Just a few questions


 
S

Steven T

New member
Hi guys! Brand new to the forum and pretty green to smoking stuff as well. I got my WSM for Christmas last year and have done a ham, chicken, and ribs twice. The problems I'm having are it seems like after my first smoke(chicken), which came out amazing, is that the food has come out tasting too smokey. A little bitter at times. I'm only using three chunks of usually pecan or hickory depending on what I'm smoking. Not over filling or adding wood later on in the smoke.

Last week I broke down my smoker and used the bottom portion as a grill. Grilled chicken using one chunk of pecan and one chunk of hickory. The chicken came out too smokey for me. My wife said it was delicious and requested it again this week. What am I doing wrong? Also, I'm adding the wood after the coals get going and after the grill is pre heated. Should I put the wood on with the unlit coals? Thanks for any advice!
 
Welcome to the forum and fairly new myself. :o

I think you should have your wood on as the unit is getting up to temp. Otherwise you get the "strong" white smoke with a lot of the creosote :confused: which I think gives an overbearing and bitter smoky flavor.
 
So if Im using a chimney starter I should bury the wood under the unlit coals and let em preheat with the coals?
 
Steven T said:
So if Im using a chimney starter I should bury the wood under the unlit coals and let em preheat with the coals?
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I use the minion method and have the wood positioned in the unlit coals. Then add the lit coals from the chimney starter. (Not sure if you were asking about having the wood "in" the chimney starter, which is no.) I used to add wood chunks just before putting on meat, but it tended to taste too smoky to me. Now I have everything in place and get the temp at 225 prior to introducing the meat and it seems to produce a flavorful, not bitter taste.

Again, it works for me, but limited experience. I'm sure you'll get other (probably better) replies. :rolleyes:
 
Pecan and hickory are fairly strong flavored. You might try something a little lighter like Apple or cherry, especially on poultry.

I normally use Apple on poultry, and cherry, some times 1/2 cherry 1/2 oak on pork / ribs.

I use hickory and mesquite when doing steaks on charcoal. It's strong but a steak is on for very long.
 
Steven T said:
My wife said it was delicious and requested it again this week. What am I doing wrong?
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What you're doing wrong is not listening to your wife :) When the wife is happy, you're good to go

All kidding aside, I would bump up the heat. I actually cook over live flame, but I don't suggest that, unless you're willing to trash your WSM. Mine is pretty whooped considering it's not even 4 years old. (I do a lot of cooks well north of 700 degrees in mine)
 
Steven.

If you don't like it too smokey when you're doing a smoke, don't put any wood directly on the lit coals when starting the cook. Just have a lump or two buried in the unlit briqs that will slowly smoulder as the unlit briqs take hold. (I usually have about 5 chunks of wood the approximate size of the briqs buried in amongst the unlit).

With regards to grilling, how about adding a few chips at a time or, you can put the wood chunk directly above the coals on the cooking grate? This way you can remove the wood chunk when you think you're happy with the amount of smoke. You'll have to play around with the wood amounts over a few cooks to get your required smokey-ness.

Oh yeah. Not listening to the wife can have a detrimental effect on one's quality of life.
 
TonyUK said:
Steven.

If you don't like it too smokey when you're doing a smoke, don't put any wood directly on the lit coals when starting the cook. Just have a lump or two buried in the unlit briqs that will slowly smoulder as the unlit briqs take hold. (I usually have about 5 chunks of wood the approximate size of the briqs buried in amongst the unlit).

With regards to grilling, how about adding a few chips at a time or, you can put the wood chunk directly above the coals on the cooking grate? This way you can remove the wood chunk when you think you're happy with the amount of smoke. You'll have to play around with the wood amounts over a few cooks to get your required smokey-ness.

Oh yeah. Not listening to the wife can have a detrimental effect on one's quality of life.
Click to expand...
What he said!
 
Thanks a lot for the replies everyone! Today I'm gonna smoke some chicken wings, then grill some chicken breasts. I'll let y'all know how it turns out. Using the minion method and cherry wood.
 
Alright, so I just took the wings off. Absolutely amazing. I marinated them with balsamic vinegar, oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire, salt pepper, and garlic. Seasoned with a brown sugar bourbon dry rub, and finished them off with sweet baby rays BBQ sauce. I went with the store bought sauce and seasoning due to time constraints. Very happy with the cherry wood flavor!
 
When you cook chicken, try it hot and fast instead of low and slow. Vents wide open, no water in pan, you will get a crispier skin on the chicken this way.
 
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