Huge mistake on fist smoke...ruined dinner

A few tips for you:

Check your wood. If it's old it might have acquired an off flavor. Excessive bark will also contribute an acrid flavor.

2 oz of wood is a good starting point. A chunk of wood just over an inch square weighs about an ounce.

No need to soak your wood. You can start the smoker with wood and meat at the same time.

Look inside the smoker for any mildew, mold or funk that may have built up over the 10 years of non use. A mild water vinegar solution will clean it but you'll want to re-season by running a batch of wood (no food) for a few hrs.

Good luck and welcome aboard.

Congrats on scoring the Smokette! Your friend’s loss is definitely your gain.

Your wood chunks should average around 2 ounces each.
Most of the time you should be able to get by with using 2 chunks of dry seasoned wood
Soaking the wood results in creosote and bitter tasting Q

Happy Qing

Since it's your first post, don't know if you had a chance to read much, but unfortunately you learned a too common lesson.

The challenge for some new users is to realize that the smoker heating element does the work and the wood is for flavor, not for fuel.

ALWAYS start with less wood than you think. It's easy to next time add more. Too much? Well you saw what happens.

Oh, and NEVER soak your wood. The common misconception (food network and many others) think you want it to smolder so you can "see" more smoke. When it smolders it's an impure fire and that puts off more creosote. A clean burning fire/wood is much preferred. Just because you don't see the smoke doesn't mean it's not smoking.

Welcome to the forum.

For you next cook, just ask a few questions and we'll try to help.

Smokin'

Get a cheap scale and weigh out the wood. That way you can get a better idea of the size of a 2oz piece. Dryer the better.

Sometimes the best lessons are the painful ones!

Chicken, needs even less wood for flavoring than the red meats. I guess you should be happy it was ruined chicken instead of a prime rib!

Thanks all,, don't laugh but I used a small water soaked chunk of hickory and cherry for the first hour,, the chunks were not 1 inch square that's for sure,, the second hour I did another small soaked chunk of cherry and the last hour I did a dry chunk of cherry,,,,, I know now that my biggest mistake was tring to keep the smoke going,,, bad move on my part ...

Don't worry about the smoke and for heavens sake keep the door closed. The only time I can think when you might want to open the door is when your making jerky, otherwise keep all that heat, moisture and invisible smoke inside.

Live and learn

One thing about it "Once you know you can never not know again"

Welcome, and congrats on the smoker. Most of us have been taught to look through Smokin's 101s as a way of educating ourself's before we try something new. That may be a good idea for you, I've seen a manual around this sight if you ever need one, but most of us would rather use the forums knowledge when it comes to the smokers.

The kind of knowledge that you gained off of your 1st smoke is key to keeping and using good notes. That way it only happens once.

Don't be afraid to ask questions if you are not sure of something, because there will be a little learning curve with a new/different smoker.

Thanks,,i will do as much research as possible,, I'm doing brisket on labor day,,, I just hope its as good as my first which was done on my off set smoker

Cal mentioned a very good point, keep good notes on each smoke. This will make it much easier to duplicate or make corrections the next time. There may be a chart somewhere on this site but I couldn't find it. I made my own where I record the following.

Date
Product, type & cut
Temp of meat when placed in smoker
Type of rub and or marinade (ingredients & how much)
Cooking temp
Cooking time
Any adjustments made during cooking
Amount & type of wood used
Climatic conditions (hot, cold, windy, humidity, etc.)
Internal product temp when done
Description of final appearance & taste of product

Congrats on acquiring the 008 at such a good price. Enjoy.

should I rub it down with peanut oil and smoke a bunch of bacon in it,,to help season it

quote:

ALWAYS start with less wood than you think. It's easy to next time add more.

When I first got my SM025 I complained that the recommended 2oz of wood was not enough smoke flavor to my liking. Smokin' advised me to gradually ramp up the wood until I got the right amount of smoke *for me*.

So I did as instructed and I have yet to smoke with any more than 3.5oz of wood.

Do get a cheap digital scale and weigh your wood. After a while you will be able to sense what 2oz or 3oz looks like.

Happy Que-ing to you and welcome.

SmokinMAINEiac

If it had been used before, it was probably seasoned with a PB. Thats what most will use to get a seasoning on the smoker. A smoker will only get a good seasoning with use, say 50-75 smokes.

SOOOO!!!,just get COOKING, thats how you will learn and it will help the smoker.


If you want a little help on the packer brisket? Start a thread in the brisket forum, their is a lot of brisket smokers around that would help a Newbie out.

This is what I'd be doing now.

Just about forgot...learn rule number 10...I'm a believer!!!

Rule #10 fully noted,,, well I'm currently smoking it out,, after cleaning it a lill and rubbing everything down with peanut oil,, I'm smoking bacon using a single small chunk of hickory, dry ofcourse,,

I thank you all for the help and guidance,,i will take pics of this weekend chicken dinner and hopefully do a small write up

quote:

Originally posted by Chef-Boy-Arnie:
Live and learn

One thing about it "Once you know you can never not know again"

Well. You've never seen me in action.

Well I was discounting sometimers and oldstimers of which I have an occasional bout myself