Charcoal Smell in Food

OshawaDave · October 2017

I cooked a top sirloin roast on the BGE last night. I cooked it at 275 degrees until 140 degrees internal. I noticed that the roast had a distinct taste of the charcoal, but not in a good way - almost bitter or to too smoke like. I cooked the roast on the grill with he plate setter in place and drip pan below it. I'm using BGE lump charcoal.

I lit the BGE 45 minutes before I put the roast on and then dialed the heat down to 275.......Is there something I'm doing wrong or should there be a strong charcoal flavor with the roast.

Thanks.

pgprescott · October 2017

First a few questions. What did you cook prior to this cook? Where you at the end of a bag that had a lot of small chips/shake in it? Guys bake with BGE lump all the time. Might take a while to burn clean, but sounds like you accounted for that. Huh? Sometimes if you cook chicken, it will leave an acrid residue on the lump and it won’t go away. Best to clear out the coal IMO.

YukonRon · October 2017

I had the same issue initially when I started with the BGE, and used BGE lump. I found, in order to lower the impact of the "Charcoal" flavor, I had to get the fire established, wait until the temperature was stable, and then wait until there was zero visible smoke, coming out the top. I never really got rid of that flavor, but it was diminished significantly.
45 minutes, typically was not long enough.
Low and slow roasts, take longer.
Once that was established, I would start my cook.
I changed lump soon thereafter, and started using Rockwood. What a difference. The charcoal taste is gone, you don't waste as much, it gets you into cooking faster due to the smoke clearing sooner, easy lighting, bags have less small pieces and dust. Just a superior product in every phase.
Once you try Rockwood, you will be hooked.

OshawaDave · October 2017

YukonRon said:

I had the same issue initially when I started with the BGE, and used BGE lump. I found, in order to lower the impact of the "Charcoal" flavor, I had to get the fire established, wait until the temperature was stable, and then wait until there was zero visible smoke, coming out the top. I never really got rid of that flavor, but it was diminished significantly.
45 minutes, typically was not long enough.
Low and slow roasts, take longer.
Once that was established, I would start my cook.
I changed lump soon thereafter, and started using Rockwood. What a difference. The charcoal taste is gone, you don't waste as much, it gets you into cooking faster due to the smoke clearing sooner, easy lighting, bags have less small pieces and dust. Just a superior product in every phase.
Once you try Rockwood, you will be hooked.

I wondered about BGE charcoal.....and trying other lump charcoal. I'll have to consider Rockwood and see if I can get it in Ontario, Canada.

Thanks Ron.

tarheelmatt · October 2017

The two fellas above will get you straight, so I will not be redundant and they know this better than I.

The one piece of advice I have for you is this. Before cooking on the Egg, and it's smoking, lean over the exhaust and smell it. If it's terrible, wait. If it's pleasant, you're a go.

The white stuff billowing out isn't good at all.

OshawaDave · October 2017

pgprescott said:

First a few questions. What did you cook prior to this cook? Where you at the end of a bag that had a lot of small chips/shake in it? Guys bake with BGE lump all the time. Might take a while to burn clean, but sounds like you accounted for that. Huh? Sometimes if you cook chicken, it will leave an acrid residue on the lump and it won’t go away. Best to clear out the coal IMO.

I was not at the end of the bag - halfway. There was a mix of small pieces and larger chunks. I grilled chicken wings the night before.

tarheelmatt · October 2017

When you dialed it down, what temp were you at before you dialed down?

If you're burning clean at 400° then choke the air off to get a lower temp, you'll get some bad smoke.

OshawaDave · October 2017

tarheelmatt said:

When you dialed it down, what temp were you at before you dialed down?

If you're burning clean at 400° then choke the air off to get a lower temp, you'll get some bad smoke.

I was at 450 or so as I recall before I dialed it back to 275.

tarheelmatt · October 2017

OshawaDave said:

tarheelmatt said:

When you dialed it down, what temp were you at before you dialed down?

If you're burning clean at 400° then choke the air off to get a lower temp, you'll get some bad smoke.

I was at 450 or so as I recall before I dialed it back to 275.

Okay. That could very well be the culprit if you didn't allow enough time in between. Make sure you allow enough time for your fire to stabilize before putting food on. The fire at that point was starving for air and smoldering, thus emitting bad creosote smoke.

bikesAndBBQ · October 2017

tarheelmatt said:

The two fellas above will get you straight, so I will not be redundant and they know this better than I.

The one piece of advice I have for you is this. Before cooking on the Egg, and it's smoking, lean over the exhaust and smell it. If it's terrible, wait. If it's pleasant, you're a go.

The white stuff billowing out isn't good at all.

I like the smell test. It works regardless of what lump you are using.

OshawaDave · October 2017

tarheelmatt said:

OshawaDave said:

tarheelmatt said:

When you dialed it down, what temp were you at before you dialed down?

If you're burning clean at 400° then choke the air off to get a lower temp, you'll get some bad smoke.

I was at 450 or so as I recall before I dialed it back to 275.

Okay. That could very well be the culprit if you didn't allow enough time in between. Make sure you allow enough time for your fire to stabilize before putting food on. The fire at that point was starving for air and smoldering, thus emitting bad creosote smoke.

Good point. This is only my 4th time using and still learning.

A lot of good suggestions. I'll have to start the fire sooner and let it stabilize as well as the smell test.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

theyolksonyou · October 2017

tarheelmatt said:

OshawaDave said:

tarheelmatt said:

When you dialed it down, what temp were you at before you dialed down?

If you're burning clean at 400° then choke the air off to get a lower temp, you'll get some bad smoke.

I was at 450 or so as I recall before I dialed it back to 275.

Okay. That could very well be the culprit if you didn't allow enough time in between. Make sure you allow enough time for your fire to stabilize before putting food on. The fire at that point was starving for air and smoldering, thus emitting bad creosote smoke.

Better yet, catch it on the way up. No need to let it get hotter than you plan on cooking. Set the vents when you're about 50* below where you want to be.

You'll learn the timing thru practice

tarheelmatt · October 2017

OshawaDave said:

tarheelmatt said:

OshawaDave said:

tarheelmatt said:

When you dialed it down, what temp were you at before you dialed down?

If you're burning clean at 400° then choke the air off to get a lower temp, you'll get some bad smoke.

I was at 450 or so as I recall before I dialed it back to 275.

Okay. That could very well be the culprit if you didn't allow enough time in between. Make sure you allow enough time for your fire to stabilize before putting food on. The fire at that point was starving for air and smoldering, thus emitting bad creosote smoke.

Good point. This is only my 4th time using and still learning.

A lot of good suggestions. I'll have to start the fire sooner and let it stabilize as well as the smell test.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I don't think really sooner, but know your temp of where you want to be, and start adjusting to hit that target instead of going beyond your target, and coming down. LIke @theyolksonyou said, catch it on the way up, it'll make like much easier.

Think of your vents as macro (bottom) and micro (top) for adjusting. If you're going to 275°, you'll want to start adjusting around 200°.

pgprescott · October 2017

The above along with residual chicken fat is likely the issue.

Charcoal Smell in Food

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