RF stick burner, off taste,....HELP PLEASE!

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chromestacks

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Hi Gang,

I recently did a couple of whole butts in my RF stick burner. I followed all the same procedures I have done in the past with great success. I have had this pit in service for about 2 years. It seems like there was a slight carbon or charred tatse on theese butts. Wonder if my pit is due for a good cleaning? The exhause is two 3" stacks comming off from a 90 degree joint. The other side of the 90's is right at grate level. I noticed there is a bit of soot looking material present at the inlet of the 90's. Draft seems to be normal as my first thought would be the sooty looking stuff would choke the draft. Pit and grate temps are the same as previous smokes. If I do need to clean this out, I am thinking of brushing the stacks and soaking the grates with oven cleaner. Of course I think I will have to re-season the pit after the cleaning process. Do you folks think this is the problem? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
 
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If it is unable to exhaust as well, then this would cause a problem as smoke would build up in the chamber, however, you also would have noticed that fire management would have also been affected. If everything about fire management was the same, then that is probably not the case.

Did you use a new batch of wood you haven't used before?
 
I agree with Chris, sounds more like a problem with the wood, and that could be any numer things.
 
Arlin_MacRae said:
Fuel, wind, low temperatures?
Click to expand...

I cooked with apple wood, the same batch I have been using all summer/fall. light wind, about 28*F. I have cooked in colder, windier situations before as I live in south central NYS. I just can not put my finger on the cause of this smoke/soot/chared flavor. Dagnabit, it irritates me....lol. Since the butts, I have been using my drum (old faithful in my opinion). I think if there is a break in the weather, I will give the RF a good cleaning. Then I will experiment with some chicken till i can figgure out what the problem is.
 
Hmm. I'm at a loss, bro. What I would do is crack the temp using the same wood, and see if you still get soot.
 
Meat Burner said:
What does RF stickburner stand for?
Click to expand...


Reverse flow off set wood burning cooker. A solid steel plate below the cooking grate extends most of the lenght of the cook and the stack is then on the same side as the fire box.:wink:
 
Ah, very familiar with them. Just never know what people are referring to in some of these posts. Too many assumptions of appreviations for my small brain I guess. Thanks.
 
well not sure of what your problem is. but i think if you plan on cleaning, i would sty away from any chemicals to achieve your goal. personally on my offset i clean grate and bottom of smoking chamber with either steam or high pressure washer and scrape the build up as needed.
do want to say that i am very curious as to what you find out.
 
Funky taste often is caused by insufficient air flow. If you have the intake and exhaust wide open, then I'm at a loss unless the grates are cruddy. Old grease and smoke taste bad.
 
I'm thinking somewhere between the cold outside (drawing very cold air in and warming
it, but not warm enough), perhaps even moisture or mold in the wood.
 
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