help !first cook on lang clone !

[g3automotive]

please help !!!!! just got done building lang 60 mobile clone.... i fired it up and seasoned it first time the other day !! cooker works great !! even temp left to right holds steady between 230- 250 degrees no problem ,,, im using well seasoned oak and cherry wood split down to 3-4 inches wide by 1.5 feet long.
ok here is my problem!!!! cooked 2 slabs of ribs last night temp held great 235 for 5 hr added a stick about every 45 min. they were very very tender but so smokey i could not eat them !!!!!! like eating wood !!! now im not one for a lot of smoke flaver to begin with so i dont know what i did wrong !!! im thinking i didnt have a good enough coal base before i put the ribs on ????? even though the cooker was at temp >... she billowed smoke like cray for the first 1 hr of the cook then i developed a great coal base and smoke was much less the rest of the cook . so im thinking i ruined the ribs in the begining of the cook ???? nut shure ?
i never cooked over wood before so this is all new to me . i only have cooked with a small offset silver with mods and i only used lump with no wood for smoke flavor !!!! i wood load it with lump lite it with a small bit of lump ( minion methed ) and as soon as cooker got to temp i loaded it with food ... and loved it !!!
now im worried this stick burnner is going to be to smokey for me ??? to enjoy the tast of the food ???? help !!!!!
ps. im new to posting but have read a lot on here to help me along this is a great site . im from medina ohio
tonto and bud just bought a real lang 60 im hoping they will read this an give me a few pointers ! or some one else that has a lang or a reverse flow stick burner ...... i love my new cooker just hoping it needs fine-tuned ? help ! thanks jerry

 

[tonto1117]

Hi g3automotive, and welcome to the SMF!! A few things come to mind. Yes, it sounds like you put the food on too soon, before, as you said you had a good coal base. We have found that we have to give it a good hour and a half, if not a bit more depending on weather conditions to get the proper coal base so that your running with THIN BLUE SMOKE, before you put the food on. Your allways going to get a bit of "white smoke" when you add new wood, but with a good coal base and proper venting it goes away in a few minutes.
The other thing that comes to mind is to make sure you are using good seasoned wood. If it is not seasoned up, you run the risk of getting a bad smoke flavor(usualy strong) on your food. Also make sure you are running with your smoke stack damper fully open

Hope this helps and don't hesitate to ask anything else. If you would like to chat just shoot me a PM and I can give you our phone #.
Also, head on over to roll call so folks can give you a proper howdy!!

Edit......would love to see some pics of your pit if you can!!!!

 

[g3automotive]

wow that was fast!!! thanks so much im trying again tonight i just started my fire and im not going to rush it!!!! i have one slab of ribs left. i hate to use all my good seasoned wood on just one slab but i have to see if this think is going to cook to my liking !!!!! tonto thanks again for your reply i new if any one would have a answer it wood be you guys i will let ya know how this thing goes ... and im shure ill be asking for more help thanks again jerry

 

[squeezy]

Just my .02 worth ... if you have any milder woods like apple or maple instead of all cherry, I think you would be very pleased with the results.

 

[cheech]

First of all I think that you should just give me that smoker and I will take it off of your hands.

Second if you are not willing to part with it you may wish to try to pre-burn your wood. That will get rid of some of the smoke and allow for a better tasting meat.

 

[bud's bbq]

Welcome G3,

Welcome to the forum. This is the greatest bunch of folks that enjoy very much the art of smoking.
I'm real interested at to how you built your smoker. If it is very similar to the Lang 60, we have a lot of experience. Ours really needs to get 300 degrees hot for 30-60 minutes and build up that good mound of coals. Controlling the heat on the one hand and the quality of the smoke on the other is, indeed, the trick. As my beloved Tonto said earlier, we need to allow plenty of time to get the cooker ready.

bud

 

[g3automotive]

hello to all !!! my smoker is a exact clone of the lang and i took long long looks at the great pics you posted of your 60 when you brought it home ( thanks some much bye the way ) i wannted to buy the real lang so bad but i could not justify the money ( i mean my wife would not let me ) lol .... so after loooking for a good used one close to ohio and trying to find a way to get it with out paying a ton in shipping ....i have this brain fart to try and build one so a guy emailed me pics of the inside of his lang and being im a certified welder and have access to steel supply and stuff like that many hours of planning and trying to figure things out i built it from scratch !!!! and let me tell you after u add up all my time and materials trust me go and order a real lang there well worth the money lol and the 3 week wait is not bad !!! my wife said the other day" boy may be buying one from lang was not to bad of a deal !!!! " lol now see tells me well any way its done it look really great !!! it works great ill post a pic soon i hope . and i just need to learn how to smoke with wood !!! thanks for your help !!! and if i dont like wood or cant figure this thing out yes it will be for sale !!! lol cheap ! lol

 

[bud's bbq]

The Lang is one of the best. Just be patient and we will walk you off of the ledge.................

stay tuned

bud

 

[g3automotive]

ok we are making progress : ribs were on for alittle over 6 hr and were alittle smoky but edible..... im going to get a 5-7 lb pork butt and try it tomorrow..... my question is im a little surprised at the amount of fuel (wood ) this cooker consume to do a 6 hr cook but i think i heard some were before that bigger offset cookers do take alot of wood ! how much wood do you guys think it will take (ball park ) to do a 15 hr cook .. i know it depends on weather an evrything else im just saying ball park ...im guessing a 7lb butt going in cooker at room temp to start will take around 15 to 19 hrs people say 1.5 hr per pound but my butts allways seem to stall around 165 degrees im just wondering if my clone will cook faster or slower than my old silver offset . boy i fell like im jumpimg around in this conservation post lol please bare with me .
ok jumping back to last nights cook i had a really good coal base and i was adding sticks (2) at a time about evry 45 min it was a calm night no wind per say stickes were about 2-3 " wide by 1.5 " long and i wood leave fire box door open for a few min. to get the new sticks good and fired up then i would shut the door and she wood smoke for about 10 min then go back to a real lazy blue smoke .. after about 5 hr my coal base was really starting to disapear i was afraid to add bigger logs of wood cuz i didnt want it to smoke white stuff any longer than it was .... ok let me know what u think of all this lol thanks jerry

 

[g3automotive]

ok butt turned out great only took just under 12 hr and i didnt use as much wood as i figured . i was realy surprised that the meat did not stall at all it went up in temp pretty steady !!!!! so im out of wood and im now on a new mission to find wood thanks again for evry ones help

 

[bbq bubba]

Sounds good, really like to see some pics of your clone

 

[bud's bbq]

G3, sounds like you are making progress. On the wood consumption, be sure the wood is fully dry and seasoned. We use sticks that are about the diameter of a pop can and about 18" long. We add 1 stick about every 45 minutes. We are going to compete in the Nelsonville event in October. Would love to meet you and see your rig. Tonto will forward the specific dates.

 

[bud's bbq]

Here's the info, just give them a call and ask when they are going to put out more specifics.....hope to see you there!!

10/19 - 10/20 2007
Nelsonville, OH
State Championship
Ohio Smoked Meat and BBQ State Championship
Contact: Joe Steele, PO Box 397, Nelsonville, OH 45764
Phone: 740-753-3531 Fax: 740-753-9158
KCBS Reps: GRINSTEAD STEVE, GRINSTEAD SCOTT