Not getting enough smoke flavor in my BB.


 
JeffB

JeffB

TVWBB Pro
I've smoked plenty of BB's in my 22.5 and I've generally used KB briquettes and 4 or 5 large chunks of cherry/mesquite/other wood but I never realized how much flavor I could be getting until this past summer.

I stopped at the local Amish market and they were selling pulled pork sandwiches. They ROCKED--SO good!!! Wow, and SO MUCH smoke flavor. Not over done, but just damn good. I suspect they don't use briquettes but maybe just use real wood to cook their meat.

So, what can I do to get that kind of flavor in my BB? Mine are good, but I want to take them to the next level.

Suggestions?
 
I personally use lump coal! Have you tried that? I would give that a try. To me, my ribs have improved. Just my .02!!!
 
Ryan P.K. said:
I personally use lump coal! Have you tried that? I would give that a try. To me, my ribs have improved. Just my .02!!!
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My ribs are good. BB = Boston Butt, not baby backs, though I understand the confusion. ;)

I have not used lump but maybe I can give it a try some time. I have 250 lbs of KB briquettes in my garage that needs to be used up at some point.....:wsm:
 
any smoke is just going to be on the outside of the meat. so if you need more taste then you need to think of adding rub or sauce to the finished product.
as i'm just a s&p/light smoke kind of guy i;m set. but if you need more then it needs to be added. one thing i read was to cut the meat into smaller portions. this allows more surface are for smoke but allows for a quicker cook.
 
Using wood with the right moisture content has really stepped up my game. I look at it as a spice that adds flavour, and just like any spice that is old and dryed out you need to add much more compared to a fresher one which would need less.
Try some decent Hickory from SmokinLicious.
http://www.smokinlicious.com/

Tim
 
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This might be heresy, I'm not sure, but after I pulled my last butt for sandwiches I mixed some Alderwood smoked salt in and it was amazing. I didn't use ANY salt in the rub, just the regular go-to for basic flavoring, and it really brought the smoke flavor all throughout the meat without being overbearing. I always use smoked salt when I'm grilling burgers since they don't stay on the grille long enough to get a good hit. Actually, I always used smoked salt on any meat I'm cooking, indoors or out. Unless it's a dish that doesn't really seem right for smoke that's the way I've been approaching it since I found out about smoked salt. I buy it in bulk at Whole Foods.

Stuff is great though, if you want to give the stuff a try I'd do it on a very small portion of meat, maybe enough for one sandwich, and see what you think. But be careful, pretty easy to over-salt meat with the stuff. It has never given me any acrid flavors though. Ever.
 
I agree with Timothy, I have had the same problems in the past and ordered from fruitista.com (I think that's it) and my smoke flavor went way up. The cheap bag wood at the big box stores is very dry and just burns away, but the right wood gives off great flavor even when it looks like there is no smoke. Try ordering online or go to a local BBQ shop and get some good wood.
 
Don't know what temps you are cooking at but my experience with beef and pork is you get more smoke flavor by cooking LNS as compared to HH.
 
I am not sure how accurate this is but I either heard or read somewhere that some smoke particles are water soluable and some are fat soluable. For this reason the story goes that water in the pan brings steam laden particles onto the meat while the fat soluable particles are attracted to the fat rendering. Who knows if its true but if you don't use water you might try that as well as using plenty of smoke wood throughout your cook.
 
I'm in the mind set that the wood had maybe cured/dried to long or possibly the chunks to small either way just add a little more at the start and maybe a couple more a little way into your cook
 
With thick pieces of meat like a butt, as one other member said, the smoke flavor is on the bark. Cut the larger butts into section of 4 lbs or so thus adding more bark, thus more flavor. I often throw on chicken breast on the wsm along with bigger pieces and they always have a greater smoke flavor......because of the large surface area compared to the size. I love them, wife, not so much. As Bob Mann said, "taste is personal"..............................d
 
Does anyone use liquid smoke at all in their Q? I know I used to add it to my oven cooked or crock pot PP back before I got a smoker. I mean...it is real smoke in there , no? Maybe in a finishing sauce or even bbq sauce?
 
Dwain Pannell said:
I am not sure how accurate this is but I either heard or read somewhere that some smoke particles are water soluable and some are fat soluable. For this reason the story goes that water in the pan brings steam laden particles onto the meat while the fat soluable particles are attracted to the fat rendering. Who knows if its true but if you don't use water you might try that as well as using plenty of smoke wood throughout your cook.
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Guess I'm slow, but I don't fully understand all this about fat and steam-laden particles. I find that water in the pan dilutes the smoke flavor some, but not as much as wrapping the meat in foil during the cook.
 
Frank...
I used to use it in my Pork Butt injection. Changed the injection to include a well known injection mix. Combination of the mix and liquid smoke didn't turn out well at all. Should be good in a sauce though. A little goes a long way...
 
Just an observation, been said many times before, but if YOU are the one smoking, I think your senses aren't as sensitive as those not tending the smoker/grill. I'm always asking my wife if she smells smoke and she looks at me like I'm crazy cause it usually very strong.

I usually smell/taste the smoke flavor more as leftovers the next day.
 
Bill Rogers said:
+1 on what Tim said. That is my exact experience!
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I call it "smoke desensitization", and I'm sure it's everyone's experience that has been smoking for any real length of time, even if they're too tired or whatever to notice the difference the next day or two when pulling leftover 'Q out of the fridge. I don't really smell it til it's hot in the microwave or whatever, but my dog comes running before the fridge door slams back shut!
 
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Somewhere along the way, I read that the meat stops absorbing the smoke flavor at around 140 degrees F. As a result, a lot of guys were recommending putting your butts on the smoker cold from the fridge because they would hold below 140 longer. I'm not sure if that is correct or not, but in case it is, I put my meat on cold.

Another thought is that ribs have more surface area to thickness than do butts. You could go with boneless butts, split them in half and create a better ratio of surface ares to thickness.

One last thought, I let my butts rest in the pan that I'm going to pull them. That means that there is a nice pool of meat juices and fat that is very smoky at the bottom of the pan. When I pull the meat, I make sure to mix it up well with those that smokey sauce and well as distributing the bark among the "inside" meat.
 
Eric,
I don't want to sound like a know it all, but you are a bit misinformed. It's the smoke ring formation that stops at around 140°. Smoke particles are aDsorbed onto the surface of the meat as long as there are smoke particles present. Adsorbsion is the process where something is merely attached onto the surface of another object. i.e. chaulk on a chaulk board. And I also mix that nectar in with the pulled meat.
 
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