Oak flavored meats from the smoker

T

Tailgate

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Ok, I am a big fan of smoked meats and our friend that has been doing them at the tailgate has done a great job over the years of producing top-notch meat.

Recently I have discovered a strong taste of oak in all the meats. I am not sure if I just picked up on it and now taste it in everything, but this last weekend there were a few pieces that seemed to have too much of the oak taste.

I was going to bring some meat in for the Sam Houston game and was curious if anyone had any thoughts. I will bring brisket, ribs and chicken.

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From "Legends of Texas Barbecue" (p.51):Oversmoking
"When you first get started with real wood barbecuing, there is a tendency to oversmoke things. It's not hard to tell when meat has been oversmoked--it tastes like tar.

Resinous wood like mesquite; green, unseasoned woods; and wood that has been soaked in water can sometimes generate too much tarry smoke. If you cook with a blend of charcoal and wood or with dry, seasoned wood, you shouldn't have this problem. But be aware that there is such a thing as too much smoke."

Your description doesn't sound like it is tarry, just has more smoke flavor than you'd like. You could consider wrapping the meat in aluminum foil after it has been smoked some. That way it continues to cook w/out absorbing the smoke.
 
I had this problem last week when I smoked a turkey. It was my second time smoking something (food, that is
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), having smoked a brisket the week before.

Way too much smoke left the thing looking like it was charred. I smoked it for about 6 1/2 hours (it was about 12 pounds) and used charcoal, mesquite chips, and mesquite logs.

I kept adding wood to keep the temperature up, but that was the reason for too much smoke. Should I have just added charcoal?

Is there a difference when using chips or logs? What are the advantages of each?

I guess more care has to be taken when smoking a bird, b/c the presentation of the turkey was pretty awful. The black skin still tasted delicious (as did the meat itself...mmm) but I'd rather not have it look like the Griswald family turkey when it comes out.

Any recommendations?
 
If it looked charred, maybe you did use too much smoke. Also, did you use a rub on it? When I used a lot of rub on ribs and smoked them for 7 hours or so, they'd get pretty black. Wonder if some of that was the seasonings getting burnt. Would also get kind of a bitter taste. I'm gonna try heavily smoking for the first few hours, then foiling for the remained. Hopefully won't get over smoked, eliminate the bitter taste and have a better color. How'd the turkey taste? Mine has always been tasty but a bit dry and smoking at low temps, the skin is kinda rubbery. I'm gonna try brining and smoking poultry at higher temps.

I always laugh when I hear people from Philly say you can't get a decent cheesesteak outside of Philly. With BBQ it's pretty true. It's hard to get premium BBQ outside of the real centers (Texas, Memphis, etc).
 
DeadHeadHorn - from the same book I referenced above (which you should get b/c it's informative + a fun read), p.101:
Barbecued Turkey
Variation: Aluminum Foil Warp. A frequent problem with barbecued turkey is that is gets nearly black before it cooks through. It still tastes good, but it's not very attrative on the table. Kitty Crider, the food editor of the Austin American-Statesman recommends that you cover the bird in aluminum foil while it is still an attractive dark brown and then continue cooking.

Also, did you use a water pan?
 
Had pretty good luck w/ 10-12 lb whole turkeys on my WSM- dry rub w/ some vegetable oil, smoking 3-4 hours until internal temps are right, at 350 on the lower rack. Charcoal/ couple of handfuls of pecan wood chunks (which I understand is milder than oak).

Used butterball-style (self-basting, injected) turkeys- which you don't need to brine and are very cheap around Thanksgiving/ Christmas (like $6-$7 for a decent sized bird).
 
Alot of people will smoke a turkey in a brown paper bag that has been coated in vegetable oil. It limits the amount of smoke that gets to the turkey.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I will definitely go pick the book up.

FWIW, I did brine it beforehand and it came out delicious. I'm definitely smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving, hopefully with better aesthetic results.
 
I second the foil idea, to keep it from taking on too much smoke.

Also, to keep the turkey from drying out, you can use a variation of the "Beer Can Chicken". Just use a Foster's Oil Can beer can filled with your choice of liquid. It will keep the meat very moist and juicy. You can use juice, wine, beer, etc. to impart flavor but moisture foremost. Give it a try.

Mine have turned out wonderful. I also like to do a bit smaller bird 7-9 lbs.
 
RE: brisket
Using oak with brisket will give you a charred look, but it's not a bad thing at all.

Mesquite will char as well, but will take much longer and not as much.

Use dry wood
Foil it to reduce smoke, though I have rarely experience that problem.
 
austintexas - I finally got my new grill. A Lyfe Tyme, like the one in that great thread of yours. I'm like a kid w/ a new toy.

Question: where do y'all buy the wood you use to smoke? I know Academy carries mesquite and hickory chunks, but I'm wondering about things like split post oak.
 
The key with your wood -- it HAS to be aged. You do NOT want to burn green wood. I had a stack of pecan (it is getting perilously low) from a tree that fell in our yard. I let it age a good 1-2 years before I burned it.

I also buy wood from barbecue joints -- some of the smaller ones are happy to sell you a few chunks of oak etc.

I have used the bagged chunks, but they burn too fast, and I am just not convinced that they're cured enough.
 
I have not had problem with soaking my wood before use. I use large chunks of mesquite. I just smoked three slabs (10 pounds) of ribs on Saturday. Had them on for about 7 hours. My main fire is from charcoal and I put a few chunks of wood on top of the coals to keep the smoke going. Its pretty easy to regulate the smoke this way. I once tried all wood and the brisket was indeed too smokey.
You can also smoke the meat for a couple hours and then wrap in foil and finish in the oven. Sometimes I find that more efficient than keeping the charcoal going. I add my BBQ sauce to the meat before wrapping with foil, makes for a mighty juicy brisklet. Never tried a turkey before, will have to soon. I bought a pork shoulder and more ribs for this weekend, can't wait.
BTW, I have found brown sugar as a key ingredient in my dry rub. Brown sugar, paprika and adobo combine nicely after coating the meat with woschtershire...
 
Deadhorn: There is one more tip to keeping the turkey from turning black. When you brine the turkey, take it out of the brine, dry it off and then let it sit in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Since I started doing this, I haven't had to worry about the turkey's appearance. They always come out perfectly from the smoker.
 
Is there a better source for smoking food out there than Hornfans? The collective wisdom here is mindblowing.
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Can't wait to try some ribs this weekend.
 
I use charcoal with wood chunks too. I always wondered how the real BBQ places that use only wood avoid the over smokey problem.
Also, do people who use mesquite find it produces a bitter taste? Trying to decide if it's the wrong wood, too much smoke or something else. (It's several years old mequite chunks).
 
Like jimmyjazz said, anything else...and you're ******
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But seriously, aim for 225-235, but anything between 200-250 should do it. You just may need to add a little more time for the lower temps. Also, if you've never done ribs before, be sure to peel the membrane off the back.
 
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