK temperature probe indicates a grill temperature of 215 degrees. I also threw a pork shoulder in there as long as I had it going and it is cooking fine so it is up to temperature.
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
This is a known issue, and every time I've heard of this happening it was from the vents in the cook chamber being clogged up with grease & soot which causes back pressure.

The vents need to be cleaned out on a regular basis. If you have a wind baffle in the back inside of your cook chamber where the vents are, it will need to be removed so you can clean them properly. I keep a plastic scraper handy just for this purpose.

This does NOT take very long, so do NOT let this go! Take the pork shoulder off long enough to get this done before you end up getting back burn in the auger tube!
 
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S

Silverback51

Member
Thank you once again gentlemen. Cleaned the vents today (they were really clogged) and it worked like a charm. Even held the temperature better.
 
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