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70chevelle
70chevelle Posts: 280
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I smoked 3 racks of baby backs on Saturday. I put 3 chunks of hickory, 2 buried and one on top. I let the egg come to temp - 230* - and levelize for about 20 minutes. I had the platesetter with the feet up then the grate then the ribs in a rib rack. I left them in the smoke for 2 hours, then foiled for 1.5 hours then browned them up, uncovered, for another 45 minutes. The were cooked perfect and had tasted great, but I get that 'taste' or 'feeling' at the tip of my tongue after eating. I only had nice, white, billowy, smoke, but the aftertaste left me a little unhappy. I'm wondering if it could be that the hickory may just be a little strong for me? I'm going to source some apple & cherry for future smokes, but was wondering if anyone had any insight for me.
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Comments

  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,110
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    Does sound like a little to much smoke.
    Let your fire stab a little longer than 20min. Let the white smoke clear from your chunks. On longer cooks like ribs you don't have to see smoke to have a good smoke flavor.
    Cherry and apple are my favs, you will like.
    Darian
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
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  • fire egger
    fire egger Posts: 1,124
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    Smoke flavor is a personal preference, just keep experimenting. Apple and cherry are good choices.
    have fun
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  • Cruzr
    Cruzr Posts: 91
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    I agree with Photo Egg. That was my first thought too, that 20 min wasn't long enough to burn off the bad stuff (VOCs). I'd let the egg stabilize about an hour with your placesetter on, and then set your rack/ribs.

    I've not used hickory, but I use apple, cause that's what I get free from a local orchard, and I've been real happy with that. Need to find me some free cherry now B)
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  • Frank from Houma
    Frank from Houma Posts: 5,755
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    What Darian said - hickory can be a little strong (for my taste anyways) and may have had a little bad smoke at the begining. In addition to apple and cherry I also like pecan on pork.
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  • BBQR
    BBQR Posts: 68
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    white billowy smoke makes me think the lump wasn't really going as well as it should have been before you started the cook. The smokes normally a light thin blue smoke or no visible smoke at all. Stir around the old lump before starting and really get the old ash to fall through the bottom vent holes before starting. Leave the top wide up on the egg longer before you drop the adjustible vent on to start the cook. I made the same mistake once. It smoked like crazy throughout the entire cook...not good.
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  • 70chevelle
    70chevelle Posts: 280
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    Oh, so patience is the recommendation! :silly: Understand that I didn't put the ribs on 20 min after I lit the egg but 20 minutes after I got the temp stabilized, so I'm estimating around 40-60 minutes from lighting. (If that matters?) Eitherway, I'm going to get the egg lit a lot earlier for the future, and I'll use some of my cherry cutoff's from the shop on pork. Thanks for the feedback!
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  • Cruzr
    Cruzr Posts: 91
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    I'll read a little closer next time :blush: now where are them glasses...

    BTW, my cruzr's a 68 GTO B)
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  • texasAUtiger
    texasAUtiger Posts: 154
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    70chevelle wrote:
    Oh, so patience is the recommendation! :silly: Understand that I didn't put the ribs on 20 min after I lit the egg but 20 minutes after I got the temp stabilized, so I'm estimating around 40-60 minutes from lighting. (If that matters?) Eitherway, I'm going to get the egg lit a lot earlier for the future, and I'll use some of my cherry cutoff's from the shop on pork. Thanks for the feedback!

    Yeah, I normally don't put food on til the fire has been going 45 mins or so. That VOC taste is very unpleasant.

    Also, you may find that different types of lump taste stronger than others. Mesquite based lump (very common around here in TX) definitely imparts a very different flavor than a lump like Frontier (sold at my Sam's Club). I like both of them but they are different. On the other hand, my wife dislikes the mequite based lump, saying it is too strong.

    Just a thought to experiment with that variable too.
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  • Mr. & Mrs Potatohead
    Mr. & Mrs Potatohead Posts: 2,037
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    I use Hickory on my rib cooks (but I like smoke flavor), but there may be two things here that could cause a taste that wasn’t to you liking:
    1)) Let the smoke wood burn to that “blue whiff” before putting the meat on.
    2)) I also feel that a dry smoke-wood gives a much better flavor then a green wood.
    Could be one or the other, or both…Or that Hickory is just a bit heavy for your taste
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