Dumb question....

The Bengal Thing · May 27, 2009

Ok, so I am not afraid to admit it... i am a TOTAL newb at all this still, and especially smoking.

My question is this..... are items cooked on a UDS supposed to "taste" like smoke. I know that sounds weird, but my fatties this weekend were not "great" and kind of had an odd taste (now, I have never had a fatty and I used some kind of crazy ingredients which I am sure played a part it in), my main question came in tonight when my wife cooked up the leftovers..... it was seriously like swallowing a huge mouthful of SMOKE

I am wondering what i can do to improve my smoking skills. I am sure I need to get a better thermo and such, but just wondering some of the basics to "smoked" meat and how it is really supposed to taste... etc

smooookin · May 27, 2009

What kind and how much wood did you use? Was it well cured? The UDS and good home Q will probably taste different that the local BBQ joints, mst certianly the chain stores.

I have noticed the smoke flavor seems to come out more with leftovers than fresh off the smoker.

You might have used a little too much or a little too strong wood.

The Bengal Thing · May 27, 2009

smooookin said:
What kind and how much wood did you use? Was it well cured? The UDS and good home Q will probably taste different that the local BBQ joints, mst certianly the chain stores.

I have noticed the smoke flavor seems to come out more with leftovers than fresh off the smoker.

You might have used a little too much or a little too strong wood.

I used some hickory chunks.... about 4

It was from Wal-Mart I think.... maybe that is the problem (just some stuff in a bag)

smooookin · May 27, 2009

For me I know hickory can get pretty strong. I think for a fattie I woulda cut it back to two. If you can find it try some apple or maybe cherry or pecan. It is a lot more mild.

LT72884 · May 27, 2009

how long did you leave the wood chunks on the fire? my rule of thumb is no more than 2 to 3 hours of smoke for butts. for a fatty i used 1 chunk of apple wood and made sure my coals were not smoking at all. I had a clean fire first before i added the wood.

I do NOT like a heavy smoke flavor. i like to taste my food rather than just smoke. My main hassle with the UDS is there is always some smoke from unlit coals lighting. With my other smoker, i always made sure that ALL coals were lit. BUT that means i have to re fuel every 2 hours. When all coals are lit you have a cleaner fire and less smoke.

I tried some beef and pulled pork along with some ribs from a friend who loves smoke and all three meats tasted the same because all i could taste was smoke.

LT72884 · May 27, 2009

hickory is a strong pungent flavor. Use two chunks at most. Apple wood is not so pungent. Not sure where i posted this but i had a pic of my apple wood burn rate vs my hickory burn rate and i went through 4 pieces of apple wood compared to half a piece of hickory

dbeast420 · May 27, 2009

It could have also been the the taste of the drippings falling on the coals that caused the "off" flavor.

I had the same experience when I first started using mine. I love my UDS but I'm not crazy about the flavor of the drippings on the fire.

Here's one of the threads about the subject....

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51258&highlight=wok

BTW.........

I use the hickory and the mesquite from WallyWorld and haven't any problem with it.

Bbq Bubba · May 27, 2009

How LONG did you cook and to what temp?

Bbq Bubba · May 27, 2009

LT72884 said:
how long did you leave the wood chunks on the fire? my rule of thumb is no more than 2 to 3 hours of smoke for butts. for a fatty i used 1 chunk of apple wood and made sure my coals were not smoking at all. I had a clean fire first before i added the wood.

I do NOT like a heavy smoke flavor. i like to taste my food rather than just smoke. My main hassle with the UDS is there is always some smoke from unlit coals lighting. With my other smoker, i always made sure that ALL coals were lit. BUT that means i have to re fuel every 2 hours. When all coals are lit you have a cleaner fire and less smoke.

I tried some beef and pulled pork along with some ribs from a friend who loves smoke and all three meats tasted the same because all i could taste was smoke.

Interesting....never heard of such a thing.

The Bengal Thing · May 27, 2009

LT72884 said:
hickory is a strong pungent flavor. Use two chunks at most. Apple wood is not so pungent. Not sure where i posted this but i had a pic of my apple wood burn rate vs my hickory burn rate and i went through 4 pieces of apple wood compared to half a piece of hickory

interesting stuff... i didnt think about the wood/amount being too much.. etc

dbeast420 said:
It could have also been the the taste of the drippings falling on the coals that caused the "off" flavor.

I had the same experience when I first started using mine. I love my UDS but I'm not crazy about the flavor of the drippings on the fire.

Here's one of the threads about the subject....

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51258&highlight=wok

BTW.........

I use the hickory and the mesquite from WallyWorld and haven't any problem with it.

I will check the link... thanks

Good to know about the wood from Wally.... I will maybe just cut back on the amount

Bbq Bubba said:
How LONG did you cook and to what temp?

2-2-1.... mainly at 230. I had some temp control issues and it dropped to as low as 200 (short time) and got to 250 (maybe a half hour toward the end). I pulled both fatties off at 170

LT72884 said:
I tried some beef and pulled pork along with some ribs from a friend who loves smoke and all three meats tasted the same because all i could taste was smoke.

Chunks were on the whole time

Yeah, I kind of had the same experience a little. I couldn't really taste different flavors much. at lest not what I expected.... especially with the bacon

Rick's Tropical Delight · May 27, 2009

that's a lot of wood. try it with no wood once for comparison, then work into it by upping the amounts. your taste buds are different than every person posting here so you'll have to experiment and find what YOU like, not what someone else tells you to like.

LT72884 · May 27, 2009

Bbq Bubba said:
Interesting....never heard of such a thing.

yuppers. i dont like to smoke more than an hour or two. Then i remove the wood chunks even if they are still burning.

With my brinkman, i had really good flavor because i always used a full chimney where every coal was covered in ash and fully lit. When i put it in the coal basket on the smoker, there was no smoke from the coals at all. just a good ol clean fire.

LT72884 · May 27, 2009

Rick's Tropical Delight said:
that's a lot of wood. try it with no wood once for comparison, then work into it by upping the amounts. your taste buds are different than every person posting here so you'll have to experiment and find what YOU like, not what someone else tells you to like.

EXACTLY.

i use literally one piece of hickory or 2-3 pieces apple. and sometimes thats to much

The Bengal Thing · May 27, 2009

Rick's Tropical Delight said:
that's a lot of wood. try it with no wood once for comparison, then work into it by upping the amounts. your taste buds are different than every person posting here so you'll have to experiment and find what YOU like, not what someone else tells you to like.

LT72884 said:
EXACTLY.

i use literally one piece of hickory or 2-3 pieces apple. and sometimes thats to much

Ya'll may be on to something!

THANKS!!!

Bbq Bubba · May 27, 2009

2-2-1.... mainly at 230. I had some temp control issues and it dropped to as low as 200 (short time) and got to 250 (maybe a half hour toward the end). I pulled both fatties off at 170

No, i'm afraid your doing everything pretty much right.....except for cooking your fatty for too long.

IMO, your wood is fine, a fatty cooks in 2 hrs to a temp of 160*, not 5 hrs, thus the "burnt" flavor.

The Bengal Thing · May 27, 2009

Bbq Bubba said:
No, i'm afraid your doing everything pretty much right.....except for cooking your fatty for too long.

IMO, your wood is fine, a fatty cooks in 2 hrs to a temp of 160*, not 5 hrs, thus the "burnt" flavor.

darn 2-2-1 method trickery

LT72884 · May 27, 2009

The Bengal Thing said:
darn 2-2-1 method trickery

thats why earlier in your fatty thread i said 2-.5-.5 or even 2-1-1 cuz my sausage started to burn as well. Even at 2-1-1 it was dry. next time i will try 1-1-1

The Bengal Thing · May 27, 2009

LT72884 said:
thats why earlier in your fatty thread i said 2-.5-.5 or even 2-1-1 cuz my sausage started to burn as well. Even at 2-1-1 it was dry. next time i will try 1-1-1

I throttled it down from the 3-2-1 method even

I feel used!

haha

smooookin · May 27, 2009

In two hours I am chowin down on a fattie. Keep the foil just give me a biscuit!

Bbq Bubba · May 27, 2009

LT72884 said:
thats why earlier in your fatty thread i said 2-.5-.5 or even 2-1-1 cuz my sausage started to burn as well. Even at 2-1-1 it was dry. next time i will try 1-1-1

111 what? Were cooking sausage here, not braising a pork butt!

No rendering of fat wanted in this case, just cook it till its cooked.

Dumb question....

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somebody shut me the fark up.

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somebody shut me the fark up.

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somebody shut me the fark up.

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