New to smoking - any advice?

[john128]

Hi All,

I have just tried out my new Hark electric smoker yesterday.  The result was a bit too acrid and bitter - any advice welcome!

I wanted to start with something that wouldn't take too long to cook, so decided to try chicken breasts.  I made a basic rub from salt, sugar, garlic pwdr, onion pwdr and chilli pwdr.

I wrapped the chicken in bacon and placed in the smoker and dialed up 200f.  I placed the chicken in the middle of the smoker on a shelf and placed some water in the water tray.  

I added about half a cup of hickory chips to the wood tray.  I closed the top vent (mistake?)

I expected the chicken to reach 165f internal temp in about 90 mins.

4 hours later it was ready, with 165f internal temp.  Not sure why it took so long - the breasts were thick, maybe I had temp too low?

The result was as follows:

- the chicken was beautifully cooked

- great texture, moist

- taste was too acrid and bitter

- bacon was like leather

So I guess I had partial success.  

Any help much appreciated!

Thanks, John

 

[linguica]

I added about half a cup of hickory chips to the wood tray.  I closed the top vent (mistake?)

I expected the chicken to reach 165f internal temp in about 90 mins.

4 hours later it was ready, with 165f internal temp.  Not sure why it took so long

The right amount of chips, the top vent should be wide open to have air/smoke exchange and let out excess moisture that slowed down the cooking process,

 

[s2k9k]

Hi John, Yea they shouldn't have taken 4 hours, I would bet the setting on your smoker is higher than the actual temp inside, so you were smoking at a lower temp than you thought. Chicken is better cooked at a higher temp anyway, 275*-300*.

Closing the top vent could be why it had a bitter flavor, too much smoke. Always leave the top vent wide open to get a good airflow through the smoker. What color was the smoke coming out of the smoker?

I see this is your first post here, when you get a minute would you do us a favor and go to Roll Call and introduce yourself so we can get to know you and give you a proper welcome, also would you add your location to your profile, we like knowing where you are when we talk to you, Thanks!

 

[john128]

Thanks for your help guys!  heading to the roll call now...

 

[john128]

Dave,

The smoke looked grey to me.

should I always leave the vent open for all cooking?

thanks again, John

 

[s2k9k]

Yes always leave the top vent open. You want good airflow through the smoker so the smoke doesn't get trapped in there and create too much smoke. That will lead to creosote build up and put a strong bitter taste to the meat. The smoke coming out should be what we call TBS (Thin Blue Smoke) not thick and white or grey. Sometimes you won't even see the smoke but you can smell it.

 

[john128]

ok, when i did try opening the vent, smoke billowed out, thick and grey, so sounds like too much smoke.

 

[linguica]

ok, when i did try opening the vent, smoke billowed out, thick and grey, so sounds like too much smoke.

I added about half a cup of hickory chips to the wood tray.

No Just the release of a large build up inside.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Yup.. the only time you want to close the exhaust vent is when your not cooking... that's just to keep the bugs out of the smoker.... does the smoker have a bottom vent (intake) ? If so then adjust that one to control the smoke.. closing that one down some should get you the TBS you want... You also might want to get a good probe thermometer to check your temps and see how close they are to the smokers thermometer...

 

[s2k9k]

Yea that sounds like way too much smoke, that's why you got the bitter flavor. Next time open the vent all the way up from the start and cut back on the chips a little, you can add more as the cook goes on and try and get that TBS we all covet so much. You'll get it, might just take a little practice to get to know your smoker.