Smoking Questions

[grimsby tackle]

I have some questions regarding the smoking process. I am a member of Jeffs smoking web site and have got a lot of great tips and got his recipes with are fantastic to say the least. I don't seem to be able to navigate very well on the forums so I will put this question out there and If some one in the no would email me at [email protected] I could probably get some answers easier that way. I have a bradley fully automatic smoker since most things I smoked in my water smoker tasted like it came out of a house fire. My main question is even with the new smoker if I do two hours of smoke on a roast that I cook for ten hours it still tasted far too smokey. I have found that 1 hour and 2 minutes is about the max that any one I know can tolerate as far as smoke flavour. Is that just our personal taste or am I doing something wrong. I keep on reading on Jeffs smoking site that he'll smoke stuff for 3, 5, or even more hours. Are my taste buds different than most or am I missing some thing. If any one would like to comment I would appreciate it. Martin

 

[graystratcat]

Welcome to the forum Gimsby tackle.  I have a hunch about your problem.  It sound to me like you were producing 'bad' smoke if you could only stand about an hour's worth of smoke during a cook and your food tasted like 'a house fire'.  By 'bad' smoke I mean the billowing white type.  That is not what you want for smoking food.  You want to have a very thin, blueish almost invisible smoke.  Sometimes you can't even see it, but if you can smell it, you're making enough smoke.

The white billowing smoke is just nasty and imparts very strong and foul tasting flavors.  One of the easiest ways to get the bad white smoke is running too much wood in your wood box.  Another is using wood that isn't properly seasoned or dried.  Can you let us know what type of wood you were using and how much?

Also, could you head over to roll call and introduce yourself so we can give you a proper SMF welcome.

-Salt

 

[daveomak]

Martin, morning......   Salt has you covered with his explanation....   That "heavy smoke" is a common mistake... I know I used to do the same thing and bride did not like what I smoked in my Totem Smoker....  Then I found this forum... WOW, what a difference a forum can make in taste, texture etc..... I still screw up on occasion....

About that e-mail you requested.... We prefer to communicate openly on the forum.... there are so many folks who "lurk" here looking for information, we feel we are doing a service discussing our mistakes as well as our successes.... don't even think about being embarassed to discuss stuff openly... that is how we learn...  read my threads and posts and count how many times I screwed up....  I don't mind...  errors can be great learning experiences.....

This is a great forum....  glad you stopped in..... I think you will find this place your home away from home, as others have.... there are great folks willing to help and share stuff...   enjoy the long smokey ride....   Dave

 

[alblancher]

We all learn from each others mistakes!  Hehe

We normally don't request Private Messages or emails unless there is a concern about the safety of a procedure that could be misinterpreted by a new member.  If the thread gets out of hand and a conversation between members becomes heated we will also ask to make the discussion private.  

All in all the more information you provide the board the more the members can help you out.  Like DaveOmak said  look back at some of my posts and even though they are still a bit embarrassing they are there for others to learn from.

I to believe Greystratcat gave you good advice.   Stagnant thick white smoke = BAD   Moving Thin Blue Smoke = GOOD 

 

[rbranstner]

Sounds  like creosote to me. Are you getting thick white smoke? Does it taste like licking a burnt stick?

 

[eman]

Just to check, You are running your exhaust vents all the way open ??? many of the smokers i have seen have instructions that say run them fully closed or partially closed . DO NOT DO THIS. You should have just enough smoke coming out of a fully open exhaust vent to see it. and/ or smell it.

 I have to agree w/ the others and say you are getting way to much smoke to the meat if it's strong after 1 hr+.

I like many others usually smoke butts and briskets 12 - 18 hrs and apply smoke the whole time and it is not strong at all.

 

[rbranstner]

I'm the same as eman I am applying smoke the whole time I am smoking and it isn't too strong.

 

[SmokinAl]

X3, if it's in the smoker the smoke is rolling.

 

[grimsby tackle]

Meatatarian I really like that statement. Martin Grimsby tackle

 

[grimsby tackle]

Hey this is martin and yes I have been running my chiminny closed. I gues that is why all the smokey flavour. I did do a summer sausage and it said to leave the chimney closed and not put the water bowl in hence more smokey. It did taste not bad but wow super smokey.

 

[grimsby tackle]

Hey Just so you know I am not shy about my mistakes I just seem to have a hard time navigating around forums. This one does not seem too bad, but I do find that its hard to balance my time between work family etc. Ya got to admit its not hard to burn up alot of hours chatting it up out there.  I have been keeping my chimney closed on the Bradley smoker so may be that is why I have been getting way to smokey flavours. By the way what does everyone think of the bradley digital smoker. I get a feeling that most prefer the more hands on aproach. ????

 

[grimsby tackle]

hello Eman Martin here,When you say you smoke stuff for 18 hours Is that an automatic smoker or is that when you go out and put some more chips in periodically when the others burn out. If that is the case how much time do you think your are really continually smoking for taking in to account the no smoke time between fill ups??? Ps in my current way of smoking if i smoked for eighteen hours I dont think we could eat it. I gotta get another slab of meat and leave my chimney open, can't wait.

 

[grimsby tackle]

You hit the nail on the head licking a burnt stick no wait actually eating it. I just had a thought Maybe the Bradley does not have enough intake to alow the smoke to flow freely causing creosote/ blahch. Any one else have a Bradley with good success from the factory

 

[chef jimmyj]

The Bradley is a good smoker and there are members that have them...I have both an Electric Masterbuilt and a Charcoal burning NB Offset...Both are great, just require different levels of time commitment...The Bradley is designed to be putting out Thin Blue Smoke (TBS) and with the top vent open the smoke should stay fresh and tasty...Bradley puts out a variety of pucks.Try milder flavors like Apple, Alder or Oak. There are also variety packs that give a the whole range from strong Mesquite to the mild Oak and Blends that you may like...There is no reason why you can't let pucks fall for 2 hours (6 pucks) then just let the low and slow heat continue until the meat hits the desired Internal Temp...JJ

 

[michsmoker]

I have a Bradley and yes you need to open the top vent about half way..I only run it fully open when making jerkey or trying to dry it out some. If it is closed it will build up too much moisture.Fully open sometimes lets too much heat out and harder to controll temps. There is a forum on the Bradley website that may also be helpful...Good luck and happy smokin.