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eatapedia

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 5, 2009
8
10
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I modded/overclocked my Traeger, and I might have done smoked myself retarded already.

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Blog Post: http://www.eatapedia.com/?p=884

Unboxing and first real run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocl5RrrQ8j4 <-- CRAZY amount of smoke, I was just playing around.

My first run, which was a DISASTER!: 

For those who don't know, the thing with a Traeger is, you can smoke, or you can cook at a higher temp (> 200). Not really both at the same time.  Yes, you generate some smoke at higher temps, but not enough, IMO.  This will allow me to smoke the bejesus out of my meat, while cooking at a higher temp, and a shorter time.  I don't imagine I will use it for long cooks, like shoulders or brisket.

I did an upright chicken, and it was good.  Needed more smoke, but I did it at 350, it was done (relatively) quickly, the skin was crispy (yay!) and the bird was delicious.

Thursday, we smoked some "Chipotle-rubbed, hickory-smoked bacon-wrapped wings"!  Freaking delicious.  Much better than the ones I did for Super Bowl, (http://www.eatapedia.com/?p=825) thanks to the extra smoke.  

OMFG they were good!! The beers might have helped. But ain't that what good BBQ is about? ;-)

Man, I love playing with new BBQ toys!!!

(Right now, I have a nice 8 pound brisket, which just finished a night of Hickory Love.  No SmokeDaddy for this, though....)
 
Looks like a lot of smoke to me also.

Most of us strive for a good heat source and a nice thin smoke when cooking especially things like briskey, shoulders and ribs.  It is personal taste, the amount of smoke put to the meat.  If  you start noticing a creosote type taste then you know the smoke is too thick and hanging on the meat to long but until then smoke away!

Good Luck and good eating. 
 
Looks like a lot of smoke to me also.

Most of us strive for a good heat source and a nice thin smoke when cooking especially things like briskey, shoulders and ribs.  It is personal taste, the amount of smoke put to the meat.  If  you start noticing a creosote type taste then you know the smoke is too thick and hanging on the meat to long but until then smoke away!

Good Luck and good eating. 
Thanks, alblancher!  Yes, that was a test run, just to play with the toy...I can't really see myself smoking anything with that much smoke, if I did, it would be something porous and for a real short time.

Now, about that creosote taste you mention, I have a question, if you don't mind:  I have cold-smoked bellies, cheese and nuts (using a different set up...I ran the exhaust from one smoker into another, idle smoker (http://www.eatapedia.com/?p=616), but I found they had an acrid, bitter, almost second-hand-smoke-like taste to them.  I thought it might have had to do with poor (no) air circulation, and that the smoke was "sitting on" the product for too long.  What are your thoughts on that?  Is constant air circulation as important as I have concluded?  Os is there another cause to that taste?

Thanks for any insight you might provide!!
 
Yea I was thinking the same thing. I hope the neighbors didn't call the fire dept.!   
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That is exactly what I was thinking - you really have to be careful with too much smoke as it will be hazardous to your health
 
Eatapedia,

It is best to have the exhausts open full bore when smoking.  you don't want the smoke getting trapped in the smoker.  Things that cause the creosote taste is slow or stagnant smoke, wet meat (to a lesser extent) and thick white smoke.  It is better to build a very small hot fire that cools and becomes cold smoke then to build a smoldering wet fire that just billows out copius amount of thick white smoke.

Al
 
Fantastic, thank you.  I am very appreciative for the info...having used a just a wood pellet smoker, with it's "set it and forget it" approach, I'm not used to fiddling and farting around with my smoke.  Thank you for confirming my suspicions, and to all for the advice!!
 
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