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Lump Funk

beaudreaux
beaudreaux Posts: 23
edited December 2011 in EggHead Forum
Last night I broke out 5 strips from a loin
and heated up to 650, seared and cooked to a beautiful med rare. The problem is they had a flavor like the lighting blocks in spite of the lump glowing. Curious if anyone has had this happen. I have had countless meals off the egg and never had this taste before. Any comments?

Comments

  • Did you let the smoke clear up before you put the meat on?

     

    -SMITTY     

    from SANTA CLARA, CA

  • What Smitty said and did you have drippings on the lump? You didn't pick your name from the Austin Lounge Lizards song didya?

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • There was a small amount of smoke but never had that occur before and I did wings with a platesetter the day before so those could be the culprits. The name was thrown on me by my cooking partner's here in Florida. Appreciate the input.
  • ShedFarm
    ShedFarm Posts: 499
    You mentioned lighting blocks. Depending upon the type, if they don't burn up completely, some will smolder, and the smoke leaves a funky-tasting residue on your food. Had your starter cubes burned off completely, before you put your food on? Certain types are worse than others. 
    BJ (Powhatan, VA)
  • What Little Steven said.

    ShedFarm has a good question. Could be your fire starters. I don't use those, it is easier to just use the old "paper towel and oil" trick.

    Can you describe what funky tastes like? I am thinking something like old sweat socks. Ewwww, funky.

  • More like a blown out candle. I think I must have had a smoldering cube. It had a slight amount of smoke when I laid the meet on.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Blown out candle is the starter cubes. They need to be fully burnt.
    In fact, i use the blown out candle as an example of why i no longer use them. A candle burns clean, but blow it out, and that little dying ember is burning poorly, incomplete combustion. Lot of soot in the smoke.

    Same for the starters. They can snuff out if the draft is even the least bit slow. And their sooty smoke lasts a long time

    Rule 1: if the smoke smells good, it'll taste good
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Appreciate the comments. I will use a different means to light up or make sure there is no residue
  • I find no problem with starter cubes if you use them correctly.  I make sure they are in an air channel and not just plopped on top of some charcoal.  I also put the lid down so that there is a draft to make sure the cube gets plenty of air.  Needless to say, you need to let them burn completely, but that shouldn't be too hard since they are going to be long gone by time the fire is large enough to actually cook something.
    The Naked Whiz