Blue Smoke
Another name for thin blue smoke — the clean, nearly invisible smoke from efficient wood combustion that produces the best BBQ flavor.
Blue smoke and thin blue smoke are the same thing — the clean, efficient smoke output from a well-managed wood fire. The term comes from the faint bluish tint visible when the smoke passes in front of a dark background.
Why It's Blue: The smoke particles from clean combustion are extremely small — small enough to scatter blue wavelengths of light (the same physics that makes the sky blue). Dirty smoke has larger particles that scatter all wavelengths, appearing white or gray.
In practical terms, when someone says "run blue smoke" or "you want blue smoke," they mean: your fire should be burning clean and hot enough that you can barely see the smoke output. It's the visual confirmation that combustion is efficient and you're depositing the right compounds on your food.
Common Confusion: Some beginners think "blue smoke" means a visible blue-tinted smoke. It doesn't. It's more about what you don't see — the absence of thick, billowing white smoke. Think of it as the barely-there wisps you'd see coming off a well-built campfire with dry hardwood. That's blue smoke.
Every pitmaster I respect evaluates their fire by the exhaust. A quick glance at the chimney tells you everything: clear/barely visible = good fire. White/thick = fix your fire.