Disappointing first smoke on the new smoker

[roushy]

So I fired up the smoker today for the first time after seasoning and decided to do some chicken and ribs.  Something I have done a lot on my last double barrel smoker.  I decided to use only wood (Walnut).  I can see what people say about the bitter taste.  I thought the ribs and chicken tasted like they were cooked over a camp fire.  They were both done at the correct time but I didn't like the taste at all.  I may go back to a charcoal basket and hickory/cherry chunks.  Few questions/comments I have for you veterans...

1.  If I use a wood like hickory or cherry, would the smoker be lighter than say walnut or oak?

2.  It seems like I was smoking 100% of the time.  I couldn't get a pale smoke unless the firebox was in flames.  The moment the flame went away I would get heavy smoke.  However if the flame, my temps would shoot up to 275 in a matter of minutes.

3.  I did the chicken standing up and I noticed the top was done faster than the bottom.  My stack is 1" above the grate.  I wonder if the heat is really sticking at the top and I should lay the chick down instead of standing it up

4.  Ribs were not sweet at all.  Tasted like I was eating ash.

Comments?

 

[linguica]

Sounds like too much of a good thing. When I use just wood I pre-burn it in a separate fire pit. When the flames start to die down, I move large chunks in to the fire box. If the temps drop I also add lump charcoal. Low and slow is the trick Oak burns slower and makes a better coal.

 

[roushy]

Yeah I have used oak before.  I've used walnut since I have a ton of it with charcoal... maybe just walnut was just too much.  I like the other firepit idea.

 

[fliptetlow]

I use nothing but oak and a bit of hickory for taste, great results. 

 

[jarjarchef]

In my char Griller I use charcole and small pieces of oak. No issues.

Today I was using a Pitmaker Vault and was using mostly oak logs and a little bit of natural charcole. Towards the end I was noticing ash floating into the cook chamber.

The only time I see a lot of smoke is when I put a fresh log on. But it usually settles down shortly after....

I use oak as my primary wood. I will only add others for a bit different flavor.....

It is good to try new things. You can learn a lot. Maybe walnut is not ment to be the primary, but an accent flavor wood....

 

[cliffcarter]

By all accounts walnut is the one wood to use very, very sparingly because of the strong and overbearing smoke. If you have oak or cherry use them instead.

Flames are what you want when cooking with wood, always maintain a small hot fire. 275° is an acceptable temp IMHO, if you want it lower use less wood or smaller splits.

Walnut smoke destroyed the ribs.

 

[smokin john]

Walnut is best used with red meats and strong tasting heavy wild game. I have three walnut trees in
my yard and none of them have to worry about being cut down for smoke wood. Walnut is best used
in small quantity mixed with other mild fruit woods. It does go well with chicken, fish and etc. Pecan
is my choice of smoke woods since I have four trees on my property.

 

[tjohnson]

IMHO

Walnut is a very strong wood to smoke with

A little goes a long way

I had an opportunity to purchase 2 tons of Walnut Pellets, but passed cuz I was afraid it was too strong

Try oak next time

TJ

 

[roushy]

I built a charboal basket today and going to try that tomorrow.  I'll switch on and off until I get a feel for what I want to do.  Maybe after winter I'll pick up some oak or hickory cheap since no one will want seasoned wood then.

 

[skull fish]

What color was the smoke? I use walnut in combo with Lump, plus keep you stack exhaust fully opened. I control my heat on the fire box end, and adding fuel, as needed. Make a nice bed of burning lump add in a few sticks of walnut, if it catches fire, good... keep your vents fully open, let the smoke settle, let the smoker temp level out. Add your meats of choice. 

It sounds like you have to much in the firebox at one time, that has not burned off, Start with a solid foundation of burned bed of coals/wood. Then feed to keep the fire maintained, not to much at once.

At times I will keep my charcoal to one side and add a stick at a time on the opposite side to just touch the coals and it doesn't catch fire. Any wood I have used, and using to much causes alot of white smoke because it lacks oxygen and it wants to catch fire, My guess is stack was closed to much, and you are getting back draft. 

I have over smoked ribs too many times, that where tough, the meat was red, not pork color with a smoke ring.. and not good.

I have learned to not be a crazy back yard-er amateur, and relax........ less is more. Even if you don't see  alot of smoke its still smoking. I have a practice session with every weekend to           learn how to read the smoke color, practice temp control, if I completed a cook and was light on the smoke delivery its still awsome to eat. If I created a Back Draft Special,, family doesn't eat that day.

 

[raymo76]

I have never used walnut wood. I only use wood when cooking so my advice to you is that a free burning fire is the best way to avoid the creosote issue and over smoking. You just need to learn how small of a free burning fire you need and more practice on your new cooker with the new method, thats all. I used to use charcoal and chunks but when I got my new smoker I didn't want that so I learned how to be a full on stick burner and I am not sure I would ever go back to using charcoal & chunks.

So again to recap: a small hot free burning fire is what you want as opposed to a large smoldering fire.

GOOD LUCK and don't abandon it just yet.

 

[pit 4 brains]

I have never used walnut wood. I only use wood when cooking so my advice to you is that a free burning fire is the best way to avoid the creosote issue and over smoking. You just need to learn how small of a free burning fire you need and more practice on your new cooker with the new method, thats all. I used to use charcoal and chunks but when I got my new smoker I didn't want that so I learned how to be a full on stick burner and I am not sure I would ever go back to using charcoal & chunks.

So again to recap: a small hot free burning fire is what you want as opposed to a large smoldering fire.

GOOD LUCK and don't abandon it just yet.

Using wood only is a whole new ballgame. I have used whole mesquite and pecan in my horizontal (no longer have) plenty of times and it takes a completely different approach to fire control. Fire that thing back up, without any food in it, and practice keeping that small fire over a bed of coals. Try to preheat your add wood if not pre-burning it a little in a separate firebox. usually just placing it on top of the firebox will preheat it sufficiently to add directly to the fire. Just be careful not to ignite it and start a whole nother fire. Get in and out of the firebox asap. When you are adding fuel, you are also adding O2 at a very rapid rate compared to where your dampers are set. 

 

[raymo76]

I think we are agreeing that he needs more practice. I don't preheat my wood unless I feel its too thick of a log, I would just split it in that case, but give it a try! I just leave the firebox open to get the log(s) going.

Remember to keep a fire going you need 4 things, fuel, heat, oxygen, and a chemical chain of reaction, (fire tetrahedron) break any of those and the fire is out. So you might find that in your pit using smaller splits but adding wood every half hour or so is better than using larger splits and adding every hour, give or take.

 

[roushy]

I am trying charcoal tonight with some hickory chunk to see if that works better.  It a smaller cooker so I assume I can get away with charoal or whole sticks.  I'll report back with the result.  Hopefully it isn't bitter and nasty like last time.

 

[mike johnson]

How seasoned was the wood?If its still wet inside it wont give the T.B.S.

 

[roushy]

It has been under my deck, unsplit for 3 years.  I split the wood in the summer and just finally used it.  It was so dry the bark just peeled off when I split it.

 

[roushy]

Well I am happy to report that today's smoke was 100000% better.  I'll post pics of the basket shortly but I made a 15" round by 12" tall basket, filled it up, put some coals on top and it ran for about 6 hours.  I actually had trouble keeping the temp below 250.  It kept rising for the first 2 hours and then settled out at 240.  I use only hickory chunks and that gave me a nice thin blue smoke.  Chicken tasted good.  I do have a few questions about smoking chickens...

Beast up or down?

How do I get the skin crisp while still getting smoke?

Verticle chicken or lay it on the grate?

 

[pit 4 brains]

Verticle chicken or lay it on the grate?

Spatchcock.

When you do the minion method with coals, the trick is to limit the air from the beginning and and let it rise slowly. Let the smoker get to temp and maybe 5 to 10 degrees above, then shut damper and add food. Close and monitor temps with the damper..

 

[raymo76]

How do I get the skin crisp while still getting smoke?

That's the million dollar question right there, I have heard everything from cook chicken at higher temps (tried that, worked pretty good @ 350) to scrape all the fat from under the skin prior to cooking and everything else under the sun. I removed the skin last time I did legs and it was mighty delicious.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Here's some info. you might use if you want to try all wood...http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/stickburning101

You might want to try pre-burning the wood to embers (glowing coals) , no harsh smoke and easy temp. moderation, besides it's fun to sit around the "campfire".

Have fun and...