Monkey Uncle
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2014
- Location
- Somewhere, somehow
I've been turning out good Q for years using my trusty old COS. But I finally got tired of the constant battle that it took to keep the pit temp somewhere between 220 and 270, so I finally broke down and bought a WSM 22.5.
My first cook on it was a hot-and-fast chicken cook, which didn't present any major problems. Yesterday was the first time I tried smoking something low and slow - a couple of chuck roasts for beef tacos and other similar applications. One of the WSM's key selling points for me is the ability to load it up with charcoal at the beginning of the cook and then not have to mess with adding any more fuel. In that respect it worked like a charm. But the meat had a noticeable charcoal flavor to it, which I did not like. You know how when you pour charcoal out of a bag and get a face full of dust? That's what it tasted like. The flavor wasn't overwhelming, but it was noticeable enough to diminish my enjoyment of the meat.
At the risk of losing some people with a really long post, I'm going to go through everything I did so you good folks can help pinpoint where I went wrong:
My first cook on it was a hot-and-fast chicken cook, which didn't present any major problems. Yesterday was the first time I tried smoking something low and slow - a couple of chuck roasts for beef tacos and other similar applications. One of the WSM's key selling points for me is the ability to load it up with charcoal at the beginning of the cook and then not have to mess with adding any more fuel. In that respect it worked like a charm. But the meat had a noticeable charcoal flavor to it, which I did not like. You know how when you pour charcoal out of a bag and get a face full of dust? That's what it tasted like. The flavor wasn't overwhelming, but it was noticeable enough to diminish my enjoyment of the meat.
At the risk of losing some people with a really long post, I'm going to go through everything I did so you good folks can help pinpoint where I went wrong:
- I used the WSM like a UDS, with no water pan, diffuser, or anything else but air between the fire and the meat. I wasn't expecting a lot of drippings from two chucks, so why bother with something else that needs to be cleaned up afterward? Plus I like the flavor profile of direct-grilled meat.
- I filled the charcoal ring about 1/2 to 2/3 with unlit KBB, and imbedded one large chunk of white oak in the unlit briquettes.
- I poured a full chimney of lit KBB evenly over the top of the unlit KBB, and added a small chunk of white oak in with the lit briquettes.
- The temp stabilized in a matter of minutes, and I was getting just a hint of smoke from the top vent, so I went ahead a put the chucks on (top rack) a few minutes after I got the fire going.
- I kept the top vent wide open throughout the cook, except for one time when I needed to bring the temp down and I closed it about half way for just a few minutes.
- I fiddled with the intake vents multiple times to tweak the temperature, but mostly they stayed open just a tiny crack, which is what it took to keep the pit temp in the right place.
- Pit temp mostly stayed in the vicinity of 250, with a few brief trips down as low as 230 and as high as 270.
- The outdoor temp was 12 F when I started and went all the way up to 49 F in the afternoon. Remarkably, I didn't really have to struggle to keep the pit temp consistent.
- Some time in the afternoon, I noticed I wasn't getting any smoke at all, so I added another small chunk of white oak.
- I never got large amounts of smoke at any time during the cook. The most smoke was after I added the third chunk, but it was nowhere near as much smoke as I'm used to seeing when I burn sticks in my COS.
- First chuck (about 3.25 lbs) came off after about 9 hours when it probed tender at an IT of 210 F. This one went straight to the vacuum sealer, so I haven't tasted it yet.
- Second chuck (about 4.5 lbs and much thicker than the other one) came off after about 13 hours when it probed tender at an IT of 201 F. Made beef tacos with this one, and got the aforementioned charcoal taste.
- Shut all the air vents and let the fire die overnight.
- When I went out to clean the smoker this morning, I noticed a sparse coating of fine ash on the cooking grate. I'm wondering if this was the source of the flavor.
- I still had between 1/3 and 1/2 a basket of unburned charcoal. Also, all three of the wood chunks were only about half burned.