acrid taste???

[32incheye]

I've noticed that my finished products have a strong,acrid, almost sour bite to them.  I've used a different type of puck for each type of meat but there is still a taste that almost overrides the smoke flavour.  WHY????
Is it because everything I have done has been smoked the entire time it was in the smoker?  For example, the chicken breasts were only in about 2 hours, with smoke the whole time.
Please help.  I want to do a brisket this weekeng and would prefer it it tasted as good as possible.
Thanks.

[Habanero Smoker]

Sounds like you are using too much smoke. For chicken breast I will only use 4 brisquetes 1 hour 20 minutes. For a butt or brisket I will use 12 brisquetes (or 4 hours of smoke). Some will give brisket 5 hours of smoke, but I use a combination of hickory and mesquite and 4 hours is enough. Whole chickens or turkey I will use 3 or hours of smoke, depending on what wood flavor I use.

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

are you putting water in the bowl? sounds like not and the pucks are still burning to give you that taste,

[JJC]

Welcome 32IE!

The BS is specifically designed NOT to give the acrid taste you mention, so I can only assume you are smoking too long?  The other possibility is the type of wood you are using in a particular application.  Can you provide some more details?  I'm sure we can help you out!

John
Newton MA

[MallardWacker]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by SMOKEHOUSE ROB</i>
<br />are you putting water in the bowl? sounds like not and the pucks are still burning to give you that taste,



<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

My reply:http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1245


SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[psdubl07]

It might help for you to list what you've cooked with what type of wood, and for how long. (Smoke time and total cook time)

Certian foods w/ too much smoke will taste acrid, but usually only when it first comes out of the smoker.  Cheese is a perfect example.  It can definitely be oversmoked, and the smoke taste mellows and becomes much better after a few days in the refrigerator.

I did another batch of Kummok's salmon last night, and even though it tastes good right out of the smoker, in my opinion it gets better after a day of refrigeration.  The smoke flavor loses a bit of bite and allows the flavor of the fish to come through more.

Unless it's brisket or pork butt, (which gets FTCd anyway), I've found most foods to benefit from a bit of resting after coming out of the smoker.

[humpa]

This is a perfect example of damper closed too tight. You have to open it far enough to let the moisture out and some smoke. It always happened to me when I had a cheapo smoker with no vents. Next time try opening top vent at least 1/3 of the way. I think this will solve your problem. Also make sure pucks extinguish in the water tray.

Ernie....Weymouth, MA

[mgg]

Hi just a thought, it may be mostly related to the too closed of a vent variable. My thoughts are too much moisture prior to first applying the smoke. Consider more room temp prior to placing in the smoker or open the vent longer prior to applying the smoke with a 1/3 or 1/2 closed damper setting later. I thing that the moisture grabs some of the ash and makes a sooty taste. The cheese has never  yet quite tasted right to me.[xx(]
Michael

[gotbbq]

32incheye-

Mallardwhacker has a possible soultion.  If the pucks don't extinguish they can put out a bitter smoke.  Check the water level.

gotbbq