Acrid Taste

bill,
i think you might be oversmoking a little. hickory is pretty strong flavored. what helped me was paul kirk's championship bbq book and i guess it was the reason i switched to oak, cherry and pecan blend after reading and then trying his 60% oak, 20% hickory and 20% apple blend. if you can give it a try for maybe the prechristmas bird. if it still isnt what you want the practice meat does make a good donation to your local soup kitchen (and man we have made a few of those). the reason i deviated from his blend is we have only one fec and doing all 4 meats. the pecan gives the chicken good color, along with the ribs and the cherry works well with the beef but doesnt overpower the chicken and heck the pork likes all three so it is a good compromise for us and it has taken away the acrid taste at least as far as we can see.
i know i am no expert but this is what has worked for us so far and i hope it helps.
jack
ps. if you do the donation thing be sure to ask for a reciept showing the weight and from any bbq menu you can figure a donation amount that the irs will agree with plus you will make a lot of people happy which is the most important thing

Bill,

I never eat the skin on chicken or turkey, unless it it is fried. Its always soft and greasy and as you mentioned with some acid flavor if smoked or BBQed. I do eat the skin of a duck, but then it is cooked in the oven and basted every 20 minutes with enough molasses in the sauce to brown it well.

The last time I cooked a duck it took me four hours to get the grease and molasses off the oven walls. Wife wasn't a happy camper.

smokemullet

The taste is from too much smoke, in fact, it may be from the "initial" part of the smoke, when the wood first burns. I've tasted it in restaurants.

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
[qb] The taste is from too much smoke, in fact, it may be from the "initial" part of the smoke, when the wood first burns. I've tasted it in restaurants. [/qb]

??? Three oz of wood seems reasonable for a turkey I would think ??? The overall smoke of the product was great.

Is there a way of tempering the "initial" part of the smoke to make it mo betta ? I have been simply setting the tstat at 225* at startup and letting 'er rip.. ie do what it will do.

I'm wondering if cracking the door during the intitial smoke might help.. I think a lot of this has to do with the high humidity inside that allows/facilitates the plating of the tars on the bird and inside the box? Any thoughts here?

Thanks, Bill

Bill - The only time I ever got the taste you are describing is my very first smoke in this unit. I think I used 6 oz hickory on my babybacks and threw half of them away. Now, for my tastebuds, 3-4 oz is pleanty for ribs. Ya gotta remember that poultry takes on smoke heavier than other meats. I use an ounce on my birds and that suits me just fine. Try cutting back on the wood. Now, if you are thinking about opening the door during the initial smoke, remember that you are adding oxygen to the mix and could end up with flames and fire, allowing more debris into the chamber. Just something to think about...

Good luck!

I did two turkeys over the last couple of weeks. I used 2 oz. of Hickory each time and had excellent results. I used the butter soaked cheese cloth cover along with Cookshack "Spicy Chicken Rub" under the skin technique. Both birds were in the 12lb range. We bined both Turkeys with Smokin's brine. The first one was a fresh turkey (never frozen) and took about 4 and half hours to cook. The second was previously frozen, and was done in about 3 1/2 hours. We did not eat the skin of either of the birds so I cannot comment on it's taste. Roger

Red oak is your friend. I have NEVER over smoked with any oak. Red oak is your friend---I never used it because of its "pissy" smell.
I had touse it one time because it was the only oak I could get at the time---I use it on everything now. Drives the sweetest smoke you ever tasted into ALL meats.
Hope this helps!
Zeb

I agree with Zeb. Oak is by far the best smoking wood I ever use. I have used all varieties of oak (red, white, post, etc.), and it is all good as long as it is very dry with no bark or cambium. It is easy to use too much of any wood, though. I use 2 oz. with a large turkey, 4 oz. with a large brisket or a long cook like pork butts. If only one or 2 chickens or alot of chicken parts, 1 oz. wood is plenty.

I probably shouldn't have made the comment about cracking the door.. sounds dumber each time I raad it.

I've gone to using only 2 oz max with my birds now.. in any combination of wood.. 1.5 oz I even like mo betta. I still see that black sooty looking stuff on the skin but the taste is not so acrid. Maybe I'll drop down to 1 oz as mentioned by the Hippie

I used to use a LOT of oak dampened pieces on top of the coals in my kettle.. and the flavor was always wonderful. Heck, I don't know why I went out and bought a bag each of Hickory, Apple and Mesquite. Hickory and Apple are good, as is the salvaged Alder from the neighbors yard.. I'll have to try Oak in the CS as a comparison and see what I like best. I have over 100 oaks on my property and that should last me thru about 10 different Smokettes..

This has been a very helpful thread for me.. Thanks to all who contributed.

Bill

Smoke, is a very subjective taste. There are those that don't think 4 oz is enough for them. 1 oz may be perfect for you.

If it tastes bad to you, then you'll have to make some changes. I don't think it's the smoker and the humidity, I think the key is the wood. Less wood may be what you want.

Like it was suggested, maybe try a different wood type.

Try cracking the door or opening the door for 30 minutes or an hour to get the taste that you want. What I like you may not like and what you like I might not like. Smoking meat is like brain surgery "It ain't an exact sience" just a learning curve.

I'm like you I don't like the acrid taste of wood when it first starts to burn especially in a cold oven. The amount of wood you use shouldn't be as critical as the quality of the cooking enviroment.

You ever see anyone hang their meat on a spit and then start the fire? You ever see anyone put their meat on the grill and then start the fire?

Use 6-8oz of hickory or any wood, hickory is the best tasting wood. Not the boiling black smoke of wood between two electrodes being boiled of all their oils and acids, but the white smoke of a good fire. You know the answer. You know why you don't taste that acrid taste in restraunts. They burn it off.

Sorry to revive an old post but I had a thought the other day. When I use my homemade smoker I start my wood and let it ash over before putting on my meat just as you would in an offset. Has anyone ever tried starting the wood in a grill or charcoal starter and then transferring to the CS after the initial "bad" smoke has burned off? You would probably need to use a little more wood. That way you would have the door closed once you started cooking reducing the risk of a flare up.

just a thought
Mark

Mark.. this has me thinking a bit. From the past two posts I've responded to.. maybe some of us have different taste buds than others do. In my last reply to a post it had to do with being able to tell the difference between meat fresh out of the oven vs reheated meat.. I, for one, can definitely tell the difference. In this post.. it appears some are not repulsed by this acrid taste and others recognize it.

In another somewhat recent post along the lines of creosote and acrid smoke.. there was a poster.. can't remember who.. that suggested that wood that had already been used in the smoker but not fully burned was still your friend, in so many words. It makes sense in that the volitiles in the wood, if this is proper terminology, will burn off first.. and I'll bet that is the stuff that causes creosote.

Here is what I'm going to try next smoke.. and we'll see how it works. Some will poo-poo it as trying to reinvent what is already a good process.. but, I'm always looking for something that will improve what I do.. so, I ask questions and go from there.

I'm going to add some extra wood to the smokebox, maybe an ounce, and start the smoker with no meat in it.. bring the box up to temp.. so the smoke is boiling and the walls and innerds are hot.. shut it down for about 10 minutes help prevent the 'boom' caused by incomplete combustion of volitiles inside, slowly open the door and add meat.. and cook till it's done. I'm sure this isn't an original idea.. but it is to me.

I don't always get the acrid smoke taste.. but, I'll let y'all know what happens.. good or bad over the next few tries.

Willy,

It's not a new concept, in offsets, it's called Pre-burning. The idea, for some, is to let the wood smoke until the white disappears and then you have what many call "clear" smoke. Yes, there is such a thing.

Might be exactly what you're looking for.

You might be able to just let it burn until the smoke disappears and then put your meat in.

Try them both, as I know you love to experiment, and let us know.

Smokin'

What is the general concenus about bark? Hickory bark that it.

I've seen on other sites where they say it can cause a bitter taste. I don't worry about it because for years we cooked meat for our restaurant with hickory slabs that were about 50% bark and had no problems, but I have been tempted to try a batch without bark to see if I can tell a difference. Anyone else try this?

We've discussed it before, but I don't think it will matter in the quantities of wood we're using.

And even in my stick burners, I never detected a problem.

But if it's a concern for you, I'd give it a try.

Quality of wood is also a concern that hasn't been mentioned in this thread. Where did the wood come from? How long and where has it been stored?

I don't think bark is an issue in a CS where you're only using a couple oz of wood and with the way the wood is cut the percentage of bark is minimal.

Preburning is a good idea for offsets where the wood provides the heat in addition to the smoke, since too much smoke and an unclean burn will cause creosote buildup. But in a CS minimal wood is used, since the heat is provided by electricity.

Just a few more thoughts on the acrid taste. I've experienced this in my offset but not in my CS (using CS wood).