Smoke flavor


 
S

Scott R Nor Cal

New member
I'm fairly new to the WSM. I used to have an ofset, I'd use charcoal and chunks or chips in it. With my Wsm im doing the same thing. But with my stick burner I could taste the difference in woods I used. In the Wsm they kind of all tastes the same. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Can anyone give me and tips or suggestions?
 
Me personally, I can't tell the difference between apple or cherry or hickory. Maybe if diff samples were side by side but from one smoke to the next, I can't tell.
It's just 'smokey' to me.


Family & friends like it so I must be doing something right :)
 
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From what others have said in prior threads, a stick burner will impart more smoke flavor than the WSM. The flavor difference between wood types is there, but at a lesser degree in the WSM.
This attribute is appreciated during competition since it's far too easy to over smoke your product(s). Something about that Less is More thing...
 
I can tell the difference pretty easily. I use mainly hickory and pecan though which are pretty strong. I've also used an offset a lot before I got the WSM and ran it pretty much like you did, lump charcoal and chunks and the taste is more or less the same. I'd experment with adding more chunks. Using minion method you are probably getting some taste from the charcoal burning. In my offset I typically added lit charcoal every one and half hours.

I did find a place that has some pretty good seasoned oak and I may fire up the offset soon and do a real stick burn on it.
 
I'm curious about this too. I just bought a 5lb bag of pecan chunks. I read this from AmazingRibs.com website.

" ... According to The Forest Encyclopedia, smoke flavor is influenced more by the climate and soil in which they are grown than the species of wood. This is very important to note, especially when you are caught up in the game of deciding which wood to use for flavor. This means that the differences between hickory grown in Arkansas and hickory grown in New York may be greater than the differences between hickory and pecan grown side by side... "

TVWBB.com has an interesting page about the subject.

So I will try it out on a few whole chickens and two butts and see for myself.
 
Scott R Nor Cal said:
I'm fairly new to the WSM. I used to have an ofset, I'd use charcoal and chunks or chips in it. With my Wsm im doing the same thing. But with my stick burner I could taste the difference in woods I used. In the Wsm they kind of all tastes the same. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Can anyone give me and tips or suggestions?
Click to expand...

Using wood with the right moisture content made a difference to me on the WSM, compared to my old offset, and it has nothing to do with water in the pan or not. The draw is different on a vertical vs horizontal smoker, how that works for smoke flavor is totally up to your tastes.:wsm:
And yes wood smoke flavor does vary across the USA, Canada and Europe if going by the same species.
Alder in the US on the right coast is a completely different flavor than the same from the left.

Tim
 
In my WSM, I can tell the difference between strong woods like Hickory and milder woods like apple & cherry. Can also tell Mesquite. Between similar types of wood (ie, apple & cherry) not so much.
 
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