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Post by bigsteve on Jul 25, 2009 22:56:36 GMT -5
Sometimes I have trouble getting a good smolder on my chunks. I'll find no smoke at all, but the coals are still lit. If I give everything a stir, the smoke starts back up. Lately, the chunks I've been buying are pretty big. I suppose I'll try breaking them up into smaller pieces. Just thought I'd throw it out there and see if someone had this, and figured out the solution.
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Post by bbqbubs on Jul 26, 2009 14:10:44 GMT -5
Make sure you are soaking the coals for about 30-45 min before setting them onto the coals. Bigger chunks are fine, they should smoke longer of course rather then small chunks.
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dave
Junior Member
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Post by dave on Aug 22, 2009 9:47:37 GMT -5
Being I read that the chuncks of wood should be about the same dimension of the briquet. I have gotten some chuncks that are pretty good sized, so they got ripped into smaller chunks at the band saw. This also means by wood supply will last a lot longer than I ever imagined.
They say that soaking does very little. I saw where wood was soaked, then cut in half to reveal the soaking only effected the edge of the wood. Therefore they claimed it was of no use to soak.
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Post by juliew9855 on Nov 2, 2010 3:44:03 GMT -5
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Post by jerkylips on Nov 2, 2010 11:32:01 GMT -5
Sometimes I have trouble getting a good smolder on my chunks. I'll find no smoke at all, but the coals are still lit. If I give everything a stir, the smoke starts back up. Lately, the chunks I've been buying are pretty big. I suppose I'll try breaking them up into smaller pieces. Just thought I'd throw it out there and see if someone had this, and figured out the solution. I wouldn't worry about how it looks, so much. If you've done food using those chunks, how did it taste? You don't want to see a ton of smoke coming out of your grill - do that & you'll oversmoke for sure. If you get to the end & the chunks have burned down, they have given off some smoke. The first time I did a turkey, years ago, I wasn't seeing any smoke coming out the top, so I added a bunch more wood chunks to the coals. The turkey was so bitter & acrid that I couldn't eat it. I did one last year with the Smokenator, & just for kicks, did it was only charcoal - no wood chunks at all. It turned out fantastic, & did have plenty of smoke flavor. |
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dmouck
Junior Member
Posts: 12
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Post by dmouck on Nov 18, 2010 13:05:07 GMT -5
The first time I did a turkey, years ago, I wasn't seeing any smoke coming out the top, so I added a bunch more wood chunks to the coals. The turkey was so bitter & acrid that I couldn't eat it. I did one last year with the Smokenator, & just for kicks, did it was only charcoal - no wood chunks at all. It turned out fantastic, & did have plenty of smoke flavor. Thanks for posting this. I run into the same problem with my Smokenator (too much smoke taste). I couldn't understand because I was using hardly any wood (the last time I used a 2.5 oz chunk of cherry wood. Then I realized that since we are using the Minion Method on the Smokenator, there is always smoke coming off the coals, which contribute heavily to the smoky taste. The next time I do a turkey (probably for Thanksgiving), I may do like you did and not use any wood. I would probably prefer to buy lump charcoal to avoid the additional flavor of whatever additive they add to Kingsford briquettes. But alas, Kingsford is cheaper ;D Out of curiosity, did you happen to write down (or do you remember) your cooking temperature and time (and maybe how big of a turkey you did?) I have a smaller bird that I'm going to do, just under 13 pounds. |
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Post by jerkylips on Nov 19, 2010 10:38:26 GMT -5
The first time I did a turkey, years ago, I wasn't seeing any smoke coming out the top, so I added a bunch more wood chunks to the coals. The turkey was so bitter & acrid that I couldn't eat it. I did one last year with the Smokenator, & just for kicks, did it was only charcoal - no wood chunks at all. It turned out fantastic, & did have plenty of smoke flavor. Thanks for posting this. I run into the same problem with my Smokenator (too much smoke taste). I couldn't understand because I was using hardly any wood (the last time I used a 2.5 oz chunk of cherry wood. Then I realized that since we are using the Minion Method on the Smokenator, there is always smoke coming off the coals, which contribute heavily to the smoky taste. The next time I do a turkey (probably for Thanksgiving), I may do like you did and not use any wood. I would probably prefer to buy lump charcoal to avoid the additional flavor of whatever additive they add to Kingsford briquettes. But alas, Kingsford is cheaper ;D Out of curiosity, did you happen to write down (or do you remember) your cooking temperature and time (and maybe how big of a turkey you did?) I have a smaller bird that I'm going to do, just under 13 pounds. It was actually a turkey breast, not a whole turkey. If I had to guess, maybe 5-6 lbs. I wanted to make some smoked turkey for sandwiches so I stuck to just the breast. It was a while ago, but I do know that I kept the temp higher - probably 275-300 at the grate (NOT at the dome). We're having Christmas at our house this year & I was thinking about doing one for that, so I may do a "dry run" this weekend. I want to try running it at a lower temp for longer, more like a pork butt. If I get to it this weekend, I'll post the results.. |
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Post by chuck1221 on Nov 23, 2010 18:44:47 GMT -5
I also noticed a over smoked taste on some of my first baby backs. The last couple of times I kept the upper vent open about 3/4 and regulated temp with the lower. Its a little harder to get the temp set but I thought it made a big difference for the better on my cooks.
Chuck
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Post by jerkylips on Nov 24, 2010 11:30:17 GMT -5
I also noticed a over smoked taste on some of my first baby backs. The last couple of times I kept the upper vent open about 3/4 and regulated temp with the lower. Its a little harder to get the temp set but I thought it made a big difference for the better on my cooks. Chuck EXACTLY what I've been doing. I've found that with an oversized water pan, the temp is easier to regulate. Keeping the top vent open keeps the smoke from sitting over the food for too long & getting that bitter creosote flavor. I think the key to making that work is that you have to have a good seal between the lid & bottom. If you do, you restrict the air coming in, & it doesnt' really matter how open the top is. If you have a leaky kettle, though, your temps will shoot up. |
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Post by flbuckeye on Jul 8, 2013 17:06:33 GMT -5
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