Some thoughts on experience and BBQ myths...

[jasonjax]

Biggest myth I personally debunked was that meat stop taking smoke at some magical temperature. I over smoked the hell out of some pork butts once by adding a bunch of wood to my WSM and using it as fuel. Unless you liked the taste of a campfire it was way too smoky.

 

[CarolinaQue]

Biggest myth I personally debunked was that meat stop taking smoke at some magical temperature. I over smoked the hell out of some pork butts once by adding a bunch of wood to my WSM and using it as fuel. Unless you liked the taste of a campfire it was way too smoky.

Just an honest question...Are you sure that it took smoke the entire cook, or was it that it was so much smoke early on because of using all wood as a fuel source in a WSM that it made it bitter from the creosote? In my experience, a very heavy smoke at any point in time in the cook can ruin meat.

 

[Lake Dogs]

jasonjax, in this case you may have misunderstood. The meat, at some temperature, does stop taking smoke in. However, that doesn't mean that the smoke and creosote cannot build up on the outside. That'll continue regardless of temperature.

 

[jasonjax]

Just an honest question...Are you sure that it took smoke the entire cook, or was it that it was so much smoke early on because of using all wood as a fuel source in a WSM that it made it bitter from the creosote? In my experience, a very heavy smoke at any point in time in the cook can ruin meat.

I didn't run out of charcoal until the very tail-end of the cook. The first 2/3 of the cook was typical. I was probably in the 160+ IT range when I had to go with the hickory chunks as fuel.

LD, I don't think that just the outside was affected, but maybe. I pulled it as usual and mixed the bark with the rest of the meat, but the overall flavor was INCREDIBLY smoky. Perhaps due to the outside layers only...

 

[CarolinaQue]

I believe what may have happend was the all wood finish produced a lot of creosote and stuck to the outside bark. If I run out of fuel towards the end at home, I always finish in the oven to avoid what you described.

 

[Lake Dogs]

Without being there, first hand, it's tough to tell... However, like Carolina, I learned the HARD way, and if have to will go to the oven after that 3rd or 4th hour on smoke.

 

[jasonjax]

Yup. It is kind of semantics on whether or not meat keeps "taking on smoke" since the end result is the same. Too much smoke flavor. Maybe I could have scraped all the bark off.

I'm not willing to perform that particular experiment!

 

[bigabyte]

The whole "taking on smoke after 140" thing is talking about the smoke ring. The smoke ring stops forming at 140. Smoke flavor can still get into anything. Want proof? Smoke a chub of bologna. That has been precooked past 140. It takes on smoke flavor. As do precooked sausages, and many other things.

 

[CarolinaQue]

The whole "taking on smoke after 140" thing is talking about the smoke ring. The smoke ring stops forming at 140. Smoke flavor can still get into anything. Want proof? Smoke a chub of bologna. That has been precooked past 140. It takes on smoke flavor. As do precooked sausages, and many other things.

Is it that it's been cooked past 140* the important variable, or would starting at a lower temp and moving to the 140* be why it would take on smoke?

I think that this is what I'll do. I'll get 3 chubs of bologna and smoke them. One of them to 140*, one to around 165*, and another to about 180*. We'll see if the smoke ring varies which will be a bit more accurate in my opinion.

 

[Bbq Bubba]

Biggest myth I personally debunked was that meat stop taking smoke at some magical temperature. I over smoked the hell out of some pork butts once by adding a bunch of wood to my WSM and using it as fuel. Unless you liked the taste of a campfire it was way too smoky.

You didnt have a clean burning fire and your meat got covered in creosote.

\
LD, I don't think that just the outside was affected, but maybe. I pulled it as usual and mixed the bark with the rest of the meat, but the overall flavor was INCREDIBLY smoky. Perhaps due to the outside layers only...

Once you mix in the bark with the rest of the meat, of course all of its going to taste smokey. Probably almost acridic.

 

[bigabyte]

Is it that it's been cooked past 140* the important variable, or would starting at a lower temp and moving to the 140* be why it would take on smoke?

I think that this is what I'll do. I'll get 3 chubs of bologna and smoke them. One of them to 140*, one to around 165*, and another to about 180*. We'll see if the smoke ring varies which will be a bit more accurate in my opinion.

You won't get a smoke ring on a chub of bologna because it is precooked, and already packed with nitrates.

Smoke Ring has absolutely nothing to do with smoke flavor. That is what I was trying to clear up.

In this case, what might help clear this up is to cook a burger or heat up a hot dog indoors, not using a gril or smoker. Then while it is still hot put it on the smoker for a while. See if it has any smoke flavor.

 

[CarolinaQue]

Oh...I believe it will. I knew a guy at one time that would cook his chicken in an oven and then put it on a ECB for 30 minutes or so and called it BBQ...and it tasted likeuke:

 

[CarolinaQue]

Maybe I'll do the bologna experiment just because I love bologna!!!

 

[bigabyte]

You can never have too many reasons to make bologna on the smoker!:becky:

 

[bbqchicken]

. I only learn about 1/2 of something by reading.

Good point. Well boneheads like me only learn about 15% by reading. I am very much still a rookie. I have taken barbecue seriously these last few months. Looking back I think I have learned a lot mainly due to this forum. Bottom line I need a hell of a lot more experience. sometimes I try techniques out and they don't work at all. You live you learn to barbecue another day.:thumb:

 

[ODU Dad]

I think that there are two types of cooks: those who are married to recipes and techniques and those who like to explore and along the way learn what works and what doesn't for them. I like to read recipes in that I do not want to have to invent the wheel, if someone is gracious to share their knowledge with me. Over time, I cook "in my head" based on my experiences when I read recipes. Some appeal to me whereas others do not. They may be wonderful ideas but they are not for me.

BBQ has dogma, just like everything in life. I personally do not worry about what someone else does. What works for me is all that I care about, although I come onto forums such as this to get some ideas that I hadn't thought about before. The discussion about the plateau and what it is, was a GREAT bit of information to learn.

 

[Utah Jake]

1) Your not really smokin good unless you can see a lot of smoke.
2) It's the smoke that cooks the meat, not the heat.
3) Texas rule #24: The thicker the fat cap on your brisket, the better the score.

 

[Kenn007BBQ]

You can't get any good Q unless you go to the local Q joint.

I believed that one for a while but I finally realized that the local Q joint charged me 28 dollars for 3/4 of a slab ( eight ribs) , some can beans, bad potato salad and four raggedy pieces of wheat bread (I was soooo mad.... local q joints sucks out here) Ordered the pulled beef brisket and it was soaked in some sugary BBQ sauce. Couldn't taste the meat hardly. That was the last straw.

I'm sorry but most San Fran / bar area do not know what real BBQ is

 

[Gbane]

I think that you need to q, q, q, q, experiment and q some more. The only real way is to cook a sh$t load and try different things, take notes for yourself, read the brethren and q some more. Listening to everyone's way or style of cooking and trying to gleen tips from them, and some of these may be very subtle, but make a huge difference in the way your q will turn out and taste. Q Q Q Q Q and Q some more.!!!

 

[muskrat]

Being a beginner smoker I think that the biggest myth was that I could take a recipe straight out of a book or off the internet, follow it to the letter, and like it. Peoples tastes are very different. It took me six tries to get my ribs the way I really like them but well worth the effort. This was very frustrating at first. When I do a smoke now I always fix something that I know I will like but on a second rack put on something new to try. The tips on this site have been a big help for my ribs. But it wasn't a single plug and play recipe that I used. It was bits and pieces of of recipes that others have tried.