Strong Smoky Undesirable Taste
Q: I bought a smoker this weekend and tried to smoke some ribs. I used dry hickory chunks from the store. The meat had a really strong smoke taste that kinda numbed your tongue. Do you have any tips to avoid this strong undesirable taste?
A: That was the chemical known as creosote which has a somewhat burny taste and numbs the lips and tongue upon contact. This is usually the result of green wood, not enough air flow into and out of the smoker, using only wood in too small of a smoker or a combination of the three.
Unless you have a fairly large smoker then, in spite of what it says on the bag of hickory chunks, it really needs to be used in addition to lump charcoal.
Use lump charcoal to get the fire going and get the smoker to the desired temperature, then add wood chunks on top of the coals for smoke or you can place them in a smoke box for even better results.
I like to use wood chips in smaller smokers wrapped up in a big piece of aluminum foil with some holes poked in the top and laid right on top of the coals. It will start smoking pretty quickly and you can have another one ready to put on when that one stops smoking.
Keep applying smoke until the meat reaches about 140 degrees at which point you just keep applying heat with the lump charcoal until the meat reaches the desired level of doneness.
A: That was the chemical known as creosote which has a somewhat burny taste and numbs the lips and tongue upon contact. This is usually the result of green wood, not enough air flow into and out of the smoker, using only wood in too small of a smoker or a combination of the three.
Unless you have a fairly large smoker then, in spite of what it says on the bag of hickory chunks, it really needs to be used in addition to lump charcoal.
Use lump charcoal to get the fire going and get the smoker to the desired temperature, then add wood chunks on top of the coals for smoke or you can place them in a smoke box for even better results.
I like to use wood chips in smaller smokers wrapped up in a big piece of aluminum foil with some holes poked in the top and laid right on top of the coals. It will start smoking pretty quickly and you can have another one ready to put on when that one stops smoking.
Keep applying smoke until the meat reaches about 140 degrees at which point you just keep applying heat with the lump charcoal until the meat reaches the desired level of doneness.
Labels: airflow, creosote, numb tongue, too smoky
posted by Jeff at 6:31 PM
9 Comments:
Why no post since last June?
Nice start to understanding what is going on in the fire pit.
You may want to move further into combustion science for the entire picture... creosote was only part of the problem... from the sound of your set up you were not controlling the stack output damper.....
So you were forming H2SO4, NOx and O3 that converted to HNO3 all at the same time... giving you a terrible mix of acids.
You'd want to allow your chips to soak in water for a few hour prior to applying them to the coals, correct?
nice post, keep posting good ones
Jeff...I like the comment on making a "smoker bag" with wood chips wrapped in aluminum. Any change in the flavor for "cooking" aluminum on top of the charcoal up to 140 degrees? Thanks!
Smokin' In Texas
I have no idea who the idiot was that said the hickory contained creosote, the hickory was too dry, hickory needs to be soaked in water before used in a pit, when waterlogged it will not burn but instead smoke, thus the term hickory smoked, and as far as the idiot saying you need to use charcoal, you need to start a fire until it turns to an ash bed, then start meat and add hickory chunks a few at a time, the ancient Americans who invented smoked meat had no charcoal from the store
I will respectfully disagree..
Based on the fact that he was using wood chunks leads me to believe that he is using a smaller smoker which WOULD be using something other than wood as a heat source. You NEVER use 100% wood in a small smoker unless you want to be overcome by smoke and creosote.
You would have to use charcoal or perhaps even electric or gas if that is the type of smoker you have. The wood chunks would supply the smoke.
Most folks who purchase a smoker nowadays are looking to create great tasting food.. they are NOT trying to emulate what the pioneers did.
There are a group of folks known as "purists" who think if you smoke meat different than the pioneers did it then it is wrong. I am happy to say that I am NOT a purist at all.. I am all about cooking and smoking food in a way that tastes good and if other folks don't like it well then, I suppose they don't have to eat it;-)
The (2) factors that ALWAYS cause creosote and in turn, a numb feeling on the tongue when you're eating the smoked meat is:
*Green Wood
*Incorrect airflow into and out of the smoker
The initial analysis was spot on.. if a numb feeling was being felt on the tongue when eating the smoked meat then there was a problem with the wood not being seasoned properly (i.e. it was green) or the airflow in the smoke was not correct and creosote was being formed and settling on the meat.
Concerning the use of soaking wood chunks or chips..
Wet wood does not burn or smoke.. it steams until the water is gone then begins to smoke. Everyone has their own ideas about soaking vs. not soaking wood chunks however, based on my experience, you get a much better flavor and a more useful smoke when the wood chunks/chips are left dry.
Feel free to disagree.. that is the cool thing about barbecue in that there are NO rules. If you are getting great results and it tastes good then go for it. It does not have to be just like my method.
Smoking meat?.. What the hell?..
Hi,
I would like to appreciate your article because i found that it's very useful & helpful for those guys who wanna know about the same, I would like to read more in future!
Charcoal Smokers
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