Burnt Smell

[WannabSmoker]

Hello everyone!!

I am new to the smoking world and I bought a used BS BTIS1. I noticed when I opened the door the smoker has a real strong BURNT SMELL. I did clean but not as good as I probably should have as I was excited to start smoking my ham.  Unfortunately the burnt smell carried over to the ham and I ended up throwing the ham out.  Has this ever happened to anyone before. It’s a real strong burnt smell and I’d love to continue to smoke but can’t afford to smoke meat and then throw it away because of the smell. Anyone have and suggestions to what this might be and how to fix this?

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi WannabSmoker;

Welcome to the forum.

For myself your question is very difficult to answer. Smell and taste is very subjective. What smells burnt to you, may smell favorable to someone else. Also you need to describe the smell you are detecting. Does it smell like burnt wood? Burnt food? Burnt electrical wiring? Or something else.

You need to describe how much smoke you applied to your ham. Did you purchased an already cured ham, or did you cure your own? If it was already cured, was it a smoked cured ham? Too much smoke can give you that "burnt" taste.

Also you don't want to clean the Bradley so much that you remove the seasoning on the walls of the smoker. When you clean the Bradley, what chemicals did you use, and did you make sure you cleaned out the area of the heating element?

Finally you shouldn't have thrown the ham out. If you had tightly wrapped it in plastic, and stored it in the refrigerator for a few days,  the flavor of the smoke may have improved. Also smoke will only penetrate about 1/8" - 1/4". You could have shaved off the exterior layer of the meat.

[Orion]

Disassemble as far as necessary and clean with vinegar and scrub brush until the smell is gone. You don’t have much choice except to clean it. Use a mild detergent if need be but rinse it well. Take every panel possible off  including the back and inspect and clean . Look for dead rodents, burnt insulation, insect nests, burnt wiring, moisture damage ect. If it’s new to you there is know way of knowing how and where it was stored. If that doesn’t work throw it in the garbage.