Need help...numbness and foul taste

[Brew Crew]

Got my new smoker last weekend and the first cook produced numbness and bad taste. Thought I used to much lighter fluid.

Today cooked again and not as bad, but still my wife complained of numbness and my kids won't even eat it. I used a torch or weed burner to get the fire going...I did not use any lighter fluid this time and made sure to use seasoned pecan wood.

What gives? I have never, ever had this problem before. My kids would beg for me to cook on the old smoker. Could it be that I used some hickory that was only a month old on the seasoning and first cook? I used nothing but season pecan this time and still the same results, just not as bad. This thing is brand new, I just don't get it!

I just put a lot wood on her to get hot and try to burn off anything I messed up with. I need some help guys. Do I need to pressure wash this thing on the inside, or wash it with some detergent? :icon_pissed

 

[BBQ Grail]

I think we need to know more about the smoker.

 

[BBQchef33]

Exactly what type of pit is it? u say vertical smoker in your sig, does that mean a bullet type water smoker, or vertical offset?

 

[Harbormaster]

Almost sounds to me like you smoked with some walnut.
That has been known to cause numbness.

 

[BBQchef33]

If you used a soft wood like pine or cedar during the initial seasoning, u may need a sand blaster to revive it. If it was just green hickory, this may fix it. Barring other factors, and off taste can bew from that green wood on the initial buren.. is there a tar or resin on the steel?


If u think its the seasoning of the pit, and assuming its a stickburnign offset..heres what I would do, and yes, seasoning a pit with green wood is a bad idea. Your better off just using charcoal if you have nothing else.

wipe it down good inside.... heat it up and hit it with a hose when the steel is hot, this will give it a steam cleaning.. wipe it down best u can getting as much crud off u can.

get a gallon of cheap vegetable oil and rag down the inside of the pit.. dont be stingy.. puddles are ok..( jsut dont let it build up to much at the bottom and catch fire). Build a good size fire.. DRY WOOD or charcoal only.. and using the dampers, alternate between heavy smoke and high heat(300+). Do that for 3-4 hours. During the seasoing process, u can spray it down with pam occasionally whiles its seasoning...


thios will reasons the pit..

 

[PimpSmoke]

Your problem could also be cooking with too much fuel and your intake damper closed too much.

If your getting a clean burn you should see light, bluish smoke. If the smoke is dense and white, your airflow is lacking. Lower the amount of wood and give it some airflow.

Oversmoking meat can give you a numb tongue and lips and also a bitter tasting final product. your essentially coating the meat with soot.

 

[1_T_Scot]

After the the seasoning etc.... I with PIMP smoke try smoking with less wood. I have used just charcoal with good results (just not Really smoky).

 

[KnucklHed BBQ]

Your problem could also be cooking with too much fuel and your intake damper closed too much.

If your getting a clean burn you should see light, bluish smoke. If the smoke is dense and white, your airflow is lacking. Lower the amount of wood and give it some airflow.

Oversmoking meat can give you a numb tongue and lips and also a bitter tasting final product. your essentially coating the meat with soot.

I agree!

If it's not a seasoning problem as Phil mentioned, maybe you're just not getting a clean enough burn out of it... how's the smoke smell?

I like my smoke soft enough that I can take a fairly deep breath of it and not choke like you're huffing campfire smoke.

Did you use the same brand of charcoal as before? cheap store brands and *cough* kingsford *cough* can create some funny flavors when choked off too much...

I noticed that on a UDS you need to give the thing a good 1/2 or more before the smoke goes from nasty yellow to clean blue... maybe let it burn longer before putting the meaty treats on.

 

[Brew Crew]

Here is a pic of the smoker and a picture I don't think you can tell what it is, but is build up on the door already. I have er hot and may hose it down now on the inside. Is this really a good idea?

 

[PimpSmoke]

Thats alot of smoke man, unless your seasoning that pit, I would open up the airflow a little more.

 

[PimpSmoke]

As far as cleaning, if your unsure about hitting it with water when hot, I have a technique I like to use;

1 Car wash.
1 Trailer
5 Dollars worth of quarters
all water.





Works for me.

 

[LMAJ]

I'm with Pimp on this one - sounds like too much smoke -
Ease up on the fuel and get a clean fire going -

 

[cbagby64]

That Brew Crew golf cart is awesome.

 

[BBQ Bandit]

^^^ What they said ^^^^
Was that your very first burn on the smoking session? An unseasoned smoke?

That could be a bad combination... the collective residues from the assembly/shipping shop is far from desireable. A hot seasoning burn before any meats are introduced to a new smoker is a better initiation.
A virginal burn with green hickory and white smoke... sounds nasty.

Only Myron Mixon endorses lighter fluid... stick with the weedburner.

 

[Rookie'48]

I always run my exhaust all the way open, it only gets closed when I want to put the fire out.

 

[JDV]

If I had to gues, I'd say it sounds like a problem with creosote. I'm no expert, but I had some smoked jumbo shrimp at a friends place that left my tongue with a numbing sensation and a light bitterness, similar to what you describe. I came to find out that creosote can cause exactly those two things.

I believe proper ventilation and a clean smoker is key in inhibiting creosote, but maybe this link will provide some more explanation or help. Good luck!
http://bbq.about.com/od/barbecuehelp/f/f062904a.htm

 

[Brew Crew]

The picture is the first burn with no meat. I used a combination of seasoned wood with with maybe 4 logs of 3 week old hickory thrown in with the older. Both times I cooked with meat it has been cold outside around 40 or below, so maybe I have been using to much wood with not enough established bed of coals. On the the first cook I threw in maybe two of the hickory in that one. Today I used only seasoned pecan but it has been very smokey while I cook.

Maybe I just need to get my coals going more like it looks now, hardly any smoke coming out now at all. I put a crap load of wood after my cook in there in to get it hot. How much wood do you guys use to get a bed of coals? Maybe I just didn't get enough coals going and there was way to much smoke? The cool weather may be throwing me off, but still I have never had this before.

 

[PimpSmoke]

If I lose my coal bed I start another half chimney of charcoal and throw it in. If you try to throw too much wood at once you end up with a lot of smoke full of volatiles that can't burn off because the coals are too cold.

 

[mbshop]

first time i smoked with hickory, i used to much and i got that same reaction. i now use very little wood for smoking.

 

[bigabyte]

Too much smoke was mentioned, and I agree, it was the creosote. Creosote gives a nasty bitter taste and will make our lips/tongue go numb. Either you were not letting the smoke out appropriately (exhaust should always be wide open, only adjust intake), or you were cooking with too dirty a fire, meaning too few coals, too much new wood waiting to burn.