Creosote Problem with BGE

Unknown

I'm having a problem with bitter, unedible skin on my chicken. I tried Mad Max's recipe from before and the chicken was better than usual, however the skin was bitter and tasted horrible. This is always the case lately.

Any ideas?

Jack Straw

Car Wash Mike

I don't think you have a clean burning fire going. Are you using lump, no lighter fluid?
No matter what I cook, my egg goes a minimum of 30 minutes before putting food on.

Mike

civil eggineer

Do you allow the lump to burn awhile after lighting to get rid of the blue smoke? Usually it is done by the time the egg is up to temp, say 10 to 15 minutes. Has grease from previous cooks gotten into your lump? Maybe your lump is bad, what brand?

Don't give up, the perfect chicken is right at your fingertips.

stike

don't put the meat on until the fire is burnking clear.

some will say wait until the smoke is blue, or clear, or for 15 minutes.

basically, wait for the fire to get established. if it is burning clean, and the exhaust from the egg smells good, the flavor will be good.

if it smells like fuel, it's simply because your fire isn't burning efficiently, and you need to wait for that petrochemical smelling stuff to get driven off.

Unknown

Hey All that Replied,

Yes indeed I've been doing all of your advice for a while now. I've done some reading on the subject and it talks about the importance of smoke clearing the chamber quickly, less you end up with creosote deposit. I think this is my problem, as I've always kept the daisy wheel closed to a minimum.

I'm cooking a chicken right now, and I'm going to control the fire almost exclusively from the bottom. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks to all of you that replied,

Jack Straw

Michael B

That should take care of your problem.
Good luck.

CaptGrumpy

Jack Straw wrote:

I think this is my problem, as I've always kept the daisy wheel closed to a minimum.

I'm cooking a chicken right now, and I'm going to control the fire almost exclusively from the bottom. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Jack,
Always control the temp from the bottom vent and control the smoke retention with the daisy wheel.
Also burning woods such as apple & cherry are great for flavor but will give a bitter flavor if too much is used.

Broc

When you have the Egg temp stabilized, and the smoke is "burning clear," wait another 15 minutes!

If your Egg is building up 'gunk" inside [which it will, of course], after a cook, open up the vents and get the temp to 600+ degrees -- I aim for 750 -- and let the fuel burn out. The Egg works like a self-cleaning oven, and powderizes all the gunk.

I use crumpled up [old, used] al foil, and "scrub" the inside of the egg... the powderized gunk just comes away from the ceramic.

Caution -- You might not want to do a high-heat burn-off until your gasket is broken in. That said, my gaskets are long fried, but everything is still working fine... so I won't be replacing gaskets any time soon... I can still maintain 275F without any problem.

I don't use any starter cubes [can taste it in the food].... I use an electric start... most prefer some type of MAPP, weed burner -- whatever... And if you find out you don't like much smoke flavor [we don't], then just use lump. We don't add any hard woods to the lump anymore.

Good luck!

~ Broc

stike

zackly. you can't keep the daisy closed to a minimum, because it's always at the minimum required to control temps. it's usually more an issue of putting in the meat too early, or just adding way too much smoking wood

if the smoke smells good, it'll taste good.