A slight taste of burned rubber


 
T

Tormod Eikill

TVWBB Member
Hi, my last experience is this: I cooked four pounds of pork with the minion method. I had brined it overnight in a mix of salt and beer, and glued armadillo rub (recipe somewhere else on this site) to the meat with mustard. It tasted delicious, but the black bark tasted slightly of asphalt or burned rubber. Did I do something wrong?
 
I used newspaper and weber's small bricks to light the coals, and the top went was open most of the time, but I shut it with two wine corks (one hole open) in about 15 minutes to lower the temperature at one time - after that I continued with thermometer inside a cork in one hole and two holes open.
 
Tormod, maybe that rub was made from Texas roadkill
icon_biggrin.gif
 
Could be you got too much smoke on your meat. A off flavor can be picked up when over-smoking. You might want to review how much wood was used; did you continue to add oak throughout the entire cook or just a few pieces at the beginning? I only add wood at the beginning.
 
Yeah, Paul, maybe that's why they call it Armadillo. They're pretty slow, aren't they?
Anyway - I don't suspect the australian heat beads sold by Weber, because they are SO expensive. The local ones come much cheaper, so there's a chance there, especially since I've used the minion method. AND: I had more smoke wood than I use to.
 
My guess would be too much smoke - was it white billowing smoke? - causing creasote to deposit on the meat.

Keep the top vent opened up and control temps on the way up with the bottom vents.
 
I'm not sure what billowing smoke is. BUT it tasted much like the smell of telephone poles in the sixties, so creosote is maybe right.

I had all the bottom vents closed, so there wasn't much to do about the temperature except to close on top.
 
Now I know what billowing means - and the funny thing is that it comes from my own country, Norway. The name for "wave" in Norway is "bølge". So yes, it was billowing smoke.
 
You probably already know this, but using the Minion Method, if you start closing the bottom vents at about 200F/93C (maybe 50% on each), then slowly close them more as the WSM reaches target temperature, it's easier than trying to bring the temperature down once it has gone over your intended temperature.

I speak Norwegian and didn't even know it!
icon_biggrin.gif
 
I see from the log that I started to close the bott vents at 100 C, maybe too late - next time I'll start at 90 and see what happens.

I used hot water in my Brinkmann pan - next time it will be cold.

But what do you guys do if it gets too hot AND the bott vents are fully closed? Supply with cold water in the pan? Close on top for a while and hope you'll get no creosot taste? I don't think there's anything wrong with my WSM, although there's always smoke coming out from the access door.
 
You can close all vents for a short period of time and that will bring temps down. As long as your WSM is sealed fairly well, closing the vents will deprive the fire of oxygen. Depending on how hot your coals were to begin with, and how many degrees you want to lose, it could take a little while. You won't always be using water in the pan, so that's not always an option. In that case, you may consider pulling the meat off. I know, its a hassle, but better than your "telephone poles"!As John states, its a lot easier to bring temps up than down. Practice on the proper lighting method; minion versus standard and follow the temps before they get out of control.
 
Adding any cold mass will bring down the temps. Cold water in the pan will work. When I cold smoke, I put frozen fire bricks in the cooker every so often.
 
Be careful about temp and trying to over control it. I don't close the top vent until there is just no other option. If you have the bottom vents shut, give the smoker some time to come down. Not sure what you were cooking, but a temp spike would usually do any harm.

If you cooker does not drop temp with water and all vents closed, you need to figure out where you have air leaking in (like the access door). My guess that you are just trying to control it too much. Relax and realize that the temp will fluctuate some. Also, get rid of those corks you put in the top vent. If you have to shut the top vent to get the temp down, then just do it. It will take a lot less time with the vent totally shut than if you leave it partially open (which is what you did by using the corks).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top