Help! - Over powering taste of smoke!!

[wright_1]

Hi all, I’m new to smoking but I’ve been watching the YouTube videos for months, and decided to buy a Masterbuild Electric smoker. I’ve smoked two things, yesterday baby back ribs, and today just a simple Aldi beef joint 0.857kg just to practice on. I am using maple wood, but each time the meat comes out tasting of just smoke. I fill the cylinder about 3/4 full and I leave it….I don’t add more, I just leave the wood chips in the tray for the whole cook, I did not cover the meat in either cases but I do have a thermometer where I can read the temp of the meat outside without opening the door….how do I make the meat taste of meat and not just smoke?

 

[old sarge]

The smoke will penetrate the food to a certain depth/. I have to tell you when I smoke, the meat is smokey and no longer resemble what it would taste like if just cooked in an oven. Tasty but different. Try using less wood.

 

[schlotz]

Bit more info might help others provide some help. ex) Did you keep the top vent open all the way for the entire time or was it mostly shut? What temp did you have the smoker set at? Which MES model are you using?

 

[JLeonard]

Next question....What kind of smoke are you getting? A billowing white cloud? Or a thin blue smoke..(almost like you get from a cigarette burning)? You want the thin blue smoke.
Jim

 

[TH-n-PA]

Pics!



Welcome!

 

[912smoker]

And are you soaking the chips ?

Keith

 

[bigfurmn]

Were you expecting a big smoke flavor or a touch? There are ways to adjust for it. What temp were you smoking at?

 

[Sven Svensson]

Like they’ve been saying, you should only see faint whispers of smoke. I made that mistake on my first MES. Open the vents and beware big white smoke. Never soak those chips.

 

[noboundaries]

It's unusual to get heavy smoke flavor from an electric. Sounds like dirty smoke from soaked chips and stale flow-thru. If you are using a water pan and/or spraying the ribs, smoke, especially bad smoke, will adhere to the condensation on the colder ribs.

There's good smoke and bad smoke. Many new smokers think the more smoke the better.

And there's a TON of bad visuals on YouTube by smokers. Thin blue smoke is not very dramatic, so they take shots when the smoker is roiling with white or gray bad smoke. That leaves folks with the impression that's how it's supposed to be.

 

[wright_1]

I kept the vent fully closed, if I kept it open, the MES would loose temperature. I noticed 5-8 degree fluctuations from the 102 degrees C it was programmed at, using the smokers own temperature display. I took the meat out with an internal temp of 66 degrees C. The chips were not soaked in any water, straight out of the bag. I’m using a MES130B. I want to taste a lightly medium smoke, where I can still taste some of the flavour the meat/fat has & the bark, but the smoke I'm getting over powers all of this, to an almost sickly taste.

The link below shows the chips I'm using.

 

[SmokinAl]

Your problem is that you didn’t leave the top vent fully open. You have to have good air flow to keep clean smoke circulating thru the cook chamber.
Al

 

[wright_1]

Your problem is that you didn’t leave the top vent fully open. You have to have good air flow to keep clean smoke circulating thru the cook chamber.
Al

Thanks for this - should I just use the internal temperature of the meat as opposed to being fixated on the smoker temperature when the MES Units temperature fluctuates, is this normal? Also - how much wood chips should you use?

 

[SmokinAl]

Thanks for this - should I just use the internal temperature of the meat as opposed to being fixated on the smoker temperature when the MES Units temperature fluctuates, is this normal? Also - how much wood chips should you use?

Your smoker will fluctuate in temp just like an electric oven. Don’t be too concerned with that. You are right to monitor the IT of the meat. Really cooking anywhere between 225-300 F, won’t change much except the time it takes to cook. As far as the chips, most of the guys with electric smokers use a pellet tray or tube for smoke instead of the chip loader. Search for the “mailbox mod”. If you continue to use chips, with the top vent fully open. I would add a handful every 45 minutes or so. Good luck!
Al

 

[wright_1]

Your smoker will fluctuate in temp just like an electric oven. Don’t be too concerned with that. You are right to monitor the IT of the meat. Really cooking anywhere between 225-300 F, won’t change much except the time it takes to cook. As far as the chips, most of the guys with electric smokers use a pellet tray or tube for smoke instead of the chip loader. Search for the “mailbox mod”. If you continue to use chips, with the top vent fully open. I would add a handful every 45 minutes or so. Good luck!
Al

Thank you Al for this invaluable information...and thank you everyone else for your help on this. Right - Off to the shop for another beef joint!

 

[JLeonard]

Al has you lined out. Good luck on your next cook. Also look at Inkbirdbbq on Amazon for a good 4 probe thermometer. The thermometer on your cooker is probably way off. Inkbird runs discounts on here regularly.
Look forward to more pics and posts.
Jim

 

[smokerjim]

Beef and chicken will take on lots of smoke pretty quickly also, so if your doing a long smoke maybe cut the smoke half way through if the other suggestions you got dont work to achieve the taste your looking for.

 

[wright_1]

Al has you lined out. Good luck on your next cook. Also look at Inkbirdbbq on Amazon for a good 4 probe thermometer. The thermometer on your cooker is probably way off. Inkbird runs discounts on here regularly.
Look forward to more pics and posts.

I have just looked on Amazon, and they are on offer, Brill. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Sven Svensson]

Hang in there. You’ll get it figured out. I ruined a ton of bacon my first couple of times. It tasted like a tire fire. I had deep regrets buying the MES. Then I found this site. Folks here were a HUGE help.

 

[wright_1]

Not one to be beaten, I bought some chicken thigh fillets and I've smashed them out the park!! Thanks for all your help and suggestions, I heated the smoker up with the chips instead of loading the chips in the same time as the meat. Internal temp of 170 F, fantastic BBQ Rub with a Garlic Aioli Dip.. Thanks again everyone, this forum is excellent!

 

[Winterrider]

Glad you got it figured out. As mentioned, an additional thermometer to verify cook chamber temps and meat temps is very nice as the MES is not real accurate normally.