Acrid smell when cooking pork?


 
A

Andrew Marburger

New member
Nearly every time I cook pork, whether ribs or butts or shoulders, I notice a strong chemical-like acrid smell after the meat has been on the smoker for a few hours.

Have any of you experienced this? It almost smells like strong Windex or something and I can't figure it out. The meat never tastes bad though...just the smell while it is cooking.
 
For fuel I use Kingsford Blue Bag with the minion method with about 25 lit coals on a full ring of briquettes.

I also use a foiled water pan with water in the pan. Could the fat be burning off as the water level cooks off? I top the water off but not constantly...
 
Rob J said:
Or worse, the bottom of the cooking chamber and then going rancid.
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i can't imagine that the drippings of what you're cooking at the time would smell bad , but I think rob j's idea might have merit....is there a lot of built up grease anywhere that could be going rancid?
 
there's no accumulation of grease, as I good the cooker a pretty good scrubbing after every cook. I didn't always foil the pan though.

in any case, wouldn't I smell the rancid grease all the time and not 3+ hours into the cook?
 
Juices start flowing a couple or three hours into the cook so it may be related to that, in your particular case?
For instance, many people don't like the smell of chicken drippings hitting the coals.
 
it may be the smell of the unlit coals lighting in the minion method. I know they smell bad in the chimney starter.
 
Curt Davis said:
it may be the smell of the unlit coals lighting in the minion method. I know they smell bad in the chimney starter.
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Like Curt I think it's the K
I use an empty foiled pan and never get that smell and since you use the water, I doubt it has anything to do with burnt drippings.
They might smell off, but like a chemical, I would blame that on the K (which I don't use)
Try a different fuel and see if that makes any noticeable difference.

Tim
 
One thing about blaming the K is that it's easy to check - try using some lump or some other briquette next time you cook. Many people have noticed a bad smell from K, many others have not. It might just be one of those things where someone is particularly sensitive to something. Personally, I doubt it's the K but as I said, easy enough to verify. Right now, I'm thinking a sensitivity to the smell of the pork. Maybe three hours is when the bone starts to cook or some other particular part of the butt starts to get hot and puts off a particular smell. Like the K, to some this may be nasty while to others, not even noticed. The other thing I was thinking is that is when the pan runs dry. If the pan is foiled, some grease may have got under the foil as is burning off in a smoldering kind of way.
 
You said you give it a good scrubbing after each use. Are you using some sort of a cleaner when you scrub it out? Also for a tip you don't need to scrub the smoker out unless the layers of buildup start flaking off. The built up layers help season the smoker and give a little something extra in my opinion.
 
Are you using a meat (purchased in a chain grocery store) that has been "enhanced" by the processor (injected with a solution that supposedly increases tenderness)? The other possibility is the smell is the burning of the residue from whatever cleaner you are using. I agree that the chances of it being the K are slim. If you are using water with your WSM, when did you last clean out the water basin? If you're using foil and a "clay pot", when did you last replace the foil?

Solutions: 1. Stop cleaning your WSM (other than the water basin). 2. Buy natural or un-enhanced meats. 3. Switch charcoal to lump or maybe a different brand. 4. If using water, clean the basin. 5. If using a foiled basin and clay pot, replace the foil on both more frequently.
 
I've experienced the same issue, brand new WSM, I started smelling it on the second cook using kingsford and apple chips that I had purchased the day before. I've also smelt it with my other pit, never has effected the taste of the meat so I haven't really worried about it.

Just out of curiousity do you notice it more when you wrap in tin foil? the smell seems to get stronger when the ribs are wrapped.

I use no cleaning solution on my WSM and grease ect wasn't an issue because it was new.
 
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