Too Much Hickory?


 
S

Shawn Moore

New member
Hello all,

I smoked 2 pork butts and 3 spare ribs on my new WSM 22.5 (got it last Thursday). The butts on the bottom grate and ribs on the top. I used 4 tennis-ball-sized chunks of hickory for the smoke wood. The ribs were a little too smokey for my taste and the butts could have used a little more smoke. Any (smoke wood quantity/type) suggestions for next time?

Here are some pics:

 
I personally like to mix it up a bit. I mix hickory with apple wood, I think that combo, gives the meat a nice taste, not too strong, yet, smokey enough, to enjoy the food. Your pics looks great!
 
Michael.C

You know I wanted to try apple, but the store only had chips so I went with all hickory. Next time I will try less hickory and add some apple. (the food still came out tasting great thanks to the WSM and the virtualweberbullet)
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Well the ribs get done faster then the butt,use your hickory but splitt it between the butt and ribs.

Add butt on the wsm smoke for 3 hours then add the ribs and only add wood for those(2 pieces) nice smoked ribs.

Bless
 
It depends on how "a little too smokey" the ribs were.

Start your butts sooner with most of the hickory (3) and just add 1 when you put the ribs on.

Or start with hickory on the butts then add apple/pecan when the ribs go on.

Just gotta experiment until they taste right to you.
 
Yeah, those ribs look real dark. Remember to always have your top vent open with the WSM, otherwise a creosote-like carbon sticks to the meat.
When it comes to smoke on ribs and chicken, less is more. As mentioned, use a little less and mix the hickory with some fruit wood: apple, cherry, peach.
 
I wouldn't smoke butts and ribs at the same time unless I was throwing the ribs on at the end of the cook after the butts had all the hickory they needed and the smoke had died down to near nothing.

Butts need hickory, and the same smoke will ruin some ribs....and I don't like butts as smoky as some do. Use any fruitwood for better results with ribs, or use VERY LITTLE hickory.
 
All great comments, thanks. I put the ribs in at the beginning with all 4 chunks and they took on a lot of smoke flavor. I think next time I will add the ribs toward the end of the cook and maybe add some apple chips for a lighter smoke flavor. Thanks again.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gary H. NJ:
Yeah, those ribs look real dark. Remember to always have your top vent open with the WSM, otherwise a creosote-like carbon sticks to the meat.
When it comes to smoke on ribs and chicken, less is more. As mentioned, use a little less and mix the hickory with some fruit wood: apple, cherry, peach. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The ribs were dark, but I did have the top vent open the entire time. I think they saw a lot of heavier smoke from too manhy hickory chunks early in the smoke. Also, they may have been on a little long/too high heat since the twist test resulted in me almost pulling a bone clean out. Thanks for your input.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Michael C.:
I personally like to mix it up a bit. I mix hickory with apple wood, I think that combo, gives the meat a nice taste, not too strong, yet, smokey enough, to enjoy the food. Your pics looks great! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

+ 1 I use hickory with apple and love it !
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Guy Wallace:
QUOTE]

+ 1 I use hickory with apple and love it ! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do you usually use less hickory than apple?
 
I'm surprised at how much wood some use. I find anymore than 2 chunks overwhelming. I've actually cut back and have been going with only one chunk lately, either apple or cherry. Like I just read in another thread......"To each his own", I guess.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Curt:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Guy Wallace:
QUOTE]

+ 1 I use hickory with apple and love it ! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do you usually use less hickory than apple? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes only because my wife prefers it with less hickory ! If it were up to me it would be heavier or = parts hickory and apple . But we really have found that 60/40 or 70/30 apple to hickory works for us best and most of our family and any guests . Even those that don't much care for smoked food like it with a heavier apple vs hickory taste .

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I would tend to agree with a lot of what's been said.

Some types of woods have a stronger "smokiness" signature than others, or a different smoke flavor profile. Experiment around with this, and you'll learn.

Hickory tends to impart a "hammy" flavor - sometimes this is highly desireable, sometimes it can over-power the flavor of more delicate meats. I find Apple & Maple to be more forgiving - you can use more of them with a lower chance of over-powering.

I know there's this debate about smoke not being absorbed into the meat and thickness vs penetration - but in general, some types / cuts of meats can withstand more smoke than others. Maybe think of it as "dilution":
-A bigger hunk-o-meat exposed to the same type of smoke, for the same amount of time is likely (but not guaranteed) to taste less smoky than a smaller / thinner chunk exposed to the same conditions.
-Dilution can be affected by the Suface Area: Look at the ratio of Surface Area / Total mass. A big chunk of shoulder has more mass inside, so when you chop or pull it and mix-in the smoky bark with a lot of the less-smoky inner meat, it will taste less smoky than ribs that were on for the same amount of time. This is because the ribs have lots of surface area, with less meat inside (when you eat it, the smoke-exposed parts are "less diluted").

Hope this helps - the best way to understand this is to experiment and find what you & your family like! (When in doubt, start with less smoke / milder woods, and then ramp it up gradually.)
 
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"smoke":

I love ribs and chicken smoked with straight fruitwood, whether it's peach, apple, or cherry. I don't need any hickory for either, although a little's fine. However, once I smoked a brisket with just pecan and it tasted like something was missing. (I will say though, that there's nothing lacking in oak smoked Texas brisket.) Also, I've smoked some pork butts before that I thought were lacking in the hickory smoke.

I know it sounds funny, but trust me when I say this is coming from someone that doesn't like a lot of smoke. For pork butts, I usually bury one hickory and two fruitwood chunks, and lay one of each on the top of the lit coals. For ribs, I try to use as little as possible, and this depends somewhat on how much I'll be around to watch it. I know I'll have to start using more since I'll be using higher temps.

This topic demonstrates how that a lot of things when it comes to bbq are pretty subjective, and you get outside of the realm of science. It's ok to blow some smoke sometimes.
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