I recently bought a smokin-it #1. I primarily bought it for smoking fish since electric smokers seemed to do a better job with the low temps required. Following some basic directions (dry brine, a couple small chunks of apple, temp at 160, then about 4 hours for the fish temp to hit 140), my first smoke was amazing. I think it's fair to say it's the best smoked salmon I've ever had. I made it a few more times to ensure it wasn't a fluke but it came out identical and perfect every time.
With that (over?)-confidence, I decided to move on to ribs. Again, I followed a basic recipe (st. louis cut, dry rub with 4:1 brown sugar to kosher salt, a couple chunks of apple, small loaf pan with apple juice on the bottom, temp at 225, then waited 5 hours). I opened the smoker and disaster! The ribs were completely black and had a taste that is hard to describe, not really bitter, not burnt, just gross. The texture was perfect (tender, just the right amount of bite but falling off the bone) but the flavor made them inedible. I thought it was a fluke so I made another attempt -- same recipe only this time I used turbinado sugar, split the slab in half, used a couple small small chunks of hickory (probably 3oz total) that came with the smoker, set the temp to 215, and took out the first half after 4 hours and the second half after 5. The first half definitely looked better but was not tender enough and still didn't taste great. An hour later, the second half was very tender but was completely black and inedible.
FWIW, after the second cook, the two chunks of hickory had completely burned away and just had a little bit of ash left. I've attached pictures of the first and second cook.
Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong? Any help is much appreciated!
With that (over?)-confidence, I decided to move on to ribs. Again, I followed a basic recipe (st. louis cut, dry rub with 4:1 brown sugar to kosher salt, a couple chunks of apple, small loaf pan with apple juice on the bottom, temp at 225, then waited 5 hours). I opened the smoker and disaster! The ribs were completely black and had a taste that is hard to describe, not really bitter, not burnt, just gross. The texture was perfect (tender, just the right amount of bite but falling off the bone) but the flavor made them inedible. I thought it was a fluke so I made another attempt -- same recipe only this time I used turbinado sugar, split the slab in half, used a couple small small chunks of hickory (probably 3oz total) that came with the smoker, set the temp to 215, and took out the first half after 4 hours and the second half after 5. The first half definitely looked better but was not tender enough and still didn't taste great. An hour later, the second half was very tender but was completely black and inedible.
FWIW, after the second cook, the two chunks of hickory had completely burned away and just had a little bit of ash left. I've attached pictures of the first and second cook.
Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong? Any help is much appreciated!