Hey Guy's I tried the Minion method and I will have to say it works great for long cook times but I could pick up the taste that charcoal gives off when you light it. I use Kingsford and also use smoking wood with it. I cooked a couple of racks of ribs, they looked great and were cooked the proper time, but they had a taste of charcoal when it is being lit. I guess it makes sense you are trapping the by-products of the charcoal as it is being ignited. I guess thats why most places tell you to start your cook when you have a gray white ash on your coals, as all of the not so natural flavors are gone. Maybe I'm being picky. Has anyone else come up with a way to aquire long cook times using charcoal that is fully lit and ready to go. Let me know what you think.
Minion Method
- Thread starter Tom J.
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Looks like you've got 2 choices and both will require adding coals for long cooks. One is the Weber way and the other, the Standard Method. Check the homepage under cooking and go to "firing up" for details. The Standard probably is the better for the long 8 hr + cooks.
I knew at some point in my life I would find some small benefit from having sinus problems - diminished sense of smell ! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
Paul
I knew at some point in my life I would find some small benefit from having sinus problems - diminished sense of smell ! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
Paul
Randy Lilleston
TVWBB Member
Hm. This method regularly is used in bbq competitions and people don't seem to notice any 'off' taste there...I've used it repeatedly and noticed no difference...are you sure you didn't use some green smoking wood or something like that? When Minion is used properly, only a few coals at a time get fired off. I don't even notice any colored smoke after the first hour unless I've got wood in there.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I will have to give it another try and see what happens. May be I didn't have enough smoke wood in with the charcoal. I am a KCBS BBQ judge and am exposed to a lot of different flavors when judging BBQ, maybe I just don't cook as well as the good folks on the competition trail and am expecting too much from my cooking. I will keep trying and see what happens.
Tom,
You can use lump charcoal with the Minion Method. Just fill the ring with lump and put a few hot briquettes on top.
Typically doesn't last as long as a full load of briquettes, some folks seem to have to reload fuel after 8 hours, but some say they go much longer than 8 hours. I guess it depends on the lump, wind, amount of meat, cooker temp, etc.
Regards,
Chris
You can use lump charcoal with the Minion Method. Just fill the ring with lump and put a few hot briquettes on top.
Typically doesn't last as long as a full load of briquettes, some folks seem to have to reload fuel after 8 hours, but some say they go much longer than 8 hours. I guess it depends on the lump, wind, amount of meat, cooker temp, etc.
Regards,
Chris
Larry Wolfe
Closed Account
Tom,
Is your top vent open 100%? If it is not that will cause the "off" taste you are referring to. I use the MM on every cook and have never had anything but perfect results doing so.
Is your top vent open 100%? If it is not that will cause the "off" taste you are referring to. I use the MM on every cook and have never had anything but perfect results doing so.
Jim Minion
TVWBB Emerald Member
I know folks that have very sensitive taste buds
but most can't taste what you are speaking of.
I think Larry maybe on to something what were the actual cooking conditions?
More wood will not help.
Jim
but most can't taste what you are speaking of.
I think Larry maybe on to something what were the actual cooking conditions?
More wood will not help.
Jim
Tony Weisse
TVWBB Super Fan
I have gotten the "Kingsford charcoal taste", but only when grilling. It has happened a couple of times when I haven't let the coals get going completely before rushing to cook. It is nasty!
My theory is that the MM doesn't cause this problem because only a very small amount of "new" charcoal is igniting at any given time. The lit coals are helping to light the new coals, plus they drive off the volatile chemicals that give rise to the characteristic aroma.
My first suspicion would be too many lit briqs causing too much "new" charcoal to be igniting at once leading to a heavy load of aroma chemicals in the smoker leading to detectable flavor in the food. It may also be that the starter briquettes were not fully lit.
The MM works for a lot of us and is really helpful on long cooks.
My theory is that the MM doesn't cause this problem because only a very small amount of "new" charcoal is igniting at any given time. The lit coals are helping to light the new coals, plus they drive off the volatile chemicals that give rise to the characteristic aroma.
My first suspicion would be too many lit briqs causing too much "new" charcoal to be igniting at once leading to a heavy load of aroma chemicals in the smoker leading to detectable flavor in the food. It may also be that the starter briquettes were not fully lit.
The MM works for a lot of us and is really helpful on long cooks.
Dave Brewer
TVWBB Member
Hey! You guys were gone for a while. I just found the site again.
Tom,
What temp were you cooking at?
Tom,
What temp were you cooking at?
Greg Rempe
TVWBB All-Star
I've never had the bad taste delima. My in-laws have very sensitive pallets, so, if there was anything afoul, they would have told me right then and there!! Make sure that top vent is all the way open!!
Tom Raveret
TVWBB Pro
Tom, What type of charcoal were you using?
i've never had an off taste as ong as I used kingsford but had some unpelasant expereinces with sams charcoal I used for a while.
It could be related to the binders in the charcoal. chris's sugestion of trying lump may be a food one for you. Or you may want to try and recreate the exact same conditions to see if you get the same result or if it was just a fluke.
My defination of insanity has always been doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results but maybe its worth a try to see if there was some other factor that caused the off taste.
i've never had an off taste as ong as I used kingsford but had some unpelasant expereinces with sams charcoal I used for a while.
It could be related to the binders in the charcoal. chris's sugestion of trying lump may be a food one for you. Or you may want to try and recreate the exact same conditions to see if you get the same result or if it was just a fluke.
My defination of insanity has always been doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results but maybe its worth a try to see if there was some other factor that caused the off taste.
Hey Tom I also use nothing but Kingsford and I always leave the top vent all the way open. I normally try to cook at 200-235 temp. When I tried the Minion method I filled the chamber with unlit charcoal mixed with smoke wood chunks. On top of the unlit charcoal I put about 15 lit pieces of charcoal. I am going to try it again and see what happens, because it sure makes it nice not to have to tend to the fire constantly.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tom Raveret:
Tom, What type of charcoal were you using?
i've never had an off taste as ong as I used kingsford but had some unpelasant expereinces with sams charcoal I used for a while.
It could be related to the binders in the charcoal. chris's sugestion of trying lump may be a food one for you. Or you may want to try and recreate the exact same conditions to see if you get the same result or if it was just a fluke.
My defination of insanity has always been doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results but maybe its worth a try to see if there was some other factor that caused the off taste. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Tom, What type of charcoal were you using?
i've never had an off taste as ong as I used kingsford but had some unpelasant expereinces with sams charcoal I used for a while.
It could be related to the binders in the charcoal. chris's sugestion of trying lump may be a food one for you. Or you may want to try and recreate the exact same conditions to see if you get the same result or if it was just a fluke.
My defination of insanity has always been doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results but maybe its worth a try to see if there was some other factor that caused the off taste. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Tom Raveret
TVWBB Pro
i add my smoke wood after starting my fire not in the chimney starter. Is there any chance its the wood and not the kingsford??
Just trying to narrow the possibilities.
Just trying to narrow the possibilities.
Joe McManus
TVWBB All-Star
Tom,
After I've dumped my 12-15 lit coals on top of the unlit and smoke wood, I wait about 30 minutes or so before putting on the meat. I let that billowing plume of smoke die down a bit. Used to think I'd get a better smoke ring if I put it on right away, but I started noticing an off flavor, more likely too much smoke in my case.
I've adopted the wait 30 mins technique and I resist the urge to throw too much smoke wood on. Don't have that off taste anymore, but I'm not sure which one cured my problem.
After I've dumped my 12-15 lit coals on top of the unlit and smoke wood, I wait about 30 minutes or so before putting on the meat. I let that billowing plume of smoke die down a bit. Used to think I'd get a better smoke ring if I put it on right away, but I started noticing an off flavor, more likely too much smoke in my case.
I've adopted the wait 30 mins technique and I resist the urge to throw too much smoke wood on. Don't have that off taste anymore, but I'm not sure which one cured my problem.
Thanks Joe, I will give it a try and see what happens. It makes sense that if I wait for a little while it might allow some of the initial charcoal smell to disipate.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joe McManus:
Tom,
After I've dumped my 12-15 lit coals on top of the unlit and smoke wood, I wait about 30 minutes or so before putting on the meat. I let that billowing plume of smoke die down a bit. Used to think I'd get a better smoke ring if I put it on right away, but I started noticing an off flavor, more likely too much smoke in my case.
I've adopted the wait 30 mins technique and I resist the urge to throw too much smoke wood on. Don't have that off taste anymore, but I'm not sure which one cured my problem. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Tom,
After I've dumped my 12-15 lit coals on top of the unlit and smoke wood, I wait about 30 minutes or so before putting on the meat. I let that billowing plume of smoke die down a bit. Used to think I'd get a better smoke ring if I put it on right away, but I started noticing an off flavor, more likely too much smoke in my case.
I've adopted the wait 30 mins technique and I resist the urge to throw too much smoke wood on. Don't have that off taste anymore, but I'm not sure which one cured my problem. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
m homchick
TVWBB Member
This is why I use lump. It smells very nice when "lighting" and I find that charcoal is quite foul by comparison.
Dave Brewer
TVWBB Member
Tom,
I think you can get rid of the bad taste if you don't let the temp get down to 200 deg. Make 225 your minimum temp and then your fire will be hot enough to completly burn the yucky gases.
I think you can get rid of the bad taste if you don't let the temp get down to 200 deg. Make 225 your minimum temp and then your fire will be hot enough to completly burn the yucky gases.
Tom Raveret
TVWBB Pro
I'm not sure I concur with Dave here as I ahve done a alot of smoking under 225 and never had a problem with this. Any one else want to weigh in on this.
One other thought is was it an old bag of kingsford could any mold have grown on the charcoal? I'm shooting in the dark here but still looking for possible explanations for your offtaste.
One other thought is was it an old bag of kingsford could any mold have grown on the charcoal? I'm shooting in the dark here but still looking for possible explanations for your offtaste.
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