Flavor Print on Smokers?

[BrooklynQ]

Backyard chef posted...

I don't eat fish-- only cooked it for the family, which loves it. I haven't done any on the BYC yet-- people keep telling me that it imparts a 'flavorprint' on the smoker that is hard to get out. I never noticed it on my Chargriller-- but that thing was completely enrobed w/ animal fat that nothing would cut through. Any thoughts??

Interesting topic.

Do certain foods add a flavor print to your smoker?

Salmon - or any oily fish?
Lamb?

I've noticed that the smell from these cooks sometimes linger until I do another smoke in the cooker. Sometimes longer. But I've never noticed the flavor of a previous cook in the next meal. Anybody else?

 

[BrooklynQ]

Qman said...

BackyardChef, I never found a flavorprint in any of the many smokers I have used over the years. Lizards, bugs, etc, but never a flavorprint.
Seriously, I guess that I you used a cooker extensively for fish, it might get seasoned with an overprint of fish flavor, but I think if you cook mosty other meats, it will not happen.

 

[ZILLA]

That is an interesting thought as I just posted about smoked fish. Maybe I'll wait and think about it.

 

[qman]

Brooklyn, thanks for starting this as a new thread, I think it might get interesting.

I only hot smoke fish these days, and at times I do quite a bit. My whole family loves salmon, therefore it is a frequent visitor to my smoker. I also do catfish, Grouper, Halibut, Mahi-Mahi, and mullet sometimes. Point is my smoker gets used regularly for fish, but gets used for a lot of pork and beef too. I have smelled the previous cook of fish in the cooker when I first fired it up, but have never noticed any lingering aroma that would flavor the next cook.
Would really like to know other's experiances with this.

 

[RichardF]

My guess is that there is no truth to this, but I was once told not to smoke with mesquite because it "flavors" your smoker. I do not particularly like mesquite-smoked food (I do like to grill over it), so it has not been a problem for me. Anybody have experience with this?

 

[The Woodman]

I wholeheartedly agree! I have had several people tell me that they won't put fish , or lamb, in their pits. I think this is poppycock, YES POPPYCOCK! The idea that you could pick up the residual whiff of salmon while eating a heavily seasoned fatty cut of pork or beef after it, and the pit have been exposed to 15 hours of heavy wood smoke , is kind of silly. If your pallet is that good, then I'm impressed!I cook fish in my upright at the same time I'm doing butts and briskets. I do put foil under it to hold it together. Truth is, I get some pretty good feedback on the fish! Teriyaki and Texas BBQ and 3 hours of hot smoke. Same deal as it making any real difference which fat you use to season your pit. It will all taste like pork and beef fat after the first cook. Now if you cook 50% fish or somethin, the thing is going to stink, But if you wipe off the grate with a rag, it won't affect the meat! In other words, the pit may smell of it, but the meat should be fine. IMHO!

 

[backyardchef]

Interesting stuff. Like I said earlier, I did cook salmon-- no foil-- in my chargriller, and to be honest, I don't think it left even a smell in the cooker. I have heard that green mesquite or cedar can leave stink in the cooker, too....I wonder if the fish was the first thing you cooked in the smoker after seasoning it would be different than after you've already cooked a bunch of beefy porky goodies....

 

[mm_0_mm]

hope my wife doesn't read this. She claims that the pork chops I grilled this year on the weber taste like some salmon I grilled LAST year...

 

[Sawdustguy]

After smoking some trout last year all I could smell was that sweet smell of burnt cherry wood in the smoker.