Smoke flavor problems


 
J

John G in Dixie

New member
Hi everyone,

Relatively new to smoking. Have a Smokey Mountain 18 in.

I've followed a few recipes in the book Low and Slow.

It has you start off with whole chickens split in half.

I love the outcome. But my wife thinks they are too smokey and it makes her burp the smoke flavor afterwards.

I use 3 chunks of Cherry or Apple.

I know from past days charcoaling that the charcoal alone can make people have similar effects.

Any suggestions for this. I want to do more smoking, but without my wife being able to enjoy it, I don't have much chance.

Thanks in advance.

John
 
John. Welcome.

Chicken is notorious for taking on smoke more than other meats. Try not to put too much wood on next time.
Most fruit woods impart a more subtle smoke on meats, as opposed to hickory, mesquite etc. You may want to try maple, orange or beech for your next chook cook.

Edit: I would recommend orange. Has a more sweet taste with smokey undertones. I tried beech for the first time a few weeks ago, & found it very good. I'm also told pear is very good for poultry, although I have never used it.

Good luck.
 
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Hi John,
I agree with Tony.
I am not the biggest fan of a strong smoke flavour either. What I have done with my last couple of cooks is to have 1 stem/branch in it and I remve it after an hour or so. This has been with beef, so it might still be overpowering for chicken.

Actually, I think the best plan is to repeat your recipe without any smoke, see how you and your misses like it and then do it again with just a little wood...
 
Try just one chunk of Apple wood for chicken next time and see how she likes it......
 
Also what are you using for charcoal? Sometimes even just charcoal can be too smokey for some people with the longer cook times. You could try changing to a different charcoal.

Now does she think they are too smokey when eating them, or just the fact that she burps smoke rings later? The burping later may be able to be fixed with a Tums or such.
 
Thanks Andrew. I think her problem is caused by both the strong flavor and the indigestion. So far all I've used is natural lump charcoal. I figured it would less "smokey" than something like Kingsford. Any thoughts there?

Thanks again!
 
Thanks all of you. I'll try it without wood first to see if it's just the charcoal. I use natural limp charcoal. I thought that would be superior to briquettes. Any thought there?

Thanks again.
 
I find natural lump to be pretty smokey on its own. It is wood after all! Try a bag of Royal Oak briquettes. It is still "au-natural," but not full on sticks. I think you will also find briquettes easier that lump to maintain temp.
 
Are you putting the meat on right after the coals are ready? I've found (especially with poultry) that waiting for most of the white smoke to dissipate help with the extra smokey flavor of the meat that some find harsh. I bury the wood chunks in the coals and I've found that about an hour after adding the coals to the cooker most of the white smoke is gone. However I only use Kingsford, so the Lump may act different than charcoal.
 
Have to agree with most of the posts here about chicken.

I just recently did a high temp cook of chicken thighs on my WSM.

Barrel section in, no water pan, 1 massively loaded chimney started and only poured when all the bits were grey and hot.

No wood at all.

Got a great color to the skin, moist on the inside, but my wife thought the 'smoke' flavor was too much. Me and the boys...head nodding thumbs up of bbq goodness. But I'd agree that even with just charcoal the smoke taste is *there*.

For some - that is too much.

Maybe it's time for a Weber Genesis! ;)
 
My family likes a fair amount of smoke on pork and beef but for chicken I use 1 small chunk of mild wood. It's easy to overwhelm chicken with too much smoke.
 
M'Lady doesn't care for a strong smoke flavor either but try some Alder from the East coast, similar to beech and she loves it on chicken.
If big chunks are overdoing it for her, try cutting the chunks into thirds or fourths ( use an axe and a dead-blow hammer to strike the axe ( keeps fingers out the way)
Or try pellets or chips wrapped in foil pouches, that gives you a lighter smoke with out over doing it on chicken.

Tim
 
Thanks everyone for the good advice.

I think I'll go with briquettes and only 1 chunk of wood. Then also make double certain the white smoke is finished before I start the cook.
 
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