• Enter the TVWB 27th Anniversary Prize Drawing for a chance to win a Weber Traveler Portable Gas Grill! Click here to enter!

What would cause a sooty taste sometimes.


 
Bill S.

Bill S.

TVWBB Pro
I used the same amount of wood I always do, two small fist sized chunks of cherry. But this time my flat came out tasting quite sooty. Though it was edible. My wife did mention (without me asking, which was odd) that she thought there was quite a bit of smoke coming from the smoker, but it didn't look any different to me. Any ideas?
 
Did you have water in the pan? I had my foil leak on my last cook and the water ran over the edge of the bowl and into the fire. This resulted in ash rising onto my grates and food. It also resulted in a lot of white steam, which looks like a lot of smoke.
 
most will recommend getting the meat on shortly after you initiate the minion start.

I've moved towards allowing the the fire to build and the cooker to come to temp. And I try not to put the meat on while she's blowing thick smoke at the start.

I also bury my wood chunks so they dont get a chance to start until the the fire has established itself.

I think I've noticed a cleaner taste, and its more of a wood flavor than a charcoal one.

HTH
 
Bill - Jim Bloomfield is probably just about right on. Another thing is if you had re-used some briquettes that were laying in the bottom of the fire-pit. I have re-used them in mine from time to time but I have heard this complaint before and the cure was made by making sure fresh fuel was used. Bob B
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
I've moved towards allowing the the fire to build and the cooker to come to temp. And I try not to put the meat on while she's blowing thick smoke at the start.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Was thinking about doing that myself. Jim, I don't reuse the coals. I just let them burn out then dump the bowl.....As long as we are on the subject of coals. Does anyone notice an off smell sort of chemical like , when you bump it up to 280 or so. Which I do to finish the bark the last few minutes. Never really noticed it before before, but lately I have. I thought maybe it was the pan going dry and the drippings starting to burn, but that's not the case. I'm wondering if it is "fumes" from coals igniting. What ever it is, it is certainly unappealing.
 
From your last post, it sounds as if it might actually be the drippings burning. Up until a century ago, the Chinese made their black ink by burning pork fat. Just a thought...
 
I'm thinking maybe the drippings on the bottom grate. Not the water pan, since it is fairly full.
 
How are you doing your minion start? If you are placing unlit over lit and assembling, then tossing your meat on this might be the issue due to not having a clean burn.

I normally load the basket and then add some lit to the top. If I have not already mixed some smoke wood in with the unlit coals, I will add some chunks just before I put the meat on. Let it go for about ten minutes and on goes the meat.

One thing you might want to do is do a cook without any smoke wood to see what you think. Or use much less than you normally do. I hope this helps. Vince
 
I put lit on top. Usually 12-13 coals, 9 evenly spaced along the ring and the remainder in the middle. I then put the wood chunks(2) on, each touching a lit briquette.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top