How does food get "too much smoke"?

[Lake Dogs]

I use hickory or a mixture of hickory and oak. Agreed that baby backs, poultry, etc. can become oversmoked quickly where you're tasting only smoke and no meat. I also am of the opinion that you can oversmoke the larger cuts too. I foil at the 4.25 to 4.5 hour mark of briskets, shoulders, butts, picnics, etc. For me this is the point where I've maxed out the smoke influence and the color is of a reddish/brown hue vs. towards black. I certainly foil for more reasons than smoke, but by foiling it helps prevent additional smoke from either penetrating the meat or from accumulating on the exterior of the meat. Even sweet blue gets overpowering when it's oak/hickory, IMHO. Even foiling at that point we have a NICE well-defined smoke ring. Ribs I foil at the 1.25 hour mark; same thing. I actually have a smoke ring vs. all pink over-smoked (IMHO).

Yes, a lot of what people are talking about when they mention over-smoking is creosote caused by wet or green wood and/or a fire that isn't hot enough. That aside, I'm of the personal opinion that even with sweet blue you can over-smoke meat. Like said above, to the point where it no longer enhances the flavor and begins to be the flavor.

 

[El Ropo]

Interesting, please continue.

A piece of meat will continue soaking up the smoke flavor all the way through the cook. The smoke ring will theoretically stop forming around 140-145.

It's a point of confusion among folks new to this hobby. The curse of the internet, there is both good and bad info to be learned.

I totally agree about the amount of visible smoke coming off the cooker. If it's completely invisible, with a wonderful aroma, you're golden. If the exhaust looks like you just tossed on an old telephone pole, you're gonna have some nasty q. Less visible smoke is better.

 

[PimpSmoke]

A piece of meat will continue soaking up the smoke flavor all the way through the cook. The smoke ring will theoretically stop forming around 140-145.

It's a point of confusion among folks new to this hobby. The curse of the internet, there is both good and bad info to be learned.

I know that. I want to know how smoke doesn't give you a smoke ring.

 

[Boshizzle]

Using an old tire in your smoker can result in too much smoke. Otherwise, follow the advice above. Personally, I like the smoke from my cooks to be clear vapor. But, humidity, the quality of the fuel, outside temp, and several other factors can impact the fire resulting in heavy, bitter smoke and that's usually what causes problems.

 

[btcg]

Using an old tire in your smoker can result in too much smoke. Otherwise, follow the advice above. Personally, I like the smoke from my cooks to be clear vapor. But, humidity, the quality of the fuel, outside temp, and several other factors can impact the fire resulting in heavy, bitter smoke and that's usually what causes problems.

Only if it's a car tire. A bicycle tire should be okay. As Tom Petty would say, smoking is a "long, long road" :becky:

 

[Quemaster]

I like to use blends of fruit woods ( apple & cherry) and sometimes Hickory. Learn how your smoker responds to different sizes wood chunks or logs. I get best results by adding 2-3 tennis ball sized chunks per hour. These small chunks allows the wood to burn clean at a controlled rate that takes 45 min to 1 hour to burn down in my smoker ( Stumps Stretch). I could use 4-6 per hour with my old Stick burner.

I will add smoke slowly for 4-5 hours on 8 lb butts & and 12 lb briskets cooking at 240 deg. I'll add wood & smoke ribs for first half of cook 2.5 to 3 hrs and chicken for 1 to 1.5 hrs.

Practice with less wood at first and use more on following cooks if needed. Also, be cautious with stronger woods. I usually never exceed 1 chunk of hickory for every 2 fruit wood chunks. This works for me but you might prefer all hickory.

Practice, go slow at first looking for clean smoke.

Good luck.

 

[Cook]

I know that. I want to know how smoke doesn't give you a smoke ring.

The ring is formed by gasses and/or a chemical reaction. You do not need wood or smoke to form a ring...and you can heavily smoke meat w/o a ring.

I'm not technical enough to explain it much further.

 

[El Ropo]

I know that. I want to know how smoke doesn't give you a smoke ring.

Now I'm really confused. The best smoke rings I've done, were cooked on a smoker that was putting out little to no smoke. No smoke equals good smoke was my point all along. It's all about a clean burning fire.

There was zero to TBS during this whole cook and the ring is deep:

I guess the answer is a clean burning fire will work a lot better than a poofy white fire.

 

[MG_NorCal]

I know that. I want to know how smoke doesn't give you a smoke ring.

More accurately stated, smoke is not necessary for a smoke ring.
Smoke rings come from NO2.
NO2 can be formed from any high heat combustion in air; wood is not needed.

 

[Zippylip]

Smoke is on the tongue of the beholder.

My wife will classify certain cooks as too smoky thus inedible where I taste the same as perfectly smoked, & eat extra :becky:

 

[Lake Dogs]

> Smoke is on the tongue of the beholder.

A B S O L U T E L Y

Some people despise any smoke flavor at all, and can tell if you're using a little paprika or smoked paprika.

Others love a little meat with their smoke.

Most of us are some degree towards the middle.

 

[qnbiker]

Depends on the food. In my opinion, it's hard to oversmoke butts and briskets, but not ribs or poultry. Especially if you use a strong smoke wood like hickory.

 

[El Ropo]

That's why I use a base of pecan, with apple or cherry, or both for a smoke profile.

 

[IowaWildHogsBbq]

I use lump charcoal and apple wood and never have oversmoked with that combo.

 

[PimpSmoke]

A comment was made that "smoke doesn't give you a smoke ring at all", which is incorrect.

Had the comment said "The presence of thick visible smoke does not promote the creation of a smoke ring" I would agree.

Nitric oxide is a product of combustion. You cannot have combustion of any material without the by product of that combustion, which is commonly referred to as smoke.

No one ever implied that only wood smoke or visible smoke created a smoke ring. Nitrosohemochrome can also be formed by the forced absorbtion of nitrates (curing salts, tender quick) either alone or coupled with combustion gasses. Environment humidity and temperature of myoglobin play a huge part in formation of smoke ring.

I was forced to learn this after a fake looking smoke ring debacle at my first comp.

 

[snakyjake]

For me, no such thing as too much smoke. I love smoke!

 

[Dave Russell]

For me, no such thing as too much smoke. I love smoke!

Seriously? Well, I'm serious. If you are serious, here's a great test and an opportunity to learn something. Wish I wouldn't have learned it the hard way, with my inlaws over for supper:

This was a great lesson for me several years ago, despite the fact that the spares were practically inedible. Take a COS (cheap offset) and a bunch of splits small enough to fit in the firebox. Any wood will get the results I'm speaking (warning) of, even seasoned apple or cherry. Get everything going, but shut the air down so you keep that beloved 225* without putting the fire out. Put one small slab of cheap spares on and baste with a thick tomatoey baste every half hour or so til the ribs are done, allowing lots of smoke absorption between bastes and never switching to charcoal or wrapping; never worrying about what the smoke looks like. Taste, spit, and order pizza if you haven't already.

Like others have already stated, there's good smoke and bad smoke, and then there's simply over-smoking for lots of folks tastes. You might not have ever found anything that seemed to be over-smoked, but the above test will teach you what BAD smoke can do, no matter what kind of wood used. Actually, you want to just take my word for the test so you don't get a bunch of creosote build-up in your smoker.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

I generally smoke Chicken and Pork with Pecan wood.
I like Hickory for Beef.

I no longer soak wood before smoking.
I get a cleaner burn with more oxygen and dry wood.

(Royal Oak Lump Charcoal is my favorite)

 

[snakyjake]

I smoke butts in a WSM for about 20 hours using hickory charcoal and hickory chunks. I add more charcoal and chunks around 12 hours or anytime I notice a lack of smoke.

The meat comes out great for my liking. Love the smoke ring.

Perhaps since I'm using charcoal instead of wood and a water pan, I'm getting cleaner smoke than an offset or USD.

Seriously? Well, I'm serious. If you are serious, here's a great test and an opportunity to learn something. Wish I wouldn't have learned it the hard way, with my inlaws over for supper:

This was a great lesson for me several years ago, despite the fact that the spares were practically inedible. Take a COS (cheap offset) and a bunch of splits small enough to fit in the firebox. Any wood will get the results I'm speaking (warning) of, even seasoned apple or cherry. Get everything going, but shut the air down so you keep that beloved 225* without putting the fire out. Put one small slab of cheap spares on and baste with a thick tomatoey baste every half hour or so til the ribs are done, allowing lots of smoke absorption between bastes and never switching to charcoal or wrapping; never worrying about what the smoke looks like. Taste, spit, and order pizza if you haven't already.

Like others have already stated, there's good smoke and bad smoke, and then there's simply over-smoking for lots of folks tastes. You might not have ever found anything that seemed to be over-smoked, but the above test will teach you what BAD smoke can do, no matter what kind of wood used. Actually, you want to just take my word for the test so you don't get a bunch of creosote build-up in your smoker.

 

[Dave Russell]

I smoke butts in a WSM for about 20 hours using hickory charcoal and hickory chunks. I add more charcoal and chunks around 12 hours or anytime I notice a lack of smoke.

The meat comes out great for my liking. Love the smoke ring.

Perhaps since I'm using charcoal instead of wood and a water pan, I'm getting cleaner smoke than an offset or USD.

Apples and oranges if you're talking about any similiarities with my "over-smoking experiment" on an offset. You can't duplicate the experiment I was talking about with a wsm, but that sure explains your position on oversmoked meat. Charcoal smokers are one thing but try an offset and THEN you'll find out what all the fuss is about. As for your wsm smoke being cleaner than an offset, the smoke off a stickburner is all dependent on the skills of the guy feeding it. Not bragging, but I bet I can smoke ribs on an offset with nothing BUT wood and have them still end up with as good a flavor or probably better than if I cooked on my wsm with only three chunks of wood. The reason is that I know how to maintain a small clean-burning fire and get thin blue smoke on an offset. It's not hard either, although you might need to abandon the sacred cow temp of 225* and feed the fire smaller bites more often.