White smoke vs Blue smoke?

I stumbled onto some information regarding when smoking meats to not put the meat on when there is white smoke coming out of the smoker but wait till there is blue smoke or else your food will come out bitter tasting.Now I am still learning how to smoke and I start up my WSM get the temp up to where I want it and add the meat and smoke wood but I have not tasted any bitterness?Is this a cause for concern or is my pallet not used to good bbq yet??

I think that a lot of us put the meat on the WSM as soon as everything's lit (I do). I find that easier simply so I get less smoke in my eyes. The white smoke eases over to blue within the half hour. I haven't tasted anything off. I do smoke with lump only these days however... I figure it's all fine unless you're belching black (soot) smoke. That is a bad thing.

As long as it tastes good, don't worry about it. Personally i prep the cooking section with meat and thermometers while the coal is getting lit. When its lit I pour it in the bowl, drop the section on and away we go. Ihe harsh smoke is gone in 5 minutes or so, I don't think its long enough to impact taste.

Like Gary, I assemble everything as soon as I can. I always use a minion method start, and as soon as I dump the coals from my chimney starter onto the unlit coals, I throw the smoke wood on and assemble the unit and put the meat on. The white smoke eases over quickly to blue, and neither myself nor any family or friends have ever noticed an off or bitter taste to the meat.

I asked the same question about a week ago. What I took away from the replies was that everyone has an opinion but, per the comments above, if the finished product tastes good, there really isn't anything to worry about.

I now let the WSM go for about 15 minutes before putting on the cold meat. The smoke tempers a bit and it gives you time to do a quick check to make sure you didn't miss anything.

Good luck !

James

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I asked the same question about a week ago. What I took away from the replies was that everyone has an opinion but, per the comments above, if the finished product tastes good, there really isn't anything to worry about.

I now let the WSM go for about 15 minutes before putting on the cold meat. The smoke tempers a bit and it gives you time to do a quick check to make sure you didn't miss anything. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

exactly. My personal preference is to allow the fire to preheat, but its all good.

I preheat because I feel I can taste the charcoal when the meat sits in the white smoke. Also, smoke, as I've found, does not play well at comps, so I try to keep it as subtle as possible in the flavor profile.