Question about bad smoke smell leading to bad food taste

anez · January 2014

So i just cooked pizza and it tasted like that bad smoke smell that usually burns off in first 20-30 minutes of lighting the egg.

Well the bad smoke that's usually around the first 20 minutes after lighting the egg, stuck around for the 45-60 minutes with temp stabilizing at 550. I got a little arrogant and cooked my two pizzas, knowing it would probably not taste good. I was hungry and I love pizza. i couldn't help myself.

I'm wondering if my last two cooks had something to do with the smoke sticking around the entire cook or if i should have just waited longer for it to go away. My last two cooks were a 13 hour brisket and then a few days later a 12 hour pork butt. should I have cleaned the egg completely with a high temp burn a few days before doing pizza?

luckily the pizzas were just for me and the mrs because, while they looked great, they tasted like that bad smoke.

thanks for any advice on this.

BYS1981 · January 2014

I've found from my experience after a butt cook it takes a bit longer to get rid of the VOCs especially if it's new charcoal plus cooked right after a butt.

RRP · January 2014

By my personal eggperience it sounds like you have a build up of crappy grease mixed with creosote and you need to do a high temp burn off. There are threads here by some folks who don't understand the need or fear damage, but some times you need to trust eggperience if you get my drift.

KennyLee · January 2014

I think the first two posters are on to something. I was always a stick burner prior to the Egg and did all my smoking on offset smokers and my grilling (or pizza cooking in this instance) elsewhere, so never needed a burn off which would be sacrilegious with a high-end stick burner that was used for nothing but low and slow. But in the Egg where most of us combine the two, that makes sense.

Skiddymarker · January 2014

@RRP is probably right. If your brisket and butt was heavily smoked and cooked at low temps, chances are about the time your pies were done, the crap on the inside of the egg was also gone. After a butt or brisket, I like to bring the egg to temp with no set-up, empty. Give it a chance to burn off. A clean burn is Ok, remove the dome thermo and let her rip - I usually only fill the fire box, takes about an hour and the crap is gone.

anez · January 2014

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm in the middle of a high temp burnoff right now. Appreciate the advice.

jhl192 · January 2014

Clean burns are like taking a shower after several days in the woods. You smell better and feel better!

laserdoc85 · January 2014

In 28 years of egging I have never had bad smoke. I would not even know what to look for. There are some who do not even suggest a clean burn. I did one after 13 years on my current egg because I thought I had to after reading some posts here. Wish I hadn't. I had a great tasting egg. Now it will take time to get that egg taste back again

SmokeyPitt · January 2014

When doing pizza I like to let the egg burn wide open (daisy off, draft open) until the smoke is clean, then dial it back to cooking temp (500 or so) and let it stabilize. So, basically it is a clean burn of sorts but I don't let it run for an hour and use a whole load of charcoal or anything. Just let it burn until it smells clean.

calracefan · January 2014

I had this happen the first time I made pizza. I think it was from some dripping that had made to the lump. If you are reusing charcoal I would let it burn for clean up a little longer than normal. If it is a fresh load I think it will be ready when the smoke clears.

Question about bad smoke smell leading to bad food taste

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