Imaginary or Real?

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Peter B

Knows what a fatty is.
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I cooked hamburgers and bratwurst on Saturday using my offset smoker. I had some leftover bratwurst and stored them in the refrigerator. They tasted good on Saturday but bratwurst tastes good so I didn’t think anything about it. However, last night I tried some and they had the most amazing smoke flavor/aroma. It smelled like a wood fireplace and had a flavor to match. I never achieved anything like this using charcoal or wood pellets. I didn’t taste this on the day I cooked them either. It could be that my sense of smell was dulled by spending time by my smoker so I didn’t taste it that day or that the smoke flavor concentrated over the last couple of days in the refrigerator.


Anyway, this could be my first "Ahah" moment using an offset cooker or it could just be my imagination. Is this a real moment or am I imagining things?

Keep in mind that I have only using an offset cooker for about five months and only now do I think I understand proper fire management techniques for it. This was my smallest fire yet and I am hoping this was the difference.
 
It's real.
After you have been cooking all day you will get desensitized to the smoke. A lot of folks will shower and change clothes after cooking and before eating for that reason.
Love the AH HA! moments.
 
LMAJ said:
It's real.
After you have been cooking all day you will get desensitized to the smoke. A lot of folks will shower and change clothes after cooking and before eating for that reason.
Love the AH HA! moments.
Click to expand...
Yep I always have to shower and freshen up after a day of bbqing
 
agreed that it is real. Some times you have to separate yourself from the cook before you can achieve the end results. Happens to me every time really. I actually enjoy ribs more the day after for this reason.
 
The last time I cooked ribs the same thing happened to me. I found myself enjoying them much more the next day, and cold to boot.
 
What really impressed me the most was the flavor of the smoke. It tasted like what a wood fire smells like. This is the aroma that inspired me to buy an offset smoker and cook with wood in the first place.

Charcoal has a different, albeit good, flavor/aroma and pellets give off a really mild flavor. This was the smoke flavor that I have been shooting for.

I think my fires have been too large before this cook so I never quite got as clean a smoke flavor as this last time. I really hope I can replicate it.
 
Ahah moments are great, aren't they? Smoked food always tastes better to me the next day. Family doesn't seem to notice a difference so it must be that I get desensitized while cooking. It happens to me when I'm cooking in the kitchen as well. Just can't to get the whole flavor of the food after cooking it, but the next day... YUM! :)
 
I find that the next day the food tastes better also. the reasons given are very good ones.
 
Yep the next day it's like taking a step back and enjoying the fruits of your labor. :-D
 
I am in the middle of experiencing the same thing. I used to cook soley on charcoal with wood chunks, but have recently started to get the hang of fire management in my offset using solely wood.

I think the taste if far superior to any other fuel...
 
I have experience the same thing. The next day, after I am clean of smoke the flavors seem more intense.

I love smoke brauts. One of my favorites for sure.
 
First time I smoked an apple pie, we dug into it right away and I was really disappointed - thought it might have well been cooked in the oven. Fortunately, there were leftovers and breakfast was amazing the next morning.
 
I have much the same experience, cooking directly over charcoal (with some flavoring wood) in a UDS-type cooker. It doesn't taste just like a wood fire smells, but a whole lot like it. It brings back memories of camping, which nothing on the day of the cook usually does. (And that can come from just unwrapping the foil from a left-over.)
 
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