• working on DNS.. links may break temporarily.

Charred taste with boston butts on Gateway Drum

L

LTG

Take a breath!
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Messages
533
Reaction score
244
Points
0
Location
OKC, OK
I'm having an issue when cooking butts on a Gateway Drum. Both times the butts have had a distinct charred taste to the bark.

I've tried multiple rubs with the same results.

Cook 1: 325* temps, Royal Oak lump with cherry chunks. Meat was on top rack closest to lid. Fat cap down. No diffuser. Charred taste. I did 2 butts that were 16 lbs combined. 2 diff rubs, neither one has a ton of sugar. I ASSUMED the charred taste was due to the fat dripping directly onto the coals.

Cook 2: Today, 300* temps, Royal Oak lump with cherry chunks. Fat cap down again. I put in a 3rd rack closest to charcoal basket with a foil wrapped pizza pan set on top of it to act as a diffuser. Meat cooked on top rack closest to lid. Both butts still had a pronounced charred/burnt taste.

I didn't foil or pan either butt until it was time to remove from cooker.

Thoughts?

I did 2 racks of spares that turned out phenomenal today though on same drum. They were foiled after 2.5 hours though. I've cooked butts on a 22.5" kettle, 22.5" wsm, 3 diff stick burners, a bws fatboy, etc and never had this issue.
 
Went and looked at picture of a Gateway Drum Smoker, I see at least two large vents for intake and one large outlet chimney. First glance, looks like the smoker will work.

Charred taste is usually caused by creosote in the smoke, that points to a fire that is not burning cleanly. It can be as mentioned, an intake issue, of it can be from poor fire management else wise. Are you running the chimney wide open? It should be. Are you burning the fire long enough that the smoke is barely visible? It should be very light blue and see through. Are you letting the heat stabilize before putting on the meat, then letting it stabilize again before fussing with the vents? You should allow at least 30 minutes after putting on the meat, into a stable cooking environment, before fussing with the vents. (oops, simulpost)

At those temperatures, how much sugar is in your rub? A rub that is fine for ribs, will not be fine for a pork butt, at 325F. I have had no issues at up to 275F, but, there can be excessive darkening of brown sugar at 300F on a butt, that you do not see on ribs.
 
Foil is your friend if you are cooking heavy meats direct on any drum IMO.

Personally, I love the taste of meats cooked direct over the coals with the fats dripping on them adding to the unique flavor, but its not a taste everyone enjoys. I found that out when I first started competing with Drums and cooked the Brisket and Butts without using foil until done and got many comment cards like "tastes like too much Liquid Smoke" or "Bark tastes like creosote". Once I started foiling those went away.

I still think a direct drum is the best Chicken cooker!
 
Bludawg said:
Your rub has to much sugar in it for that long of a cook at that temp and it is burning
Click to expand...

I'm guessing this is it, but did the drippings vaporize/burn when hitting the deflector? I had one setup where mine was getting too hot and causing similar unpleasantness as directly dripping on the fire.
 
I'm going to watch how I respond, but this is what you get when using PARTS of a design. It takes a complete thought to get the mission done, not just pieces here and there. Controlling or diverting the airflow will help. To do so is to use a difuser or smoker plate. Grease on coals suck when done too much. Grease vaporizing on a tuning plate or piece of metal will yield the desired results for a longer period of time and won't pull ashes up with the airflow. That's probably the charred taste you mention. Classic problem when you think you have a smoker when you actually have a grill with a lid. Hope I've expounded the correct way to something that bugs me dearly. Now I'll go back to building real smokers. Steve.
 
ssbbqguy said:
I'm going to watch how I respond, but this is what you get when using PARTS of a design. It takes a complete thought to get the mission done, not just pieces here and there. Controlling or diverting the airflow will help. To do so is to use a difuser or smoker plate. Grease on coals suck when done too much. Grease vaporizing on a tuning plate or piece of metal will yield the desired results for a longer period of time and won't pull ashes up with the airflow. That's probably the charred taste you mention. Classic problem when you think you have a smoker when you actually have a grill with a lid. Hope I've expounded the correct way to something that bugs me dearly. Now I'll go back to building real smokers. Steve.
Click to expand...
Just to be clear a UDS is a true BBQ pit ( cooking over live fire) an off set is a Smoker supplies heat and smoke indirectly much like a smoke house, two different critters.
 
Please do not derail this thread guys. Im looking for input on how to correct this issue. Not debate what my drum cost or whether it is a "real" smoker.
 
Not trying to derail, but explain my reason for my answer. When fat drips on coals for too long your food tastes charred, should you have any upward airflow. If you're putting food on a cooker that's not burning clean, that will compound the problem. Part of my rant is about design, which is not your issue. Sorry for any confusion. And for those of you that still believe a smoker is direct, argue with yourselves. I was taught by masters and they said indirect only makes a smoker. I'll stick with that. Steve.
 
Sounds to me like excess drippings hitting the coals and vaporizing. That happes a lot with large cuts or fatty cuts like chicken or bacon. If cooking more than a little amount of the latter, things can get nasty pretty quick when the fat starts rendering out. The fix for this is a second grate with a diffuser or better yet a drip pan with water or sand in it.

Could be bad airflow though as others suggested. Question- I read they're website and they listed a "fire box liner". What is that exactly? Being that it's a drum and there's no firebox per se, just curious if this liner is restricting your bottom intakes in some way.
 
Drums run 50 deg hotter in the center than the outside edge your cooking at 300 on the thermo that is 350 in the middle sugar will start to burn at 320 add the prolonged cooking time and there ya go. If your fire wasn't right you would not get to 300 so it aint an air flow issue. I use a Low sugar rub and no diffuser in My UDS and I cook at 300 all the time. this is a pic of a Butt that is almost ready to come off the pit.
DSCF0059Modified.jpg
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: LTG
I would like to know more about the charcoal "liner" and how intakes are setup. Pics of the intakes, exhaust, and fire basket design, along with a description of how the fire is lit and maintained would help.

I agree that a lot of fat burning in the fire can be problematic, and even I started using a pizza pan wrapped in foil as a diffuser to keep the massive flow of liquid fat out of my fire in the UDS when cooking multiple butts. When those hunks of meat start giving it up cooking at high heat, it's almost like a thunder storm. They can really pour.
 
We've done 12-13 contests with a Gateway this year, and have never experienced any "charred flavor". Is your temp staying constant? Also, how often are you having the lid off? I've noticed that the temps will raise pretty quickly when the lid comes off. How many wood chunks are you using? Those things are so easy to use that it feels like a cheat code for barbecue, haha.
 
Let's see your basket. It could be air flow or high sugar but with the little amount of information it's hard to discern. You said in your original post you tried different rubs, were any low sugar? Pic's of your product and setup would help us all.
 
I did try a low sugar rub. I'm going to try lower temps and still use the diffuser. As far as basket goes, its the stock Gateway one. Square made out of expanded metal with a metal plate on bottom to catch ashes. Holds prob 10 lbs of coals.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Learning to BBQ
Steak night
Replies
13
Views
594
ronbrad62
ronbrad62
E
Easter Ribs
Replies
4
Views
284
creek bottom
creek bottom
snadamo
Well, I pharked up a brisket
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
ssv3
ssv3
bowhnter
Butt n ribs
Replies
9
Views
445
snadamo
snadamo
D
Sweet taste on Texas style briskets.
Replies
10
Views
586
SmittyJonz
S
Back
Top