It smell's Good, But...

H

-HAZARD-

Knows what a fatty is.
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I LOVE pork butt. It's my favorite BBQ, and the only thing I have ever cooked on my UDS. The UDS is all I have since getting into BBQ just a year ago. I've cooked maybe 4 times on it, and a total of 7 butts.

There probably isn't a real response to this without knowing all the variables, but when I cooking BBQ the smell is pure AWESOMENESS. The cook smells so SWEET and succulent. Like everything is just perfect and I am an amazing pit master.

But when I eat it, it just tastes kind of ..... meh.

It's not bad....but its not good. No where near like if I went to my local BBQ restaurant and ordered from them. And I don't even live in BBQ country!

But how does it smell so good, and not taste as good as it smells? I'm telling you, I hover over the exhaust and just stand there and smell and smell and smell and think about how great its going to be, only to be disappointed.

Is this a common problem for beginners? Admitidly, I have never bought a professional rub, and always made my own, but it's always been the standard stuff found in rubs. Nothing off the wall. I've even tried injecting it for flavor, but that doesn't seem to help too much. Technique-wise, I'm certain I'm doing everything correctly. The meat is always cooked properly; tender, moist, mild bark, etc. It just doesn't taste great.
 
How's the smoke flavor? Are you seasoning or saucing?
When I pull my butts I add a little bit of rub to it to season it. Also I add a bit of a vinegar red pepper mop sauce to it which also adds flavor.
 
Just use salt and pepper, water pan, indirect heat, and smoke longer. Once you can slide a meat probe in and it feels like butter it's ready. Make sure to let it rest for at least 30 minutes before you pull it or it will dry out... Also do not trim any fat off, and make sure your cooking around 250 degrees
 
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I agree with the others, lets hear about what you're doing. walk us through you process of rubs, and the whole cook process.

it could be as simple as changing one thing or coming up with a whole new process.
 
Add more wood. Add a little rub to the meat after it is pulled or some E. NC. Pig Juice to bring out the flavors. I cook at 300 with 6 fist sized chunks of Hickory and mainly just use K-Salt on my Butts and E.NC. Pig juice once they are pulld. An 8 lber don't last long before it is completely snarfed and beggars are demanding more. SO I have to have 1 in reserve.
 
Pour the juices from the foil wrap ( if you do that ) back in after its pulled. Then dust with more rub.

Also, try using a stronger wood like hickory. Not sure what you use, if any at all.
 
You mention you hover over the exhaust while your UDS is cooking. If you're eating right after the cook, you may have a lot of smoke on your clothes and skin. It can cancel the smoke flavour in the food a bit.
Try changing clothes and washing up before sitting down to your next feast.
 
How much and what are you using to inject I get at least a Qt in a butt when I do this. Are you using lump or briquetts What kind and how much wood What size are the Butts you cook
 
smokainmuskoka said:
You mention you hover over the exhaust while your UDS is cooking. If you're eating right after the cook, you may have a lot of smoke on your clothes and skin. It can cancel the smoke flavour in the food a bit.
Try changing clothes and washing up before sitting down to your next feast.
Click to expand...


What he said +1. I really do not get the full taste of my cooked food until I ether take a shower, or wait until the next day, because you have become over sensitized by the smoke. At competition cooks I have a real problem tasting something before putting it in the box other than needing more salt, or sweetness. I have also had onlookers that have been walking around the camp and complain they can't understand why they can not taste any smoke on the food.
Dave
 
4 times in just over one year?? not to be a wiseguy, but you may just need more practice and experimentation. When I started bbqing, I was smoking AT LEAST 4 times a month. All the recommendations by the brethren are great, but there is no one 1 answer (as you can see).
 
I have to say, if you are at a competition and up at 6am or so, there is nothing that smells so sweet and delicious as the air that hangs over the cooking area. The cool morning air, with all that aroma wafting through...nothing can taste as good as that smell.

I like to shower and change clothes after I cook and before I eat. The meat will taste better. That being said, I like to mix in some drippings if I wrapped, or some finishing sauce if I didn't wrap. No rub addition for me, although I have been considering trying a finishing dust of late.
 
landarc said:
I have to say, if you are at a competition and up at 6am or so, there is nothing that smells so sweet and delicious as the air that hangs over the cooking area. The cool morning air, with all that aroma wafting through...nothing can taste as good as that smell.

I like to shower and change clothes after I cook and before I eat. The meat will taste better. That being said, I like to mix in some drippings if I wrapped, or some finishing sauce if I didn't wrap. No rub addition for me, although I have been considering trying a finishing dust of late.
Click to expand...

Yes when I first pull on to the site, and start setting up, you are right the smell can't be beat and really gets your blood pumping.
Dave
 
Its hard to capture the restaurant taste in just about any type of cooking. In high school I worked in a Country Club kitchen. Sous chef would be overstating my position, I was more like a "fetch" for the two chefs. You can not believe the amount of salt and sugar that is placed in your restaurant food. No way in hell would I would feed that crap to my family. Use sugar free spices,rubs and sauces, cook it long enough so it melts, and I like to drink beer. While Q-ing.Hooray Beer.
 
16Adams said:
Its hard to capture the restaurant taste in just about any type of cooking. In high school I worked in a Country Club kitchen. Sous chef would be overstating my position, I was more like a "fetch" for the two chefs. You can not believe the amount of salt and sugar that is placed in your restaurant food. No way in hell would I would feed that crap to my family. Use sugar free spices,rubs and sauces, cook it long enough so it melts, and I like to drink beer. While Q-ing.Hooray Beer.
Click to expand...

Man, I love beer
 
Hazard, It could be as simple as one little thing. It could be the type of wood, or that the wood itself isn't dry enough, or that the spices you're using once cooked to really compliment the meat. If you're going to ground floor everything, I suggest starting with a great simple rub like Plowboy's Yardbird. If injecting, start simple with applejuice, a little worchestershire, and some of that Plowboy's Yardbird... Start with Hickory, chunks, not many, use the dry stuff you get at Walmart. Not too much either. Also, you're using a UDS. There's some degree of fat burning, yes? I'd try to find a way to remove that as much as possible.

I'm sure that it's something simple.
 
How's it taste the next day. I ALWAYS taste more smoke after I've been away from the cooker overnight. Even my microwave smells like smoke then.
 
I have used both Apple and Cherry wood for smoke. Not together, but those are the two I have used. I put chunks in throughout the charcoal basket typical to what others do. I use KFB briquettes.

I wish I could get more practice, but with just my wife and I, we cant eat that much BBQ. I cook a butt and freeze 3/4's of it which last 2months+.

I'd say the "best" I ever made was for a party where I cooked 4 butts at once. I probably put more prep and love into it because I was serving so many people. I rubbed it, injected, cooked, rested, pulled, added drippings, rub, and apple cider vinegar in the pan. It was good, but it still just "smelled" so sweet in the exhaust that I thought it was going to come out better than it did.

Interesting notes about cleaning up (shower & clothes) before consuming. That makes some sense for sure.

I guess it probably just comes down to doing it more often and refining technique. I think I will definitely try some commercial products when I do it next. No issue with my serving sauce. I buy that from my local BBQ joint (Blue Ribbon BBQ in Newton, MA) by the quart. Best sauces I have found around here.

Perhaps I should practice my Q-skills on some chicken parts as I won't have to cook so much and we seem to consume that much more regularly.
 
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