New AQ and bitter butt

You will learn to love your AQ. Just my $.02, but 3 oz seems like a lot of wood, more than I use in my AQ. My advice would be to dial it back to around 1.5 oz, and then work up from there in 1/4 oz steps. I typically use 1.5 - 2 oz for just about everything, and I like quite a bit of smoke. Also, you might want to check how much bark, if any, is on your wood. I've found that can also contribute to a "bitter" flavor. A little experimenting will help, I think. The AQ, in my experience, doesn't need much wood to produce a great product. Good luck!

Thanks Jay! Will stay the course and throttle it back a bit, was reading though the forum looking at the average wood use, and did use a scale to weigh the wood and was just a bit surprised with the outcome. Thanks again...

Could be green wood.

Also, what did your wood look like when you were finished with the smoke? Was it ash or a dried clump of coal or? I am wondering if your element is to close to your wood tray causing it to burn too hot?

Certainly the smoker will take on a patina after a few more smokes, but your description to me sounds more wood related than smoker related. Perhaps try doing a pork butt with no wood at all. You will still get a light smoke flavor but may rule out some type of remnant chemical inside the smoker.

By the way, welcome to the forum. You will love your smoker, take notes, as there is a learning curve.

No ash, just charcoal for each occasion. ..

Would there be a smoke flavor after only 3 uses?

If your smoker interior is showing smoke and grease stains and it smells strongly of smoke, then a new smoke with no wood will impart a slight smoke flavor, but if you have been cleaning it after every smoke (not recommended), you might not get the flavor you want. My personal rule is that only things that touch food get cleaned every smoke - just the grates in the case of the AQ. I just give the rest of the interior a quick wipe with a damp rag to clean up any loose grease, especially around the door seal areas and the drip hole in the bottom. I never had any chemical smell or effect with my AQ when it was new. Given that you did some early smoking with lots of wood, I'd doubt that that is still happening if it did in the beginning. So try Soleman's test and see if it is still bitter. If not, you should be good to start enjoying learning your new AQ.

Would you by any chance be using a tray with water during your smokes? The added moisture/humidity could cause some of the residue on the ceiling of the smoker to loosen and little droplets hit your food.

Also make sure the wood you use is from a reputable source for cooking/smoking woodand is free of pesticides, mold, insects, etc. I use wood from Cookshack.

I also air dry my smoker when finished using it. I just don't want a lot of moisture trapped inside to do whatever trapped moisture does.

i have never cooked anything in the aq without the wood turning into ash. i am sure you need to make sure your wood is dry. also if you use certain kinds of wood that will turn you meat bitter too. i cooked a salmon using a wood i thought was oak and it turned out to be ash and it made the salmon bitter and i couldn't even eat it. i tell people to start with apple and if you want more smoke go with hickory. make sure the wood is dryed or aged for a few years.i clean inside with dawn and water once in a while. thanks and welcome to the forum ...

Did you clean out your smoker before the first use? There will be mineral based oils on the steel to help with metal working. Probably doesn't taste good. I am on my 2nd CS smoker (AQ) and I was surprised how much oil came off of it from the factory.

+1 on the wood recommendations. Oak is very mild and start with less and add more if you think it needs it. Also don't add more wood near the end of the smoke - it just puts a bitter film on the meat. I use no more than 2 oz hickory for a full packer brisket.

Is ash the result I'm looking for with the wood? I haven't had that result yet. What am I adjusting to make that happen? The element or the support for the wood box? I did smoke some burgers with no wood and the results were ok, for flavor. I know it's not a long cook, but I then did a 3# chuck with 1 Oz of cherry and the smoke was very very mild, probably milder than my pellet smoker it seems. I know it's a process, it's a little frustrating, but I still enjoy it....
Thanks for all the input, and keeping my head up...

I always end up with ash. Is it possible your wood is not dried out completely? You might consider calling Cookshack and getting some feedback from them.

well, you wood should turn to ash if you are smoking for a long period of time unless like Soloman said maybe your wood isn't dried out enough. remember your meat will only take smoke for about 6 to 8 hours so if you add more wood after 8 hours it will not have more smoke flavor. to start over i would the smoker out with warm water and a little Dawn soap and than add a piece of wood and do a day run to start over. i'm sure you will be just fine than.

On another site I frequent after 140* meat doesn't take on anymore smoke, so adding more wood after 140* is not getting you anywhere.

Paul B

I agree with Paul B. After 140 IT, more smoke just gets you too much smoke on the surface and bitterness.