Smoke was too strong

Unknown

- I used Pecan wood for my turkey. Should I use less pecan and more natural egg charcaol wood?

mad max beyond eggdome

Stephen,
poultry absorbs smoke like a sponge . .i used one small piece of apple wood today. . .i know a lot of people like pecan for turkey, but i think they use only a small amount. . ..

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,I used two handfuls for a 4 lb turkey breast ... it tasted like I used the whole tree! [p]I'm doing a 7 lb breast tomorrow ... do I start with the egg natural charcoal in one inch above the fire ring and then add the chips. I have both apple and cherry.

mad max beyond eggdome

Stephen,
yea, i'd just go with a handful on top of the lump. . .i think you'l be happy with the flavor, unless you really want a smoked turkey. .

yaB

Stephen,
Maybe it's just the bag of pecan chunks I've got right now, but I'm coming to the conclusion that pecan is pretty strong stuff, and I'm using it less and less as a result. I'll sooner toss a chunk of mesquite (which many consider objectionably strong) on the fire rather than pecan. Consider apple wood for poultry before pecan, but always go easy on the smoke of any kind for meats other than low and slow stuff like butts and briskets.[p]Bob

ChefRD

Stephen,
Hmmm........ That doesn't seem normal to me, Pecan is normally a very mild type smoking wood. I was lucky enough to get some to use and I think it and apple are probably my favorite type of woods, and the main reason is the mildness and the wonderful smell.
I wonder if you used too much also. I personally do not use chips but use only chunks of the tree. I normally put one fairly good size of chunk on the outside edge of the fire at 250 degrees and it will slowly smoke as the temp climbs (assuming I going higher ) There is not much smoke, about a half hour or so and I find the smoke from pecan is mild and smells great.
So all I can say is try less and I suggest you try to get whole pieces of wood to use. Usually one piece does it for us, as poultry does suck up the smoke more so than other meats.
HTH,
Ron.

Unknown

Stephen,[p]My family is pretty smoke averse and I have found that the smoke from just the BGE lump can be pretty noticable in poultry. In general, if you wait for about one half hour after lighting the fire, the smoke dies down.[p]I used one piece of pecan (about fist sized), waited til the smoke eased, and found just a hint of smoke in the 14 pound turkey. Perfect for my tastes.[p]Whenever, I put the poultry on the smoker too quick, it seems I end up with more smoke flavor than I want.

Unknown

ChefRD,
Yes, you may have used too much.
The wood is a source of more smoke flavor while the charcoal is for heat. Rule of thumb, use 1/8 to 1/4 wood to what ever you have in the pan for charcoal...