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Problem with Akorn

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Blutch

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I am an experienced bbq'er. I have had all sorts of cookers. I bought an Akorn kamado style cooker this summer and have tried several things on it...

In all cases I can't seem to get enough smoke ring or smoke flavor on the meat and I can't figure out why. I'm using chunks and a minion style of cooking. I cannot get the cooker to hold under 250 and 250 is a challenge... but I've accomplished it.

Any advice here? I'm not sure what to do. I'm going to do a couple of butts tomorrow and really want to get some smoke on them. Thanks!

B
 
How many and how are you placing the chunks of wood? What wood? Using briquettes or lump? Wrapping during the cook?
 
I wrap with butcher paper. I use chunks of wood and I've up'd the number on every cook. I've tried lump and bricks. I place the wood around the starting point and put one very close to the starting point.

The brisket I did was super dry in the flat and when reheated is so hard it is practically inedible. I should have wrapped it earlier and perhaps in foil. I don't like to inject briskets, but perhaps steaming it a bit would be better. I've been trying to follow the general directions given around here for brisket, but it is just too dry.

I've done dozens of briskets in my vertical gasser that came out great. I've done briskets in a UDS that have come out great. If I can get more smoke on the meat in the Akorn I think it will work, but I have no idea what else to do.
 
Once you wrap you basically stop the smoke penetration. I only wrap if the bark starts to get too dark. When are you wrapping?

I think, due to their efficiency, ceramics produce less smoke ring, but about the same smoke flavor. Hickory should be strong enough to work for you. I disrtibute the wood chunks throughout the lump so that at least one chunk is always in the fire producing smoke.
 
Depends on the meat.. I didn't wrap the ribs at all.. I've cooked pork and beef ribs and neither had enough smoke. The Brisket I wrapped around 180. Maybe I won't wrap the butts at all.
 
Do you have a leaky gasket? Makes no sense that you can't easily control the temperature in it. Have you tried putting the meat on right out of the fridge and then cooking at 225F until you reach an IT of 140F, then ramping up the temp for the duration? This should produce a better smoke ring.

I sure wouldn't wrap the butts during the cook if I wanted more smoke taste.
 
As far as holding temps under 250, I had to put a gasket on the air intake. It can leak air their pretty badly, but it is easy to fix. Are you using a diffuser?
 
I saw the videos on sealing the air intake. I tested mine and it didn't seem to leak much. It obviously does a bit.. I like cooking at 250... the problem comes when you have to open the lid. Man.. it takes off and does NOT come down fast.

Yes, I use a diffuser - pizza pan wrapped in foil.
 
HeSmellsLikeSmoke - I will seal it today and see if I can control temps a little better. I will also try the right out of the fridge technique. Briquettes work much better in this cooker than lump, but will lump produce more smoke flavor? I don't have access to very good lump, so I don't buy it very often.. have some cowboy lump, but the pieces are SO big in it. I thought I would use Kingsford with chunks for the butts tomorrow, but can also use lump.. maybe a combination?
 
I think lump produces better smoke flavor than briquettes, but not necessarily more smoke flavor. But that might be just my mind working overtime.
 
I use cowboy and have had more success with the big lumps. I do break up the gigantic ones though and I sometimes throw in a few chunks of wood. I sealed my acorn last year and had minimal leaks. But over time it has begun to leak a bit more, but the temps are holding pretty good so I don't worry about it. Put the meat on cold. I also use a pan of water on top of the difuser. I get plenty of smoke. I am getting away from wrapping most things,with the exception of brisket, I don't want it to get to dark so I wrap it in BP when its dark enough for me. The acorn is a good grill but recquires tweeking at first. Visit the kamado guru website for a lot of acorn info. I also made a charcoal basket for my acorn and the grill seems to like it.
 
Smokesalad - thanks! Do you only need to seal the vent on the bottom? Just around the edge? Anything else? Never thought of a charcoal basket.. I have one for my UDS that might fit, but I think it is too big.. What does the pan of water do? Provide some steam?
 
I sealed the bottom and top vent. I used BGE gasket material to seal the bottom vent and high temp rtv for the top. Some folks say the kamado cooking environment is moist enough, but I have had grat results with the water pan and I think it helps control the temps for a while. There is a lot of info on the acorn on JM Setzlers kamado guru site. Not to take anything away from this site of course.
 
One thing that comes to my mind is your fire. What you see as being "smoke" isn't necessarily what puts the "smoke" flavor in the food, what you really want is that nice blue smoke that you hear mentioned. You may be starving your fire of so much oxygen trying to keep the temperature down low that your fire isn't burning clean enough to get that good blue smoke going. My advice would be to not fight the temperature, that gets old and is counterproductive. If the smoker wants to run 300, let it, every smoker has a little range where it loves to run, find that and let it run. There are a ton of people who prefer to cook at 300 and above.
 
Thanks.. I saw the vids and read the threads about using the felt. Mine seems to be pretty tight, but I sealed it yesterday with the caulk. I have the butts on now with the pan of water under it. Temps are coming up slowly. Going to try and stop it at 225-250.

B
 
Steel vs Ceramic

I've had both an Akorn and a ceramic. Trust me, there is no comparison in the way they cook. Cooking is basically heat and meat. Fantastic results may be obtained with a Co-Op five gallon bucket with a metal grate. Don't expect your steel to act like ceramic and you won't be disappointed. When I had my Akorn and wanted to smoke I used a 7.5 quart stainless steel spaghetti strainer for a charcoal basket packed tight with lump from Bedbathandbeyond and a foiled pizza stone as a diffuser. To me the Akorn was a great grill and loved the ease of moving around. Excellent Grilling (not no excellent smoking) and ease of movement that pretty sums up my Akorn experience.
 
Last edited:
Ajstrider - how do you know the point at which your smoker likes to run? This one will hold all day at 250 if I don't open the lid for anything.

16adams - Are you saying you used the strainer for a charcoal basket?

B
 
I've got 2 bubba kegs and IMO they are better grills than smokers. However having said that, I have no problem getting smoke flavor on my Q. I've even done well with them in comps. against stick burners. I do cook a little hotter 275-300*, which may make a difference. Switch to a quality lump like B&B. You also don't need lots of wood chunks either, 3-4 at the most. Try shutting your bottom vent 5 minutes before you open the lid and leave it closed for another 5 after you close it. And of course try hard not to work with the lid open, it will get too much air.
 
With these butts I should only have to open the lid once to take out the small one, wrap it and then again to put it back in. I think I will not wrap the large one and see what the difference is.

B
 
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