# Reducing the "Smoke" flavor



## fstarsinic (Jun 22, 2009)

For those that love ribs but not the smoke flavor...
What are some tips for reducing the smoke flavor.
Here's what my newbie brain tells me:

Don't use wood. Just charcoal.
Don't put meat on too soon. Let coals burn a bit longer.
Keep top vent open (WSM)

Foil for the first hour (this is a wild guess because the smoke permeates most  when the meat is raw? True? False?) then unfoil?

Use a particular rub/mop ?


Thanks for your tips.


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## irishteabear (Jun 22, 2009)

Are you trying to reduce the amount of smoke flavor or eliminate it?


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## the dude abides (Jun 22, 2009)

If you like ribs but don't like them smoked.  Here's a recipie I've used and they come out really delicious.

2 racks of baby back ribs
2 each Red, Green, Yellow peppers - Julianne cut
2 Vidallia onions - Julianne cut
6 cloves garlic - crushed
Lowery's Season Salt
Ground black pepper

Rub the ribs down with Garlic, Salt and Pepper. 
Cover with onions and peppers and wrap slabs individulally in foil for four hours in the refridgerator.
Let rest at room temp for 1 hour before cooking
Leave wrapped in foil and place in 350* oven for 6 hours or until meat pulls back from the bone.

That's just one I've tried.

OR

If you still want some smoke flavor.  You could add a little liquid smoke to this recipie.  Or you could just smoke them for an hour or so then finish them off in the oven.


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## pineywoods (Jun 22, 2009)

What kind of wood are you using? There are woods with a milder smoke such as apple


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## fstarsinic (Jun 22, 2009)

for the last batch i just used the kingsford coals with the mesquite in it. No extra wood.
In the hot summers I don't want to use an indoor oven. I really want to use the smoker.

So, I would like to eliminate it as much has possible.  Just a hint would be nice.


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## pineywoods (Jun 22, 2009)

Mesquite is about the strongest smoke flavor you can get I'd suggest using something different and see how you like it hickory I think would be middle of the road and apple would be much milder


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## fire it up (Jun 22, 2009)

Like Pineywoods said, try out something like apple.  You can pour on lots of apple smoke and it is such a light flavor that it is hard to really over do it.
What kind of smoker are you using?
I noticed when I first started and used my Brinkman electric gourmet it would give a much heavier smoke flavor than when I started on my sNp.


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## jontiffs2005 (Jun 22, 2009)

What i like to do is use a mixture of oak and pecan wood you should defantility try different types of wood before you foil your meat. Mesquite is a very strong smoke. also use real wood coals not kingsford coals.


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## irishteabear (Jun 22, 2009)

Try using lump charcoal and use apple wood for the smoke.


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## fstarsinic (Jun 22, 2009)

What about the idea of using just lump charcoal or just kingsford?  nothing else.
I just bought the Weber Smokey Mountain.

One think I did do due to schedule conflicts of sorts was to put on the meat before the grill got to temperature.
So the smoker was still pretty "smokey" inside at that stage. Much more so than it would have been if I had waited until it got up to 225
which would have been another 30 minutes, at least.  Does it seem like that would make a significant difference ?

Thanks again


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## mulepackin (Jun 22, 2009)

Yeah, not allowing the smoker to come up to temp sure could have given you the result you don't like. It could even have imparted somewhat of a creosote flavor. Were the ribs bitter? I guess it still isn't clear to me at least what they tasted like that you don't like. Have you had ribs that you were confident were smoked properly and still didn't like the taste, or is it just this batch?


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## rickw (Jun 22, 2009)

I think it's in proper technique more than anything. I found burning all wood using the info found on here for proper fire management gives a less smokey flavor (which  like) than just a few chunks of wood with charcoal in the uds.


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## ddave (Jun 22, 2009)

Yes, just using lump charcoal would be a good idea. Just make sure it is not mesquite charcoal. I have done a few cooks using just Kingsford Comp on the UDS. Has a very light flavor just by itself

Yes, that *will* make a significant difference -- speaking from experience 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






And like Rick said, a lot of it is tecnique.  Most of my "oversmoked" taste in the beginning was just poor fire management.  But it gets better with practice.

Dave


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## tasunkawitko (Jun 22, 2009)

>>>like Rick said, a lot of it is tecnique. Most of my "oversmoked" taste in the beginning was just poor fire management. But it gets better with practice.<<<


bingo!

milder wood plus gaining experience in tending your fire will help a lot.

something else you can do is use lump charcoal with no smoking wood, or use wal-mart charcoal (sam's choice) briquettes, which have little bits of wood and give an extremely low-profile, subtle smoke smell and taste.

if you use briquettes such as kingsford that have no bits of wood, there will be no smoke smell or taste at all


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## fstarsinic (Jun 22, 2009)

Ok.  So I think I know what to do for next time. Plan better and try just coals, period. 
Then up the smoke just a bit with something like apple until I can just taste the difference, once I feel like experimenting.

No, it was not bitter but I believe I did experience that on a previous smoke.
Thanks!!!


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## flash (Jun 23, 2009)

No smokey taste, easy. No wood. Gas Grill or put them in the oven. No smoker, no smoke. Pretty simple.


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## 1894 (Jun 23, 2009)

Sounds like a good plan. I tried some of those briquettes with the mesquite in them and found them strong in my char-griller so I'm sure they were potent in your efficient WSM


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## mikey (Jun 23, 2009)

Here's the best place to start since you have a WSM. www.virtualweberbullet.com The info here might save you a lot of grief down the road.


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## 1894 (Jun 23, 2009)

That is an important one. Keep the top vent open.


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## bman62526 (Jun 23, 2009)

Yes - top vent ALWAYS wide open...

I have an abundance of apple wood, cut into splits that are 2-3" thick and 8 - 10" long.  Father's Day weekend, I used 20 of those splits and the smoke flavor was STILL mild.

The moral of the story is that, per ususal - the advice from everyone here is great!

1 - top vent always open, control temp with intake vent.

2 - use a mild wood

3 - fire management...you want a small amount of fuel and an active fire, not a large amount of fuel that is just smoldering.  Now - if you read up on the minion method, it would SEEM to contradict what I'm saying, but not really.  With the minion method, you DO have a large amount of fuel - but you have to have your air intakes adjusted so that this fuel is slowly "burning"...not sitting there smoldering...just practice practice!  Remember that big billowing white smoke is bad...just a thin blue smoke that sometimes you can't even see!


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## jdt (Jun 23, 2009)

I suspect the mesquite is the main problem, its the strongest flavored smoking wood I have found, if you switched to apple and used the exact same amount it would be much more mild.


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## alx (Jun 23, 2009)

Good point.

Using WSM for many years it is imperative to have clean smokes.I usually wait 15-30 minutes for smoker to set up with the wood smoldering.

You can then watch smoke become TBS and put meat on.

Should always have good airflow in these smaller units.


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## mgnorcal (Jun 25, 2009)

Good responses here.

Also, don't choke your fire if temps get too high.

If the temp reads 50* over your target and you panic and shut down the bottom vents, you're likely gonna get a real unclean burn and whitish biting smoke - the kind that stings your eyes and ruins your meat.
So monitor temps closely and don't over-react.
Temp fluctuations won't kill you, but lots of smoldering and white smoke will.


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## fstarsinic (Jun 25, 2009)

Good to know.  So if it does get 50+ over what are your recommendations? 
shut down the lower vents by 50% ?  crack the lid? open the door?  weep?
call out for pizza?


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## ddave (Jun 25, 2009)

Depends on the smoker.  If it's an offset or bullet smoker, open the lid, door, etc and dump some heat.  

Note: Don't do this with a UDS, it will just make things worse.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Dave


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## fstarsinic (Jul 9, 2009)

I'm finding with the WSM i'm not getting an spikes in temperature using the minion method. It's like a miracle everytime. Yesterday i smoked a salmon. I put the salmon on there, shut the vents further than what i would do for ribs to get a lower temperature and left home.  when i returned the fish was just about at 131F, and the smoker temp was at about 200.  Very pleased.

I also experimented with all charcoals and no wood of any kind and there was essentially no hint of smoke flavor.  Perfect (for the experiment anyway).
Now I can kick up the smoke flavor to where I want it.


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## justpassingthru (Jul 9, 2009)

Looks like you are learning your smoker, that’s good, those WSM are great smokers, I saw a thread here with smoked tuna too, I’m gonna have to try some fish. 

  Sounds like you are doing what I’ve done, using just charcoal without any smoke taste so that I could learn what the different woods taste like.

  This might help you with lowering your start up time, waiting 30 minutes before it’s at temperature and cut down on the white smoke at the beginning.

  I cut both ends out of a #10 can, then took a can opener and cut holes all around one end.

  I fill my charcoal ring with lump and place a fire starting brick directly on the charcoal and light it, place the #10 can over the lit brick and then add lump on top of it, a little or a lot depending on what temp I’ll be cooking at. 

  When the lump in the #10 can is burning good I pull it off and assembly my WSM, I made a bracket to hold the door open about an inch and a half when it is positioned upside down, it kind of acts like a turbo charger.

  I’m usually at 225° in 10-20 minutes depending on how much lump I put in the #10 can. 

  I hope that helps.

  Gene


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## gnubee (Jul 10, 2009)

Sounds like You're on the right track. Apple, cherry, apricot, plum , grape, any of the fruit woods will give just a hint of smoke. Mesquite is far more smoke than I like. 

My first smoke was beyond awful because I tossed on the wood before the smoker was hot, then I tossed on the meat. I got that ashes in your mouth taste. Not bitter but not pleasant. 
It only takes a few trys till you get the hang of it. Now I actually can tell which wood was used just by their flavours in the meat. 

I went from using only apple for just an hour to now doing medium woods like Hickory for 6 hours to get that really nice smokey flavour completely thru the meat. 

If you can get it, Alder is the very best wood for fish in my opinion.

The best thing to do is get the smoker up to temp, get the smoke started and when It is Thin blue , then and only then put in the meat. 

Aren't these guys great? They always have the right answers, I would be lost without them.


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