- Nov 14, 2009
- 7
- 10
Here is how I got to this point:
I smoked some baby back ribs with the 321 method. The temperature was approximately 220°. I had the smoke on for the entire time, even though there was foil around the ribs during the middle two hours, because I was simultaneously smoking a turkey breast. Speaking of the turkey breast, it went in for approximately 3 hours.
I have a couple of ideas, after reading around the forum, as to what may have gone wrong, but perhaps someone can highlight the most probable cause.
First, I am not sure if the bitter taste came from the ribs or the turkey or both, because when I was actually eating them, they tasted pretty good. It was just a few minutes after the meal that the awful aftertaste appeared.
I think one highly probable cause is that I did not leave the vent for the smoke open enough. In fact, I just left a small slit like opening for the smoke to escape. Indeed, the last 15 minutes or so, the smoke vent was essentially closed, as I was having trouble getting the temperature of the turkey 165°, so I thought if less hot air was escaping, the smoker temperature would rise.
The other possibility is that I simply smoked the meat for too long, but it seems unlikely given the durations listed. Of note, I was using hickory wood.
Please share your thoughts so that I can avoid this disaster in the future.