Howdy hi Andy,
As a new WSM user, I suspect that you spent considerable time exposed to the smoke. And, as was previously mentioned, smoke exposure diminishes many folks' ability to taste/smell smoke on the finished product. Smoke flavor is one of those sensory perceptions where aroma influences what we think of as taste while the food is in the mouth and being chewed. Sensory overload by exposure to smoke reduces the ability to sense the smoke "flavor" in the meat.
As to the off taste, one thing that hasn't been mentioned, yet, is
warmed-over flavor. Smoking meat helps to reduce the warmed-over flavor (WOF), but does not usually eliminate it altogether. One mechanism by which the smoking process helps ward off WOF is by way of producing
water soluble nitrogen compounds that are
absorbed* into the meat (
Think of the nitrogen compounds that also have a different, yet, somewhat chemically similar role in smoke ring formation). (*Yes, I do mean absorbed in this case, not adsorbed like smoke particles adhering to the meat.)
Some folks are not very perceptive to WOF at all. Some folks are very highly perceptive to it. And, there is a range of perception in between for other folks.
Often the WOF is masked by highly flavorful rubs and sauces. Nevertheless, folks highly perceptive to WOF will usually be able to detect the rancidity in the warmed-over meat despite the masking flavors.
The genetic makeup of the animal and the type of feeds the animal consumed will have some effect on the type of fat stored in the meat and, consequently, the degree to which rancidity takes place and the degree of WOF that occurs.
I prepare pulled pork and beef relatively frequently. I don't overwhelm the natural meat flavor with rubs or sauces. Despite similar preparation and storage, I usually detect considerable variation in WOF between similar cuts of meat.
More information on warmed-over flavor.
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