Smoke wood gone bad


 
G

Greg Muller

TVWBB Member
Is it possible for wood to go bad. I smoked some BB ribs the other night and the ribs tasted way to smokey. Is it possible for wood to go bad or did I just use too much wood. Four fist size chunks of apple. I had the apple wood in the garage for about a yr and have been useing it without issue. Another possibility is store brand charcole. Because of the storm could not get Kingsford.
 
Anything's possible (mould, bark, whatever) but as you say it was too smokey, I'd guess too much wood. Most of these recipes only call for 3-4 fist sized pieces. Chips burn fast and in the past I thought it had to have billows of clouds for the whole time.

First hour or so is all that's needed. And when you get billowing clouds, it really is just up the chimney (and doing no good).

Less is better (as you've found out). It's supposed to accent the meat (you don't want "have a little meat with your smoke"
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Unless the wood is moldy, smoke flavor actually gets lighter with older wood since it doesn't smoke as much....that is unless it gets enough air that it starts burning up. Then the smoke will be pretty strong for a while, even if it doesn't last that long.

Even with apple though, four fist-sized chunks is too much for ribs IMHO. However, if it's worked for ya in the past, sounds like the amount wasn't the issue. Did you do something different like skip water in the pan or change how you smoked?
 
I agree with the others, it was either too much wood or an improper burn.

If you're concerned with your wood put it in a milk crate and let it sit a month or two. If you have an attic, thats a great 'dry' place to put it.
 
Did the charcoal have those wood bits in it?

I use apple wood from my orchard or other hard wood from my trees. It's hard to apply too much smoke with the WSM with normal wood. I usually keep a bit of smoke coming using six to eight inch logs around the outside of the charcoal circle.

Was the apple wood from the center of the tree? A darker color than normal? Those burn with a stronger flavor.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by george curtis:
sure seems to much to me. one would be enough for me. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Ditto. That's 4 times the amount I would use.
 
To argue the other side I did two racks of spares a few weeks ago over 4 chunks of hickory and they were the best ribs I've done to date. I guess it's all in personal preference.

If you've done ribs with that much wood in the past and it turned out good, chances are there was an issue with the wood. Good luck!
 
Regarding the variance in how much wood/smoke is enough, it's not all about personal taste.

I've read where Ray Lampe and others said that steam from the water pan seems to "wash" the smoke, and I've noticed needing less wood if smoking with no water, especially ribs. However, I've REALLY noticed a difference since I quit smoking chickens with a dry pan...and I'm even smoking LONGER.
 
Might not be a question of how much smoke, but more of a question of how much exhaust.

Smoke it meant to pass by on it's way out. If you had a lot of smoke lingering around for a long time, then (In my opinion) it puts an unappetizing type of smoke flavor to it.
 
In general, the greener the wood- the more it smokes! could be mold but likely you use to much wood. Common mistake,,
 
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