wood concerns

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LT72884

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To whom it may concern:

I started my kettle today for some chicken. I had a pile of unlit lump on one side and poured maybe a quarter chimney full of lump. I let the coals get nice and red. I poured them over the unlit lump and let it dial into about 300. I let it preheat with my apple chunks for about 30 minutes. Well, i get the perfect amount of tbs, BUT it does not smell like apple wood. It smells like a dang campfire. No sweet smell at all. HOWEVER, you walk into the garage, 20 feet away, and it smells like sweet apples. So why is it that the smoke next to the food, stinks and smells nothing like a sweet apples or a nice smell. just burns the nostrils and eyes. haha

thanks for listenin
 
LT72884 said:
To whom it may concern:

I started my kettle today for some chicken. I had a pile of unlit lump on one side and poured maybe a quarter chimney full of lump. I let the coals get nice and red. I poured them over the unlit lump and let it dial into about 300. I let it preheat with my apple chunks for about 30 minutes. Well, i get the perfect amount of tbs, BUT it does not smell like apple wood. It smells like a dang campfire. No sweet smell at all. HOWEVER, you walk into the garage, 20 feet away, and it smells like sweet apples. So why is it that the smoke next to the food, stinks and smells nothing like a sweet apples or a nice smell. just burns the nostrils and eyes. haha

thanks for listenin
Click to expand...

I assume the wood was fully dried and seasoned? If not the low heat hand cause the formation of creosote in the cooker which will severely effect the final flavor. The meat should not be put into the smoker until the smoke is almost invisible, we refer to this as "Sweet Blue" smoke which flavors the meat favorably.

If it is just the smell not the taste, maybe your meat is dripping into the coals? If this is the case try an aluminum pan to catch the drippings.
 
Last edited:
the bag of wood came from texas. It was dried and seasoned apple wood for smoking. It is stored outside in a cabinet in the garage. its cold but it is dry. The smoke is almost invisible, its not thick at all. nice and thin with a blue hint. but smells like campfire, not a sweet smell like apple wood should have i assume.

thanks
 
LT72884 said:
To whom it may concern:

I started my kettle today for some chicken. I had a pile of unlit lump on one side and poured maybe a quarter chimney full of lump. I let the coals get nice and red. I poured them over the unlit lump and let it dial into about 300. I let it preheat with my apple chunks for about 30 minutes. Well, i get the perfect amount of tbs, BUT it does not smell like apple wood. It smells like a dang campfire. No sweet smell at all. HOWEVER, you walk into the garage, 20 feet away, and it smells like sweet apples. So why is it that the smoke next to the food, stinks and smells nothing like a sweet apples or a nice smell. just burns the nostrils and eyes. haha

thanks for listenin
Click to expand...

the fruit wood9aka apple) don't smell like that..
APPLEWOOD DON'T SMELL OR TASTE LIKE APPLES EVEN THOUGH IT'S SWEET,(sorry for the caps) - that's the most popular misconception- that wood smells like that. the closest thing would be hickory & pecan hulls & nuts. if it was green granny smith apples it may very well be bitter.
try a dried applewood or just let it dry or dry on top of the firebox(slow smoulder)before smoking w/ it & not overdo it.

no offense but if you're getting bitter out of a fruitwood either the fire is not hot enough or the wood is too large & unseasoned for smoking,not enough airflow,rotten tree- aka.. fresh cut logs- once again , not a hot enough fire- try pre-burning.
 
Im relatively certain Cliff Claven could come up with a perfectly logical explanation to your quandry.

However in my opinion the offending smell has not yet mixed with enough oxygen for your olfactory system to process thoroughly enough to tell your brain that what its smelling is indeed the sweet smell of victory and not the offensive smell of defeet.
 
I think Hell Fire has it right. Sometimes, if you're too close to the smokey smell, it can smell pretty bad. We have an orange processing plant in another part of our county and when you are up close, it really stinks, but as soon as you get some distance between you and the plant, it really smells sweet and nice. I just feel sorry for the folks that live close to it.
 
wow, this is some fantastic info. Blues n clues, thanks for the tips. I did pre heat. I remember that being one of the "10 commandments" of bbq someone once told me. The fire was hot enough. it stayed at 300 the whole time. 2 hour cook for chiks. Im thinking a possible bad batch of chunks, maybe.. haha. It could be that i was to close because when i went into the garage, it smelled sooo nice. Thats good to kow that its supposed to smell like campfire. haha. Im just proud that the exhaust was pretty clean. haha. i had the chunk on the cooking grate, 1.5 or 2 inches above the heat. haha.

thanks
 
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