For the last year or so I've not been smoking much. Life just got in the way. Over the past few weeks I'd decided to remedy that. And one after another, my efforts have resulted in less than stellar results. Starting Memorial Day, did pulled pork. Meh. Flavor wasn't awful, but not great. Texture was off too. Dry and crumbly on the outside and tough in the middle. Then went camping and did ribs and chicken wings. Used a store bought seasoning and all you could taste was salt.
Then a couple runs of chicken resulted in black, nasty skin that tasted like an ash tray. Creosote. So I scrubbed the inside of the lid of the mini with ez off, as there was a thick crusty coating on it which I assume was dripping nasty condensation on the food.
So last night the wife brought home some beautiful ribeyes. Inch and a half to two inches thick, beautiful marbling, bone in. I did my standard reverse sear. Salt and pepper about an hour before going in the smoker. Smoked with one chunk of pecan at 250° until the IT hit 125°. Rested and seared in butter in a screaming hot cast iron skillet.
The result? AWFUL. Flavor was off, like gasoline with old cigarette butts floating in it. Somehow managed to overcook them as well. Came out between medium and medium well. Plus they were dry and tough.
I'm about to give the damn smoker away and dust off the crock pot at this point.
If I were just starting out I'd chalk it up to lessons learned. But I've been at this a while and, not to sound egotistical, have made some pretty incredible grub on that very same mini.
One final note, part of the off flavor last night may have been the Cowboy lump. They seem to be back up to their old tricks. The bag weighed almost nothing, and was basically a mixture of dust and huge chunks. And it stunk while I was lighting it in the chimney. It was all they had at the hardware store.
Sorry for the negativity, just irritated. I was SO looking forward to that steak.
Then a couple runs of chicken resulted in black, nasty skin that tasted like an ash tray. Creosote. So I scrubbed the inside of the lid of the mini with ez off, as there was a thick crusty coating on it which I assume was dripping nasty condensation on the food.
So last night the wife brought home some beautiful ribeyes. Inch and a half to two inches thick, beautiful marbling, bone in. I did my standard reverse sear. Salt and pepper about an hour before going in the smoker. Smoked with one chunk of pecan at 250° until the IT hit 125°. Rested and seared in butter in a screaming hot cast iron skillet.
The result? AWFUL. Flavor was off, like gasoline with old cigarette butts floating in it. Somehow managed to overcook them as well. Came out between medium and medium well. Plus they were dry and tough.
I'm about to give the damn smoker away and dust off the crock pot at this point.
If I were just starting out I'd chalk it up to lessons learned. But I've been at this a while and, not to sound egotistical, have made some pretty incredible grub on that very same mini.
One final note, part of the off flavor last night may have been the Cowboy lump. They seem to be back up to their old tricks. The bag weighed almost nothing, and was basically a mixture of dust and huge chunks. And it stunk while I was lighting it in the chimney. It was all they had at the hardware store.
Sorry for the negativity, just irritated. I was SO looking forward to that steak.
