Smoke taste and meat

First off, I'd try a more mild wood for ribs like any fruit wood.

Second, add more chips and try again.

Keep the lid closed and resist the urge to peek. You'll see a constant stream of smoke for maybe the first hour, but it's once the smoke turns from dirty white to a barely perceptable blue whisp that the smoke turns sweet and really adds great flavor.

Write down all the details and keep trying, changing one thing at a time. It can take a while to get things dialed in.

Good luck.

Consider placing soaked hickory chunks between the sections of the 'W' shaped coil. They will produce more smoke...as long as they do not ignite.

Dennis is right. The "no peaking" rule is especially true with these smokers as their temp recovery time is insane.

To answer one of your questions directly, no, an electric like the Brinkman does not provide continuous smoke. I'm guessing that you soaked the wood chips/chunks in water prior to putting them in the smoking pan and pretty much they only smoke when there is direct heat from the coils on them. I used to use a combination of chips and chunks in order to try to spread out the smoke time.

Also, you get a fair amount of smoke loss from the unit because it isn't completely sealed...which is ok, you just have to account for that and keep throwing on more wood and it would be good if you could keep track of the temperature swings...it will go cold on you pretty quickly as you're fooling around with it.

I agree with Dennis, though, regarding mesquite. It can get pretty 'acidic' tasting pretty quick on you, and a milder wood might give you more flavor. Just our thoughts.

Jeesh, I should read my posts before I post them...for clarification's sake, the coils in your smoker will go on and off trying to maintain a temperature. When they are on they will be hot enough to get your wood smoking, when they are off your wet wood will pretty much sit there and do nothing, so that's why there won't be a continuous stream of smoke, it will be intermittent until the wood is used up, dried out, or smoldered too far away from the heat source.

I agree with Thousand Oakie that a combination of chunks and chips both work well in the Brinkman electrics. I always ended up adding more as the cook went along. I would try to throw them right on the heating element which helped produce smoke.

I started smoking with one of those Brinkmans and had pretty good results. I ruined a bunch of chicken with the mesquite though, so use it sparingly.