Help Pork Butts Sucked

curtlow · May 23, 2015

So I smoked 2 pork butts for my daughters 1st birthday party. Turned out super moist and tender but I thought the taste wasn't good at all. Wondering if you guys might give me some ideas on what happened here so I don't make this mistake again as it really just turns me off from doing pulled pork again. To me it just had a really weird flavor. Kind of bitter almost kind of like a lighter fluid taste but I don't use any kind of fluid. Hard to explain. Not sure if I somehow got a bitter taste from the wood or if the wood I used just way over powered the pork. Or maybe it was my rub. I've done chicken legs and a brisket flat using only my 50/50 mix of S&P with pecan wood and thought they turned out awesome flavor wise.

Process: I use a WSM 22.5" smoker. Used RO USA lump charcoal. Pecan Wood chunks

Rub: Tried to keep it simple. I have a 50/50 mix of S&P. Took 1 cup of this 50/50 mix and added 4 TBS of paprika, 1 tsp granulated garlic, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne.

Heated up smoker to about 225. Got some tbs going and added meat. I usually keep 2 of the 3 bottom vents completely closed and use the other to control my temp. At one time the smoker temp got up to 260 so I almost closed the last bottom vent and almost closed the top vent to get the temp back down. Smoked it for about 4.5 - 5 hours, put them in a roasting pan, covered with foil and finished them in the oven so I could get some sleep as they need to be ready for 1pm party.

Not sure what happened here so any help would be appreciated. Also if their is any other info you need just ask.

One thing I just thought about was I haven't cleaned out the ash in the bottom of the smoker from the first 2 smokes. Not sure if this matters but didn't think it would since it was below everything including the hot coals.

pineywoods · May 23, 2015

Bitter and kind of tongue numbing??

pc farmer · May 23, 2015

Sound like some bad smoke.

curtlow · May 23, 2015

Pineywoods said:
Bitter and kind of tongue numbing??

Yes, just left a bad taste in my mouth and couldn't get rid of it. Even smelled like it tasted which made it worse.

c farmer said:
Sound like some bad smoke.

That's what I was thinking. How does this happen? What did I do wrong?

Rafter H BBQ · May 23, 2015

How was your vents set on the WSM ? Should have the top 100% open & adjust the bottom to the temp your wanting ! Sounds like a possible air flow problem, I clean out my WSM before each smoke ! Your bottom vents may have been blocked from the previous smokes !

pineywoods · May 23, 2015

Creosote and it's a nasty taste. Usually caused by not having the exhaust vent open enough or too much wood and not getting a good clean burn. Remember your looking for TBS (Thin Blue Smoke) you don't want white billowing smoke. If you can smell the smoke so can the meat. The ashes in the bottom if disturbing the air flow can cause incomplete combustion or the fire not to burn clean

curtlow · May 23, 2015

WaterinHoleBrew said:
How was your vents set on the WSM ? Should have the top 100% open & adjust the bottom to the temp your wanting ! Sounds like a possible air flow problem, I clean out my WSM before each smoke ! Your bottom vents may have been blocked from the previous smokes !

I've been keeping 2 of the 3 bottom vents closed and using the last one to adjust temps while I keep the top 100% open. However, if the temp climbs to high I will close the last bottom vent to where it's almost closed but not completely closed and then close down the top one to 50% or even 75% closed to get the temp back down.

pineywoods · May 23, 2015

Curtlow said:
I've been keeping 2 of the 3 bottom vents closed and using the last one to adjust temps while I keep the top 100% open. However, if the temp climbs to high I will close the last bottom vent to where it's almost closed but not completely closed and then close down the top one to 50% or even 75% closed to get the temp back down.

That can cause the creosote you tasted right there

curtlow · May 23, 2015

Pineywoods said:
Creosote and it's a nasty taste. Usually caused by not having the exhaust vent open enough or too much wood and not getting a good clean burn. Remember your looking for TBS (Thin Blue Smoke) you don't want white billowing smoke. If you can smell the smoke so can the meat. The ashes in the bottom if disturbing the air flow can cause incomplete combustion or the fire not to burn clean

I usually don't have any white billowing smoke but if I don't see any TBS I will usually take another chunk or 2 and throw in there to get more TBS going. Yeah after think about it I was worried the ash in the bottom might have been some of the problem.

curtlow · May 23, 2015

Pineywoods said:
That can cause the creosote you tasted right there

My problem was when I closed 2 of 3 and then closed the last one down to where it was almost closed it seem like the temps were still climbing and didn't start coming down till I started to close the top vent. Tried using the minnion method to keep from having to big of a fire going.

Would it be better to just close all bottom vents and keep the top 100% open to get temps back down?

Rafter H BBQ · May 23, 2015

When lighting your charcoal, coarse I see ya used lump & I use KBB.... But I light a 1/4 of a chimney & toss them on unlit charcoal & wood chunks, makes for a nice steady burn ! Have ya tried this method ? Also helps maintain the temp where ya can have all your vents open to some degree, ya wanna have good air flow !

curtlow · May 23, 2015

WaterinHoleBrew said:
When lighting your charcoal, coarse I see ya used lump & I use KBB.... But I light a 1/4 of a chimney & toss them on unlit charcoal & wood chunks, makes for a nice steady burn ! Have ya tried this method ? Also helps maintain the temp where ya can have all your vents open to some degree, ya wanna have good air flow !

My first 2 smokes on this smoker I just filled up the charcoal ring and threw on a few chunks of wood then just dumped the lit charcoal on top. This time I tried using the minnion method. My problem is I probably light to much charcoal and get to big of a fire. With the way I've been doing it I don't think there is any way I can keep the temps low with more than 1 vent open. Afraid it would climb to high. Think I'm going to try KBB. Just don't like the big difference in sizes with the lump.

Rafter H BBQ · May 23, 2015

Curtlow said:
WaterinHoleBrew said:

When lighting your charcoal, coarse I see ya used lump

Click to expand...

My first 2 smokes on this smoker I just filled up the charcoal ring and threw on a few chunks of wood then just dumped the lit charcoal on top. This time I tried using the minnion method. My problem is I probably light to much charcoal and get to big of a fire. With the way I've been doing it I don't think there is any way I can keep the temps low with more than 1 vent open. Afraid it would climb to high. Think I'm going to try KBB. Just don't like the big difference in sizes with the lump.

Yea, ya might try the KBB... I've had real good luck with the method stated above & solid temps as well ! Also, not sure if ya use water in the water pan but it's just a temp control... I put sand in mine & foiled over it for easy cleanup !

curtlow · May 23, 2015

WaterinHoleBrew said:
Yea, ya might try the KBB... I've had real good luck with the method stated above & solid temps as well ! Also, not sure if ya use water in the water pan but it's just a temp control... I put sand in mine & foiled over it for easy cleanup !

Def going to give them a try. I haven't used anything in the water pan but will prob try. Seems like the temps will be stable for a while but then all of a sudden they start climbing or dropping for some reason, maybe wind, and then I start worrying that they are going to get out of hand and start messing with the vents.

How much fluctuation in temps do you usually allow before you start adjusting the vents?

Rafter H BBQ · May 24, 2015

Thumbs Up Let us know if ya have anymore questions !

damon555 · May 24, 2015

You need something in the pan....That will level out your temps. I use sand and cover it with foil. Works great.

curtlow · May 24, 2015

Damon555 said:
You need something in the pan....That will level out your temps. I use sand and cover it with foil. Works great.

Yep planning on doing exactly this next time.

briggy · May 25, 2015

Very similar to you - I use Royal Oak hardwood lump. I do have sand in the water pan with foil on top. Two bottom vents are completely closed down and the last is used for temp control, normally about 50% open. The top vent is never touched - wide open all the time. Hopefully you just had a one off bad experience.

timberjet · May 25, 2015

Do you know for sure if your wood was seasoned enough? Green wood will cause that. Also let the smoker get going and stabilize for 45 min. At least. An hour is better. Kbb burns best for lower and more stabile temps. Stay away from competition though, it burns much hotter than regular. Clean the ash out every time and knock it down every so often during the smoke.

eh1bbq · May 25, 2015

On my WSM, I light with Minion Method. Full charcoal ring, and 3/4 full chimney lit into the hole. The way I control temps is to leave top vent 100% open at all times. I have never closed it during a cook ever. Only to extinguish at the end after the cooker temp has come down to around 100°F. After I put the hot coals in, I assemble with all 3 bottom vents wide open. Once the cooker hits around 175°F I close the 3 bottom vents to approx 25% open each. The cooker will crawl up to around the 225-240 mark and hold there for hours and hours and hours with minimal intervention. On an especially windy day, I will close the vent on the windy side completely and open the other 2 to approx 33% open. In the time it takes to crawl up to 225 and settle in there, usually any of the heavy smoke from the unlit coal dies down and I have a clean fire burning.

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