Same here However following some of top pit masters in Texas, seems to be a little shift towards a little dirty smoke isn't that bad initially. I am seeing more and more run their pits dirty the first hour or two then go cleaner. Theory is meat and moist meat takes on the most smoke initially up till certain temp. I think there is a fine line for sure, especially with chicken IMO.
I see a lot of complaints of acrid smoke and how to mitigate it on smoker forums I'm on for the Weber bullet smokers. There is practically zero "bad smoke" from lump coal, and I've never seen someone complain of that dirty smoke using lump coal rather than briquettes. briquettes are loaded with fillers that seem to offgas pretty good for quite a while especially Kingsford brand, and although personally I do love that smell, it can taste kinda weird if you're overdoing it in a smoker.
I could see that perhaps. I was just sharing what the trend seems to be. Initially years ago it was taboo, oh no dirty smoke, have to run clean, blue smoke. Now you've got the top BBQ joints in Texas running dirty for the first hour or two. I personally like the more smoky flavor but there is certainly a fine line for sure and like I said especially with Chicken, you can over smoke that quick IMO.
