Epic Fail on Oklahoma Joe

[ShinyFirefly]

Tried to smoke a brisket last Saturday and it ended up shoe leather. Smoke ring was the thickest and pinkest I've ever seen with a horrible, pungent smoke/chemical taste. I'm hoping someone can help me figure out where I went wrong. It was probably more than one thing.

We purchased an Oklahoma Joe Highland offset smoker in preparation for a little gathering we're having in a few weeks. Great end of season clearance buy for $137. I typically cook on a Pit Boss K22. We spent a Saturday afternoon curing it by rubbing it with veg oil, keeping about a 200 degree fire on it for about an hour, then increasing to 250, then 300. It didn't keep 300 very long, but we caught a whiff of that chemical smell of the oil burning so we thought it was okay and let it die. I think we had the fire going about 4 hours total. It left some veg oil in the bottom of the smoker, not the fire box, which I wiped out. It sat for about 5 days before we used it for a cook.

I decided to try a brisket. I've only done a couple, but I know the basic steps. Started a regular briquette fire in the firebox. Let it go for quite awhile since I knew I still had oil in there. Just before putting the meat on I added some apple chunks. Noticed a bit of smoke escaping the door. First thing I noticed was the door thermometer was off about 50 degrees. No matter...I used my ThermPro for a more accurate reading. My husband, bless his heart, started the fire for me in the fire box and I swear I couldn't have grilled a shrimp with it. Then he left for golf so I had to seethe in silence. :) So I knew it would burn out quick. Unfortunately, I fell asleep and didn't hear the ThermPro alarm. So I woke up to a burnt out fire with a barbecue temp at 180 degrees and, horror of horrors, no lump charcoal left in the bag. I had to run to the store 5 minutes away. (I'd like to blame this on my husband too, but I should have made sure I was prepared.) About 20 minutes later I was back and added more Royal Oak lump and apple chunks, some hickory chips to help it get going. Got to 250 pretty quickly. but it wasn't holding well. Fluctuated between about 240 and 265 the entire cook.

Going through the cook I was having to add coal practically every 45 minutes. Went through almost a bag of apple chunks as well before we got to 165 internal temp. Wrapped and continued for another three hours. Just wouldn't go above 200. Once at 207, I pulled it. Rested about an hour wrapped in foil & towels in a cooler. It was just a total failure. Fourteen hours wasted, not to mention the expensive meat.

So where did it go south? The veg oil left in the bottom that wasn't properly burned? Maybe the whole thing wasn't seasoned properly? Letting the fire die and meat tightened up? I know there was too much coal being added too often. Lump or not, it infuses a chemical taste. But I don't know why? Others use this smoker all the time with success. Should I have put a layer coal under the meat and then only put wood in the sidebox for a couple hours? Any theories would be welcome. I have about 40 people coming in two weeks and a lot to smoke for them. I have to figure this out.

 

[SonnyE]

Offhand, I think you have a lot of cookin to do to get the new OKJoe broke in.
And to figure out how to run the fun with it. That only comes with experience.
And experience comes with use.
It IS going to get better. Because you are going to get better at it.
Just keep cooking.

What sort of "vegetable oil" did you use? It should only be used in very thin layers, never to the point of puddles. ;)

You'll get it, just keep cooking.
And stock up on your chosen fuels. Extra bags of your charcoal and chunks in the garage. Never leave your cook if you can avoid it. Buy 3 bags, and every time you buy meat, buy 1 more charcoal, too. That way you keep ahead of the game.
Since you are a "Golf Widow" lean on SMF to help you gain experience.

Welcome ShinyFirefly! Your first right step was asking. ;)

 

[meatallica]

Did you add unlit charcoal to fire, or did you get it fired up in a chimney first?

 

[pit of despair]

Firefly,
I see where meatallica is going with his question...sounds like your fire was not burning efficiently, hence the smoke/chemical taste. Get your fire to a "thin blue smoke" stage first before adding meat. We have all epically failed but noted our failures, asked questions and kept going. Next try some inexpensive chicken and work on your fire management.
Teddy

 

[Danno44]

I’m not an expert, and only have made 1 brisket so far in my OKJ Highand, however made several on other smokers, but here’s my thoughts.

First, never had a fire go out, but I would think with no fire for the short time you described didn’t help but shouldn’t create a disaster. Internal temp of meat though decreasing was likely still warm enough to keep cooking.

Second, temperature/time is a gauge only, did you probe it throughout? Probe should slide in with little to no resistance when done. Sometimes it’s 190, other times I’ve had it at 215. Ive also had 10-12 lb packers done in 10 hours and as long as 18 cooking between 225-250.

Third, yes adding wood/charcoal every 45 min or so is what I find is needed with the highland.

When I did my first brisket years ago, I didn’t know about “dirty” and “clean” smoke. I thought you needed billowing white smoke and stoked the fire to produce it. I also didn’t know about checking tenderness and only went by time.

Needless to say it was same as you described, tough and off-putting chemical taste.

Don’t give up, it’s an expensive lesson but I would guess everyone has done something similar. It took me to about my 3rd brisket to come out decent, after researching my first debacle.

 

[SmokinAl]

Well as you have probably figured out running an offset is a full time job. And it's definitely a learning experience. I would just keep at it & use cheaper meats, Chicken, spares, pork loin. anything you can find on sale. It will take you a while to master your smoker, but it also will be a very rewarding experience once you do!
So keep at it!!
Al

 

[Smokin Okie]

I bought an Old Country Brazos last Memorial Day weekend. I've done five short cooks on it, and still don't have the confidence to smoke a brisket.

SmokinAl is right on, do the easy short cooks first.

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

So I have an OKJ Highland but not the reverse flow model. I am wondering if you set it up with all of the reverse flow low parts? I have heard that this model also includes a charcoal basket. Was that the case for your smoker?

My first suggestion is about the smokestack. Did you keep it wide open for the entire cook? My experience with my own smoker is that keeping that fully open will help with excessive smoke. I have doubts about adding the extra charcoal had anything to do with the chemical taste. I regularly add unlit coals to my own firebox. I generally start with about a 3/4 full chimney of unlit charcoal in my firebox and then light a chimney of about the same amount of coals. Those go on top of the unlit to build my coal bed. Once the pit reaches a bit more than my target cooking temp I add some wood chunks and then wait a bit for the smoke to even out in the cooking chamber. Did you use the charcoal basket to build your fire? That can be very effective for a long cook like a brisket. I have to agree with the suggestions about practicing with cheaper meats. You can make chicken or various pork cuts. These will help you to build your confidence and proficiency. Don’t give up too quickly on your smoker it will deliver some amazing food in no time at all. Take care and have fun.

George

 

[ShinyFirefly]

What sort of "vegetable oil" did you use? It should only be used in very thin layers, never to the point of puddles.

Errrg. I had a couple puddles that didn't get burned out the first time. I wiped them out though. It was just your typical grocery store bottled vegetable oil. I've now made sure all the oil is wiped completely clean.

Did you add unlit charcoal to fire, or did you get it fired up in a chimney first?

Unlit. It was lump hardwood, though.

Did you use the charcoal basket to build your fire?

No I put it on the grate in the firebox.

y first suggestion is about the smokestack. Did you keep it wide open for the entire cook?

Not the entire time. I would open/close partially to help with temp. I'm going to run it open next time to see if that helps.

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I think my FIRST mistake was overconfidence and the second was, well, a series of small mistakes and not ideal situations.

I've done a few cheaper cuts since then and although I'm still not fully satisfied, it's getting better.

My party is this Saturday and rather than do 10 lbs of pork on the Joe, we're going to use the Pit Boss for that tomorrow. I took the suggestions above and have three chickens on right now, keeping the stack open to help with excessive smoke, and I'm using a charcoal basket.

 

[meatallica]

Light your charcoal in a chimney. Let it burn & ash over at the top before you add it to the coals in the firebox. That would help with "excessive smoke" and nasty taste. Good luck

 

[Berettaclayshooter]

Hello there, I have a Highland reverse model and can tell you some of the things I have done to help me.


1. Take your fire grate and spin it 90 degrees, this will raise it about 2" and give you greater airflow to your fire.

2. This is the one that made the biggest difference for me. I made a new stack that is now 30" end to center long (you can extend yours with a piece of 3" exhaust tubing that has a slip connector on one end.

3. I have also added lavalock gasket (from Amazon) and draw clamps to both the cook chamber and the firebox (the draw latches aren't really needed at least for mine).

4. Another thing to do is ditch the crap gauge that came with your smoker. I bought some Doyzant gauges from Amazon (they are junk as well). I will be replacing them soon. Get a 1/2" NPT pipe plug for the other 1/2 coupling in the lid and then drill (7/8" hole, use a hole saw) your smoker about 4" up from the bottom of the lip and put the new gauges (this is for 3" stem gauges), you will now be reading at grate height for your temps.

5. Add a water pan, I picked up some loaf pans at the dollar tree $2 for 2 of them. If they get groos pitch em and get new ones.

Lastly, I played with my new smoker for like 5-10 times before I felt good to cook anything on it. You have to run it up to temp and see how it reacts. This is very important for a long cook like pork shoulder or brisket. Try some of the things I have listed and post back your results. And remember, an offset is like a little kid or puppy, it NEEDS LOTS OF ATTENTION to turn into something wonderful.

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

Shiney,

I'm just curious about whether or not you feel that your results have improved yet? I can't say enough good things about my own OKJ. I love it and have made the best barbecue of my life on it up to this point. Mine is not the reverse flow version but it has been just awesome for me. I do really wish I had that charcoal basket. I've been too lazy to build a cheap one. I am actually considering spending the $50 or so to get the one from Char Broil that you got with your reverse flow model. Have a great day.

George

 

[Smoking in Virginia]

I'd advise getting the brisket closer to 200. At 180, it's barely out of the stall and till be hard to chew.

 

[wichita chief]

I have an OKJ Longhorn which is very similar. I regularly do briskets and they come out well. I do agree with everyone to get your skills up on lesser items. AFTER I used it many times I did some minor tweaks to it to correct some things that did cause me difficulties. Everything I learned I learned on here. Learn to separate the massive amount of info into what you need improvement on and what works for you. With any offset there is a learning curve. More than likely you taste creosote on the meat from the incorrect type and amount of smoke.
Ditto on the good fire. Start your charcoal in a chimney before you add it to the FB. Yes adding unlit will work. But I'm trying to get you a base line to start from. That way when you deviate you know what the change did or didn't do. I made a simple coal basket for my FB to contain the fire/coals and keep the smaller stuff from falling all over. Wam your chunks/splits beside your fire, beside your basket, or even on top of the FB on the very warm surface. Always leave the exhaust stack damper open. Heat is controlled on the inlet side not choking off the outlet. As mentioned TBS (thin blue smoke) is your friend. Once you get the charcoal going well in the FB transition the fire to wood. I seem to get better heat, often plenty, from the wood vs charcoal. Plus you want the wood flavor, right? Once tented you can use more charcoal in the mix but add wood if the heat won't stay up.
Watch out for the blast furnace area on the grill near the FB in the CC. That was my biggest issue. That and a heat management plate on the bottom of the CC. I used a heat plate sold by Yoder for their smoker, Wichita. I bent some steel to use as a deflector and bolted it in. My purpose was to channel the heat under the plate and per the smoker build calculator found on here my FB to CC opening was way too large. Others have done similar things in different ways. I also replaced the lid mounted thermos with Tru Tel units but in truth the lid mounted gauges are rarely used for any kind of reading. So in retrospect, they are not really needed. Most people will use their choice of grate level probe to read the CC temps. Don't get too worried that you have to re-engineer the whole thing. You don't. Later on you can. Here are the few things I've done in pictures.