I'm not sure I like smoked beef

Matto6 · Sep 20, 2021

I bought a Kamado Joe a few months and have been using it for all sorts of stuff. I am really enjoying most of what I cook on it - the pork butts, ribs, chicken, and smoked salmon has been wonderful.

But every time I cook beef low and slow there's a flavor that I find off putting. I think I don't like the combination of smoke and beef together? Am I the only one? Either that or I'm producing "dirty smoke" and I'm sensitive to it?

The last beef I cooked was a top round for French dip sandwiches. I cooked it indirect at 250 (measured on the grate) using Kamado Joe charcoal and NO smoking wood. It was good but the outside still had that smell that I don't like.

Next I'm going to try the cleanest fire I can possibly make - I'll use a less flavorful charcoal - Royal Oak - and cool even hotter, maybe 275 on the dome thermometer. If that still tastes funny to me I'm not sure what to say.

Maybe I should try a Weber kettle and some Kingsford as an experiment instead?

16Adams · Sep 20, 2021

It’s not uncommon to prefer the taste of grilled beef over smoked.

Dustin Dorsey · Sep 20, 2021

I've seen other people post something to that effect so you aren't the only one. I love smoked beef, though. What type of wood are you using? Maybe try switching that up. I would find it odd that dirty smoke would be more objectionable on beef vs. pork, but some people are more sensitive to dirty smoke than others. I was taking a medication one time that made me particularly sensitive to dirty smoke.

mowin · Sep 20, 2021

I found i didn't like the flavor of smoked beef from a Kamado type smoker, but love it from my stick burner.
Everyone's different.

Matto6 · Sep 20, 2021

16Adams said:
It’s not uncommon to prefer the taste of grilled beef over smoked.

Interesting thanks. That works for thin steaks, but how do you cook big fat ones?

Dustin Dorsey said:
What type of wood are you using?

On the last cook I didn't use any wood at all - just Kamado Joe charcoal, which is know to produce moderate smokey flavor. I used hickory the time before that and I could barely eat the steak. I threw away the leftovers. Others who ate it didn't hate it as much as I did.

mowin said:
I found i didn't like the flavor of smoked beef from a Kamado type smoker, but love it from my stick burner.
Everyone's different.

Oh that's great to hear. I have an offset ordered but won't be here until spring.

In the mean time I'll try different charcoal as well as my Weber kettle.

Markov · Sep 20, 2021

For me, and for beef, the more collagen, and the more well done it is cooked, the more smoke I think it can handle. Things like brisket, ribs and to certain extent chuck roast, taste good to me with a fair amount of smoke.

Other things like top round and other roasts, and most steaks that are cooked medium or under, I prefer with just an aroma of smoke.

16Adams · Sep 20, 2021

Thick steak: A favorite method but not only one

Hit with Kosher salt both sides And edges
Allow salt to pull moisture AND pull back in
Rub vigorously with truffle oil until opaque
Coarse Pepper both sides and edges
Place in hot grill 1-2 minutes rotate 90* 1-2 minutes
Flip and repeat
Wrap tight in foil and move away from flame
Remove at internal temp around 128*
Remove from cooker to serving tray
Allow to rest 7-10 minutes while tightly wrapped
Carefully remove foil as there will be a ton of natural juices

Matto6 · Sep 20, 2021

16Adams said:
Wrap tight in foil and move away from flame

So you do this to explicitly avoid any additional smoke flavor? Or to keep in the juices? Or both?

ronbrad62 · Sep 20, 2021

I found that I love the taste of smoke whenever I do a brisket. I've had too many that I did while I was learning and when I wrapped in foil, they ended up tasting like pot roast and didn't have a beef or smoked flavor at all.
I've seen some on here post that they just don't like the stagnant smoke taste of a kamado because it just doesn't circulate the smoke like other types of cookers, so that may have something to do with it there. It could be that taste is prevalent if you're more sensitive to it.

Dustin Dorsey · Sep 20, 2021

My wife doesn't like smoke on steak but does like it on brisket. When I reverse sear a steak I just use charcoal, so that might be something to think about. Maybe try using a small amount of fully lit charcoal for the indirect portion of the cook rather than some kind of minion approach. I've never cooked on a kamado so I'm not sure how that works.

16Adams · Sep 20, 2021

Matto6 said:
So you do this to explicitly avoid any additional smoke flavor? Or to keep in the juices? Or both?

Juicy flavorful grilled. Personal taste preference. Not really running from anything just a preferred taste with natural juices

Lahawk1 · Sep 20, 2021

At that temp your charcoal may be oxygen starved. Try using less charcoal so you can keep the vents open wider thus having better air flow and hotter coals. Oxygen starved coals can produce a less than desired taste.

SMOKE FREAK · Sep 20, 2021

And I don't like smoked poultry. Love smoked beef. I reckon we're all a little different in what we like to eat.

raynchk · Sep 20, 2021

I'll go out on a limb here..

I had a vision kamado a few years ago and really didn't like it for low and slow. Made a pork butt and my girlfriend wouldn't eat it. What I really didn't like was the weight and then the firebox cracked.

Lately, in my obsessive *research* in looking at different cookers, I was seriously interested in a Kamado Joe. it's come up in a few posts that some kamado's *might* have a problem with too little air flow because of their efficency. A lot of youtube videos and Mad Scientist BBQ tout the airflow on a stick burner giving it a better smoke flavor. I don't know.. Kamado cooking has been around for a long time, but was it used for low and slow smoking?

Currently, I have a Hunsaker drum and was a little worried that the same thing might be happening (stale smoke). Last night I cooked a bottom round roast to test and it came out great. I was really pleased. Downside of the Hunsaker for me is using it to sear.

gcs · Sep 20, 2021

I'm the same except with venison, love it grilled, not so much smoked.
Brisket, good, smoked chuck, not so good...
Cook what you like, how you like it....:grin:

Big George's BBQ · Sep 20, 2021

I really like it on my Large BGE I use Lump, sometimes chunks of Pecan and/or apple and occasionally cherry Mild smoke flavor

NickTheGreat · Sep 20, 2021

Do you not like any smoked beef or just yours?

It'd be interesting to try some brisket at a well-known local joint and see what you think.

Matto6 · Sep 20, 2021

NickTheGreat said:
Do you not like any smoked beef or just yours?

It'd be interesting to try some brisket at a well-known local joint and see what you think.

Good question. I don't know. And that's a great idea.

There are also a few variables at play here. There's my smoke vs others smoke. And there's the type of beef - lean vs fatty. I haven't tried brisket yet. As @markov said, the fattier cuts take smoke differently.

mjpmap · Sep 20, 2021

I have both a Primo and a Vision and used up an Akorn. I was having a problem with an acrid taste on virtually everything. Kind of by accident, I found that leaving it be for 20 to 30 minutes after reaching temp and then putting my food in made a world of difference. I’ve stayed away from apple chunks as that seemed to give me the most problem. Lately, I have stayed away from the chunk wood in the bag. Now I use a single split of seasoned oak or hickory and the flavor is dramatically better. Hope that helps.

Matto6 · Sep 20, 2021

mjpmap said:
I have both a Primo and a Vision and used up an Akorn. I was having a problem with an acrid taste on virtually everything. Kind of by accident, I found that leaving it be for 20 to 30 minutes after reaching temp and then putting my food in made a world of difference. I’ve stayed away from apple chunks as that seemed to give me the most problem. Lately, I have stayed away from the chunk wood in the bag. Now I use a single split of seasoned oak or hickory and the flavor is dramatically better. Hope that helps.

Thanks. What charcoal do you use?

I'm not sure I like smoked beef

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