Funky taste from electric smoker

Ron_L said:

The wood in an electric smoker doesn't burn cleanly. It smolders. So you really have to watch how much wood you use. In My Cookshack Smokette one golf ball sized piece is more than enough. Also, some woods are stronger than others, so for those, like hickory, you may need to cut back even more.

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^ +1 Ron nailed it, electric smokers don't really burn wood, it only heats it to the point where it smoulders, which is not a clean fire.

Not sure what electric is supposed to taste like but Ron is right. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Though I do not have one anymore, I have cooked plenty in an electric smoker. Ron is dead on about the wood smoldering (made even worse if you are soaking the chips). The one way that I was able to get a decent clean smoke flavor in my electric was to use the A-MAZE-N tube smoker in it.

When I had a cookshack smokette I found that getting the driest wood possible was key. As in either using pellets(tube smoker) or kiln dried woods. I got the kiln dried woods of amazon.

As other have said it is important to err on the side of too little than too much in an electric because the smoke is fairly dirty.





Also, if I get a funny smell in any smoker I clean and strip the seasoning off the insides and start all over. It eliminates the possibility of my seasoning being a culprit. Plus, it's really easy in an electric(make sure it's unplugged):biggrin1:

I have a Smokin-It #3 and only use (2) small chunks of wood. Also I put a water pan over the hot box to keep any drippings from falling on it and burning. My first cook with my electric was ruined because of the stalagmites of drippings on the hot box. Good luck

I also have a Smokin-It #3 and love the results I get from it. As others have suggested, limit the amount of wood (per the instructions), and use the best clear, dry wood you can find. For hickory, I often use Weber's bagged chunks, although many in any bag will be too large to fit in the firebox. As far as the water pan, I've smoked with and without it, and it just doesn't seem to make as much difference as in, say, a Brinkmann or similar. Putting foil over the bottom of the compartment, as well as on top of the firebox (again, per instructions) helps the cleanup. I also foil-line the drip pan.

I have a smokin-it#2 the only problem i experienced was some times the wood would catch flame briefly and then go out a bunch of times through out a cook. this creating lots of white puffy smoke. I got around it by putting my chunks into crumpled foil. I also experimented with using the A-MAZE-N with pellets and produced good results.

robbq said:

How did you clean it without leaving a chemical residue? It doesn't get hot enough to burn off.

Thanks everybody for all the replies. I know to use only a little wood but I am pretty discouraged that I'll never get better than just OK from it. I like the idea of using either really dry wood or pellets, I will give those a try.

For those of you who do have them, are you happy with the results?

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All the stuff that comes out(racks ect) is easy to clean so we'll concentrate on the pain in the butt. There is no way to properly clean a smoker(with no chemicals) without just getting in there and getting dirty and using a little elbow grease.

Step one needed 1 wide scraper 1 narrow scraper:

What I've done when the dreaded mold of neglect shows is scrape all the crusty stuff off every part of the inside that you can possibly get to.

Step 2 needed untreated steel wool and wooden scraper, squeegee or old credit card. some heat protective gloves, pan of water:

Place a pan of water in the smoker on one rack and let it steam at least an hour. Get in there while it's still hot and scrub and scrape till it is as clean as you WANT it to be.



I recommend setting up a place to be able to scrape and wipe the smoker that's off the ground. Obviously letting it steam outside on the ground, but once it's unplugged and the water pan removed place it up where it's not so aggravating to get into it. You'll do a better job if it don't hurt your back so much to bend down in there.:biggrin1:

I get an off taste when I use hickory chips in the mastebuilt so I switched to straight apple chips. Helped out alot. I also put a few small pieces of charcoal in with the chips. Not too much, probably 2-3 quarter sized pieces with a small bit of apple chips.

I have two Brinkmann Electric Gourmets, aka "the twins". I have noticed and "electric" taste when I've attempted larger cuts of meat. Now I specifically use them for ABT's, MOINKS, and boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Sometimes I'll use it to "add a flavor" to steaks and burgers.

I also have found that the key to electric, AMAZE-N (dust or pellet), and even pellet poopers is to have dry chips, pellets or dust.

robbq said:

First of all, get it all out of your systems:

"Electric smoker?"
"Build a UDS!"

Ok, now that we're done with that, a question. I have a few different cookers and one is an electric smoker. I got it to use when the weather sucks, because it is super well insulated and requires very little being outside to cook on it.

The problem is that it produces smoke with an off flavor. If I use very little wood it comes out OK, but sometimes it makes a really funky flavor. Last weekend I did a batch of bacon on it using hickory, and it came out smelling like bad smoke. Sliced and cooked it was good, but not as good as the batch I did on the BGE a couple weeks ago.

So for those of you who use electric smokers, do you have this problem? Any suggestions?

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You forgot to tell us to get this out of our system.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZyWuK50x_8"]Lipps Inc. - Funkytown (Long 12'' Version Video Clip) - YouTube[/ame]

I used chainsaw sawdust from taking down a hickory for years on my ECB electric. No soaking. No issues whatsoever.