How much smoke is too much?


 
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Mike Rockwood

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Hi - My first post here. Looks like alot of knowledgeable folks spend a fair amount of time helping out those of us with not so much experience.

I've had a smoker for about a year, and I've done some ribs and few small pork butts. They've come out good, but I have nothing to compare them to. Smoking pork here in New England doesn't happen every weekend.

The butts I've done in the past, I have not checked the internal temp. So just yesterday I ran out and got one of the Polder's and I'm looking to experience get to the 190degree "nirvana" level.

I'm having "da' guys" over this Saturday evening for cards, cigars and adult beverages. I'm planning my first overnight smoke, smoking 3 pork butts, 2 about 5lbs, the third about 6.5lbs. I'm guessing about 15hrs should do it.

Some of the posts I've read, indicate that it is only necessary to have "smoke" for about 4-5 hrs. As I'm thinking the butts will be in for about 15hrs, should I only have smoke on them for the first 5hrs, or should it be smoking for most of the duration? I use hickory, because my Dad has a stand of trees in his yard and it's available.

Thanks for all the other valuable info that I've picked up from other posts.

Mike
 
Smoky taste is a matter of personal preference. That said, if you add wood only at the beginning of the cook you should get plenty of smoke flavor, especially using a strong wood like hickory.

Steve
 
Mike, while i'm definitely no expert like some other people here i'll try to answer some questions. I've been smoking for about 3 months now.
Just last weekend i made my best pork butt EVER. I finally let it go long enough to reach the 190 nirvana spot, and let me tell you, its WELL worth it. It was a whole other flavor and consistance from the usual 175-180 i used to cook to.

Anyhow, in regards to the smoke amount, its a pretty hotly debated point ithink. I've read people saying that once the meat reaches 140 it no longer "absorbs" smoke, while others say thats not true. I personally smoke only for the first 5 or 6 huors...and i find the flavor great. Also remmber that hickory is a strong wood, it doesnt take much to overpower the meat, and remember not to put too much wood on at once..you want only a nice light smoke coming outof the smoker.

Just for your reference my butt last week was 7lbs and took 17! hours to reach 195-200. It was a pretty fatty piece of meat which might explain why it took so long..but remmeber to always allow lots more time than you think you need. Too many times i've pulled the meat off becuase i invited people over for dinner and they were hungry..even tho the meat was only at 180.

Let us know how it goes!

jason
 
Gee - Reponses so quickly!!

I'm planning to put the butts in the fully heated smoker about 10pm, Friday night. I expect to eat about 5pm, Saturday. I'll be setting the alarm and checking a few times overnight. I've read where it's best to plan extra time and hold it over if done early. That's my plan!

Thanks, guys!
 
Welcome Mike!

The whole concept of "smoke not absorbing" has gotten twisted around over the years.

The reason 140? is mentioned is because that is the temp at which the smokering stops forming(this is a chemical reaction). That does not mean that the meat will stop absorbing smoke. The meat will take on smoke for the entire time smoke is present.

As was mentioned, the amount of smoke flavor is very personal..I have neighbors who like it very subtle and others who like it very smokey.

I use hickory quite a bit also and use 3-4 large fist-sized chunks for each smoke.
 
Stogie is right on, because of smokering, it is thought that the meat is absorbing smoke which is not the case. Smokering is a chemical reaction to smoke and that process stops when the meat reaches 140?. Smoke can be layed on a piece of meat as long as smoke is present in the cook.
Hickory I would personely only use a couple of fist size chunks at the start of the cook, when it is gone I wouldn't add more. When you eat this pork you can decide where to add more wood, if you find that you would like smoke flavor to be stronger, on your next cook. The problem is once you have put the smoke on you can't take it off.
Jim
 
Thanks, Jim (and everyone else)

In past smokes, I've kept adding more hickory chunks throughout the cooking process. As these smokes have been relatively short periods of time(small racks of ribs, small butt), the end result was acceptable, though not "nirvana".

With my upcoming attempt this weekend, I'll be making two major changes. Aiming for the 190 mark, and less chunks/smoke.

I'm glad I asked. Sounds like smoke for the full 15-16hrs would have been overkill. Maybe I can pick up some fruitwood and add a small amount halfway through.. Hmm... something to think about.

Thanks again, one and all.
 
Mike,

I'll tell you one thing about how you'll know when there's too much smoke - you're food will taste so bad the dog wouldn't eat it.

My first time cooking ribs on my WSM I followed the instructions in the Weber manual. It's been 3 or 4 years now, so I don't remember exactly how many wood chunks I used, but it was probably 15-20, in two applications maybe 3 hours apart.

My ribs came off the grill looking just beautiful; they'd have made a proud picture in any cookbook. They were also so inedible I threw them over the back fence into a creek that ran behind our place.

Luckily, I had done a bunch of chicken breasts on the gas grill so my guests had something to eat.

The good thing about ruining food with smoke is that you'll only do it once, it's a lesson you'll never forget.

Good Luck,

Rick
 
I am absolutly the last person to give advice to anyone but, I followed the recipe on this site suggesting 4 chunks of oak and hickory each and my Pork Butt couldn't have been better. I just put them in once and that was it.
 
Hi Mike,

I love the taste hickory smoked pork, but I have always paired it with oak. At the beginning, I put 3 fist size chunks of oak and 2 fist size chunks of hickory in the Weber. I don't soak the wood either. It's just a matter of personal preference as to how much smoke you like.
 
I believe the 140 degree / smoke ring formation issue originally applied primarily to brisket, as this is often one of the criteria fans of this cut use to judge the quality of the cooked brisket.
 
Does anyone know if the 140 degree limit for smoke absorption applies to pork as well? Thanks.
 
It was my understanding that it holds true for either beef or pork...But, if anyone knows differently please speak up !
 
OK smoke absorbtion is NOT what is happening, smoke is layed on the meat thru out the whole cook if you give it smoke the whole time.
At aprox 140? the formation of smokering stop. Smokering is a chemical reaction that turns the meat a pink color, if your were to eat just the ring, it would taste sweet, a little hammy.
How much smoke you want to put on is personel taste thing, but there comes a point where it becomes bitter, don't go there.
Jim
 
As I followed Jim's advice this past weekend, I can personally state that having smoke on the butts for about 1/3 of the total cooking time resulted in fine tasting pork(5hrs of the 15total). Previous smokings, resulted in having too much smoke for too long of a time. As to the how's and the why's of the actual "smoke ring". I'll leave that up to the much more experienced "chemists". I did notice that I had a nice pink color all through the pork, and there was a noticable, darker "ring" about 1/4inch deep.
 
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