My smokin' weekend, part 2

[pop_rivit]

I hope you had a good holiday!

Friday was the first time I've ever smoked anything and did a turkey that turned out fantastic.  I did some ribs today (just for the wife and me) and they were also great.  I used a rub that is pretty spicy.  My wife normally doesn't care for spicy foods, but the ribs were so good and the heat so mellow that she ate her share.

I decided a smoker temperature controller would be a good idea since it's a little fussy about maintaining temperatures so I've ordered one from Auberins (sp?).  Heard good things about it in the forum and I think it will be a great compliment to the Bradley.

I do have one question.  Both my turkey and ribs tasted excellent, but came out of the smoker with the outside black.  I "assume" this is normal but I wanted to ask to make sure I'm not doing something wrong.

Thanks!

[Smoking Duck]

Welcome, poprivit.

The only thing wrong I can see is not sharing it with the rest of us.  A dark bark is very normal....nothing to worry about.

SD

[Gizmo]

Was the black from moisture dripping back down from the top of the unit or from heat?  Considering you just started smoking and probably don't have the color (aka seasoning) build up on the sides of the unit, I wouldn't think it was moisture.   

[KyNola]

Hey Pop,
I'm with Giz on this.  Shouldn't really be "black" so tell us more about what you did.  SD is right about a dark bark on pork butts,etc but for me not on ribs nor turkey.  First thing comes to mind is the vent.  How open did you have it, especially when it comes to the turkey?  Poultry holds lots of moisture so you need the vent open so no condensation collects and drip back down on the bird.

Not being critical at all.  Just trying to figure out what happened.  Another thought, what kind of rub if any did you use?  Lots of suger in it?  Could be the culprit as well.

KyNola

[pop_rivit]

Thanks for the replies.

The vent was about 1/2 open on the turkey during smoking, nearly closed during smoking on the ribs.  The turkey had been in a brine with a fair amount of brown sugar, and the ribs had a rub with a fair amount of brown sugar.

The black was pretty even, although it could be from moisture dripping if there were quite a bit.  So..it sounds like it might have been from either the sugar, moisture or not enough vent?  I had been having a little trouble with temperature control, but I received my temperature controller today so I might try opening the vent further.

I suspect if it's moisture/vent it's a matter of learning to control it.  Is the moisture also controlled with the vent on top?

I might try my next "experiment" with no sugar and see if that makes a difference too.

SD-I would have loved to share.  Come on over, but you might have to arm wrestle my wife for some!   ;D

[Smoking Duck]

Well, if you live close enough, tell her best 2 of 3  ;D

[KyNola]

Pop,
The moisture is controlled by the vent.  Where I live we have very high humidity so moisture condensation is something I have to deal with fairly frequently.  For large loads of poultry, I open the vent pretty much 100%.  For items like ribs, butts, etc, I am still going to be running with the vent open 1/3 to 1/2.  You'll get the hang of it.  Always make sure the vent is open enough that you don't see smoke coming out of the crack where the smoker generator attaches to the box.  If there is smoke coming out of that area, you definitely need to open it more or the smoke can back up into the generator and that is not a good thing long term for the generator.

You'll get the hang of it and don't sweat the small stuff.  Experience is the best teacher as are some of the folks on this forum.

KyNola

[pop_rivit]

Looks like it was all in the vent control.  I opened the vent nearly completely during smoking some pork ribs Friday and they turned out with a great patina on them-but not the black shell I had the first time.  Boy were they good.

I put a turkey in this morning and checked it after my 4 hour smoke.  Again it had a nice patina without the black shell.  Can't wait until it's done cooking-it looks awesome.

Thanks everyone for all of your help!  With your help and advice my first 3 tries in my Bradley have been very successful.

[FLBentRider]

The "Zen" of vent....

A much debated and confusing topic it is.