First mediocre outcome -- what went wrong?

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SmokeyX

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 22, 2020
17
27
Amarillo, Texas
Saturday afternoon, my wife, ahem, informed me she wasn't cooking dinner and that I would be smoking pork loin and 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters that evening for dinner. The good news: my wife actually *wanted* me to run the smoker. The bad news: the meat she wanted me to smoke was FROZEN and still in the freezer. Yikes!

I began prepping the smoker and accessories I'd need, and she threw the meat in the microwave on defrost. As I feared, the edges of the pork loin began to cook in the microwave. I suppose it could've been the subsequent bacon wrap, but I suspect it was the inadvertent microwaving that was behind what followed.

When the meat was suitably thawed, rubbed and rested, I had the smoker running at 235 (down from the 275 I'd had it at before going inside to collect the meat. I placed each meat on the cooking grate, checked my water level and added another small log to the firebox. The loin, which I'd wrapped in bacon on top of a salt-pepper-garlic-and-paprika rub, smoked with post-oak at 275 for about 2.5-3 hours before coming off to rest. The leg quarters were done within 30 minutes thereafter. As they neared completion, each quarter got a coating on each side with my wife's preferred store-bought sauce, Sweet Baby Ray's.

Looking at my results, the chicken looked and tasted pretty good, but that pork loin was disappointing. Oh, all of it tasted alright, but neither the pork nor the chicken had the smokiness I'd hoped. Naturally, I'm hoping to redeem myself soon with a brisket that will put a smile on everyone's face.

On the positive side, the Pecos continues to be easy to hold at temperature, and I've not had any issues getting her to run clean -- a bit too clean, perhaps, as I'm seeing lots of heat waves, but very little in the way of smoke -- TBS or otherwise from the stack. (Yes, I know it's there, just not seeing as much as I have with my previous cookers.)
 

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Well, the chicken looks great, even with a microwave defrost. I believe you have pork tenderloin, (the inside loin), which is the small muscle you see on a center cut pork chop. The loin is large muscle. Anyways, they can be trickier than a pork loin (the outside loin) to cook because of their diameter. Injection, injection of a lite brine, and/or a marinade can help.... as can the bacon wrap you used, and doubling up helps as well. But I bet the defrost hurt it a little and maybe you over cooked it. I take them to an internal of 140°/145°, do you recall what your finish temp was?

EDIT - you want to see a clear stack when burning all wood.

EDIT 2 - looking at the tenderloin again in the bacon photo, it has good color and looks somewhat moist. It's the plate shot that looked drier. Was it mainly the smokiness you didn't like?
 
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Chicken looks perfect to me. Are you sure that's not 2 pork tenderloins. Kinda looks like it to me. What temp did you pull the pork at. I pull at 140. Id never defrost anything in the microwave. That's probably the culprit
 
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Are you sure that's not 2 pork tenderloins.
yup thats both of a two pack. the pork may have been run a smidge hot for my tastes. I would done 235 tops and pulled it about 140 as well. might have bought a little more smoke time. I think they cook fast and thus have a lighter smoke flavor in general Chicken looks great! Likely issue - the microwave.
 
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Chicken looks perfect to me. Are you sure that's not 2 pork tenderloins. Kinda looks like it to me. What temp did you pull the pork at. I pull at 140. Id never defrost anything in the microwave. That's probably the culprit

I pulled at 135, wrapped in foil and rested for about 20-25 minutes. It was two pieces. I (apparently mistakenly) thought a single Linn has been split into two pieces, so I wrapped them together.
 
Well, the chicken looks great, even with a microwave defrost. I believe you have pork tenderloin, (the inside loin), which is the small muscle you see on a center cut pork chop. The loin is large muscle. Anyways, they can be trickier than a pork loin (the outside loin) to cook because of their diameter. Injection, injection of a lite brine, and/or a marinade can help.... as can the bacon wrap you used, and doubling up helps as well. But I bet the defrost hurt it a little and maybe you over cooked it. I take them to an internal of 140°/145°, do you recall what your finish temp was?

EDIT - you want to see a clear stack when burning all wood.

EDIT 2 - looking at the tenderloin again in the bacon photo, it has good color and looks somewhat moist. It's the plate shot that looked drier. Was it mainly the smokiness you didn't like?

Yes, everything was good, even the general flavor. It just didn’t really taste smoked.
 
A clean fire has a low smoke profile, thats why pellet grills lack a lot of smoke, not much way to run a pellet grill dirty without a chance of a flame out
 
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NOTHING went wrong! It is called 'Education' and each time your craft will get better, finer tuning, better results, and more confidence! Congratulations on your great cook!
Keep reading the forum and pick up do's and don'ts and ASK ask ask about everything! We are here to help!
 
I agree with pops. Seems to me you did everything correctly (except for nuking the meat to thaw it).
I cook my tenderloins (and just about everything else) at 240ish to an IT of 138-140.
As to the lack of smoke, I use a MES 30 with an AMNPS/Mailbox Mod, so I never have that problem. You said you were unable to see any smoke, but could you smell it coming out the exhaust?? That's how I judge my smoke--I just stick my nose above the exhaust and sniff the air.
Gary
 
I could be wrong but I doubt nuking it reduced the smoke flavor. If you want a smokier flavor I’d suggest looking at two things 1) Reduce your cook temp to 225F to allow for longer exposure to the smoke 2) Perhaps use a more robust flavored wood such as hickory. You may even try not wrapping the loin in bacon so as to get direct exposure to the smoke. Spritzing keeping a moist surface could also help the smoke adhere better. Just some random ideas but hope they may help. One other thought / question. Did it taste smokier to you the next day? Often I find I go taste blind to smoke on the day of the cook.
 
I'm not a big fan of thawing meat in the MW (prefer cold water), but one lesson I've learned is not to completely thaw the meat when using the MW. I'll bet 80% of the meat I smoke/grill/roast/braise/brown is still partially frozen. I've done it with everything from 25lb turkeys to tri tips to thin-cut pork chops. The cook time increases a little, but not significantly. I've actually grilled frozen steaks before. Flavor was fine, but the texture was a little off. Not so with partially thawed meat that finishes thawing in the smoker, etc.
 
...The good news: my wife actually *wanted* me to run the smoker. The bad news: the meat she wanted me to smoke was FROZEN and still in the freezer. Yikes!
...
Microwaving to thawed results in a cooked exterior. (Been there done that due to wife, too.) A cooked exterior will not take much (if any) smoke flavor.
The thighs look OK, but the skin stops smoke into the actual meat. I peel back the skin for a smoke and wrap back letter to crisp it .
While great intentions, wrapping in bacon stopped the smoke penetrating the pork.
 
Could be Nose Blindness...I find after Smelling Smoke all day, Dinner taste bland and under smoked. But, Leftovers, taste Smokey and amazing!...JJ
True statement . Somethings I don't eat until the next day . Bland ? Did you use enough salt ?
The fact that you got late notice , started with frozen proteins and still put that meal on the table is worth something .
 
I appreciate the kind words and support, guys. To answer a question a couple of you raised, no, it didn't taste more smoky to me the next day. And, the family (who weren't out tending the cooker with me) also noted a lack of smoke flavor Saturday.

Jcam, I've thought about reducing my temp to achieve a longer cook time. I must admit, I'm a bit gun shy about low cook temps. (bad experience years ago -- long story) For most things, I tend to hover around 250-275 for my cooks. But, I'll experiment with dropping that a bit and see what happens.

I've also wondered about wood choice. In the past, I've always smoked with hickory. On this new Pecos, I've used hickory, apple and, more recently, post oak. I bought a bunch of the oak, as that's what I've seen so many Grill-tubers recommend. I will admit I have wondered it perhaps the oak shouldn't be saved for beef projects; I may invest in some more fruit woods for future pork or chicken cooks.

Frustrating as this experience has been, my daughter pulled out one of the leg quarters for a late dinner last night, and was raving to my wife about how good it was. And, the kids asked me to smoke them some burgers for a last summer dinner before they go back to school tomorrow. So, I suppose it's not all bad!
 
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For most things, I tend to hover around 250-275 for my cooks. But, I'll experience with dropping that a bit and see what happens.

Actually, there's no reason to drop your temps. There's nothing magical about 225F. Sticking to 250-275F is fine and will save you time. So, unless you just want to prove it to yourself, you're good.
 
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