How do you tell...

[inkjunkie]

We have a friend that has been making bacon for years. He has given us bacon in the past and it was very tasty, good strong smokey flavor. He just gave us some....very disappointing...0 smoke flavor. What do we say when he asks what we think of it? Hope he is not a member here...don't want him seeing this....

 

[krubby]

For what it is worth, I am a newbie to smoking, just got a WSM.  I have made 3 meals on it.  I told my family each time I wanted honest feedback - I am learning and I want to know what they really think.  Spare my feelings, I need to know - "Too Smokey?  Too Dry?  perfect?" etc.

now maybe I am still in the learning mode and would rather be told I did something wrong then be told it was awesome and I keep making the same mistakes.  And I know I can taste it myself too but I want to know what the crowd thinks.

Having said that, if your friend is seasoned at making bacon etc. and has tried this batch himself I am surprised if he doesn't already know.  For example - I also make beer, have been for years.  I can tell myself instantly if my hop profile was off or if it tastes a bit different then I had hoped for. 

 

[inkjunkie]

 
For what it is worth, I am a newbie to smoking, just got a WSM.  I have made 3 meals on it.  I told my family each time I wanted honest feedback - I am learning and I want to know what they really think.  Spare my feelings, I need to know - "Too Smokey?  Too Dry?  perfect?" etc.

now maybe I am still in the learning mode and would rather be told I did something wrong then be told it was awesome and I keep making the same mistakes.  And I know I can taste it myself too but I want to know what the crowd thinks.

Having said that, if your friend is seasoned at making bacon etc. and has tried this batch himself I am surprised if he doesn't already know.

I also make beer, have been for years.  I can tell myself instantly if my hop profile was off or if it tastes a bit different then I had hoped for. 

I am pretty sure both he and his wife have tried this batch. When we seen them a few nites ago they asked what we thought of the bacon but we had not tried it yet...

 

[retfr8flyr]

Just be honest with him. Tell him it was good but didn't have the smokey flavor the the previous bacon had.

 

[JckDanls 07]

ask him If he did something different this time... maybe he didn't smoke it at all...

 

[demosthenes9]

ask him If he did something different this time... maybe he didn't smoke it at all...

Yep yep, perhaps he experimented and changed something up.  Honest feedback would be helpful.

 

[bmudd14474]

Lies are hard because you need to remember them and stay accurate. Truth is easy to remember and be accurate with.

 

[phantom krankor]

I'd be honest.  You can say it nicely and then talk about what he did differently that may have caused the inconsistency. 

 

[trailsend]

My brother-in-law is into beer making, I like to smoke meat, good combination.  Either way we are both honest with each other when we ask for each others opinion when we do or try something different.  If someone asks your opinion and they get mad when you tell them, then they never really wanted your opinion to begin with.

 

[pellet]

Silence speaks volumes!  Since you liked the earlier stuff, I would agree with others that you could simply reply that it was missing something from the last batch!

I also ask for each smoke  the opinion of those eating it and they know Im not looking to get my ego stroked, but want to know if I improved my last smoke or held steady. Either way I get a feel good. My youngest son says he will never eat at a rib joint again and checks in every Sunday to see what Im smokin'! He's a beer snob and loves him some ribs!

So you can be honest and not cause a rift if it just wasn't like the last smoke!

 

[daveomak]

You could tell him the smoke profile was different on this batch.... Not as much smoke flavor or the smoke flavor was different...