Burnt Cardboard??

[a.hoddie]

Everything i have tried to smoke so far tastes/smells like burnt cardboard is it just me or am i going wrong somewhere? I have tried smoking some nuts but they arent turning out great?

[GusRobin]

 What have you tried to smoke? What temp did you cook at and what internal temp did you take it to? what type puck you are using and for how long? Need some more details before we can help.

[Tenpoint5]

How far open was your vent? Like Gus said we need some more info to be able to help you out. Maybe even a few pictures.

[beefmann]

we need more information

1) did you  pre heat your box for 45 mins?

2) was your vent 1/2 to full open?

3) what was your box temperature during the smoking / cooking process ?

4) what did you  try to smoke?

5) at what internal temp  did you pull your meat?

6) what type of puck did you  use?

7) how many pucks did you  use?

8) was your temperature somewhat steady I.E. 175 to 200?

[OU812]

Did you have water in the water pan, the pan that catches the spent pucks, when you were smoking?

[devo]

Maybe he is using a cardboard box for a smoker  ;D
Sorry just had to say it

[mybad]

Did you ever season the smoker?

[a.hoddie]

Cardboard box??? NO...........but not far off! Food grade plastic box. Used some wood smoking chips. I wasn't cooking anything i was cold smoking the nuts. Will try and post some pictures.

[KyNola]

Everything i have tried to smoke so far tastes/smells like burnt cardboard is it just me or am i going wrong somewhere? I have tried smoking some nuts but they arent turning out great?

OK, I'm confused.  In your original post you say "Everything I have tried to smoke so far".  What is "everything"?  Have you tried to smoke anything other than the cold smoked nuts you mentioned in your last post?

[OU812]

Cardboard box??? NO...........but not far off! Food grade plastic box. Used some wood smoking chips. I wasn't cooking anything i was cold smoking the nuts. Will try and post some pictures.

Ok; I take it your smoking chamber is a food grade plastic box, does this box have a vent?

The smoke needs to just kiss the product your smoking as it passes by, not linger in the smoking chamber.

[NePaSmoKer]

I agree with Ky and OU.

Any smoker needs to be vented in some form.

[a.hoddie]

Hi guys and thanks for your replies......FYI......so far i have not tried to smoke any meats but done a few test smokes with nuts and some vegetables.I was not aware that my smoker needs to be vented (i did wonder as my homemade smoker churns out the smoke!!) So this is probably where i'm going wrong.

[a.hoddie]

how can i tell how much smoke to use? :-\

[Quarlow]

What kind of smoker do you have? One thing to remember is that stale smoke is awful stuff. You get stale smoke when you don't have airflow. So you need almost as much smoke going out as in.

[beefmann]

q has hit the head on the nail, smoke in = smoke out, keep it moving, I would be  concerned about the plastic it may melt or give off some type toxins when it gets warm to hot from the smoke source