Smoke Absorption - Meat Wet or Dry?

[Cody_Mack]

Not sure where this post goes, so I'll start here. The title asks the question. There are varying opinions on the popular sites such as this one.

Rick

 

[DougE]

Dry. We dry bacon and sausages before smoking to form a pellicle which helps the smoke to "stick". Keeping something moist by spritzing and the like is more about bark than smoke flavor.

 

[chilerelleno]

Both dry and moist will absorb smoke, with some differences.
Moist will adhere more smoke to the surface faster than dry.
Wet can make the smoke flavor taste bad, some people's palate may register it as creosote or acrid.
Especially with too heavy a smoke and/or types of wood that produce strong flavored smoke, e.g. mesquite.
And the type of wood and whether the wood is well seasoned or not will affect the taste too.

In my opinion temps play a larger role in smoke absorption.
At lower temps the meat stay inherently moist on the surface longer as the meats surface temp stays lower longer.
Low-n-slow 220° to 250°, more smoke
Hot-n-fast 250° to 300°, less smoke
Extreme hot-n-fast 300° +, little to no smoke
I like to cook big packer briskets extreme hot-n-fast to cut cooking time, but I give them 2-3 hours of smoke at lower temps before cranking the temp up.

Some meats, sausages and fish, are almost always going to be dry with a pellicle before being smoked.
And with those you're most likely going to be cold smoking which allows smoke to penetrate much further than the lowest temp hot smoking.

 

[chopsaw]

Also think about cold meat sweating and pushing moisture to the surface . As the moisture is pushed out smoke can't get in . Even if dried in the fridge over night I still run a dry cycle for an hour or two in the smoker before adding smoke .

 

[ddow229]

The Mad Scientist, Jeremy Yoder, did an experiment with different temperature meats. I do not remember exactly but he took three different temperatures meats and put them on the smoker to see which would have bigger smoke rings and more smoke flavor. One was right out the the fridge one was wamrmer and one at room temp. In the end the one that was the coldest absorbed more smoke than the other two with the room temp
One being the least. I know this isn’t the gist of your question but definitely another wrinkle to it

 

[Cody_Mack]

The Mad Scientist, Jeremy Yoder, did an experiment with different temperature meats. I do not remember exactly but he took three different temperatures meats and put them on the smoker to see which would have bigger smoke rings and more smoke flavor. One was right out the the fridge one was wamrmer and one at room temp. In the end the one that was the coldest absorbed more smoke than the other two with the room temp
One being the least. I know this isn’t the gist of your question but definitely another wrinkle to it

Yes that was probably my next question; hot or cold when putting on the smoker. Thanks

Rick

 

[chopsaw]

hot or cold when putting on the smoker.

I hang Summer sausage and smoked sausage at room temp for about 90 minutes .

Hams I go in pretty much right out of the fridge , just run a longer dry cycle .

 

[noboundaries]

I don't overthink it. I dry brine uncovered in the fridge from a few hours to overnight. Then straight to the smoker. No spritz. No water pan. Easy peasy.