Chinook salmon on the char-griller 980

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tntragan

Fire Starter
Original poster
Dec 21, 2015
50
62
Reedsport, Oregon
My first attempt at salmon on the new grill. Cooked for 45 minutes at 300 degrees. Meat temp. 135. Perfectly firm but still very moist. I tried adding some soaked alder chips to the ash bin. Got some smoke flavor, but not much. That surprised me because I was having a problem with oversmoking my hams. Maybe because it was chips instead of big chunks of wood? It was still very tasty. Still fine tuning my cooking on this new grill.
 

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Looks real tasty to me!

I’m not familiar with the Char-giller, but I think the chunks may have been the problem. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think when you are saying “over smoke” you had a creosote taste?if you had good thin blue smoke it’s hard to “over smoke” that’s why butts and brisket can cook in it for 18 hours. If it is white and billowing then it’s burning dirty.

On my old MES40 I tried using chunks on the heating element a few times and I’d get dirty smoke, but chips in the tray were fine. So, if the chips worked for you I’d stick with them, being unfamiliar I can’t say for sure, but may be how it was designed? Also, don’t bother soaking the chips. IMO it doesn’t do anything, best quote I’ve heard on the topic is “There is a reason they make boats out of hardwood”🤣

Great work!
 
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think when you are saying “over smoke” you had a creosote taste?if you had good thin blue smoke it’s hard to “over smoke” that’s why butts and brisket can cook in it for 18 hours. If it is white and billowing then it’s burning dirty.
Thanks for the insight. I wouldn't say it had a creosote taste, just very smoky. To be honest I'm not sure why my ham was so smoky. This gravity feed smoker is brand new to me and I'm still figuring it out. You can add wood to the hopper or the ash pan. My first smoke I added wood to both. I used mesquite for the first time and maybe that might have been part of it, but I think I just put way too much wood in the hopper. I'll keep playing with it and trying to make it better. Haven't cooked anything I couldn't eat yet. 🤣🤣
 
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Great looking meal. Keep working with the cooker. Once you get it figured out you'll be golden!
Jim
 
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