First time smoker, have some questions.

[SFBayArea]

Hello all,

I got my Bradley 4 rack digital smoker on Monday. I have to say it one good looking smoker, but it is hard for me to judge because it is my first smoker ever. I never smoked anything before in my life, I was and still is big fan of BBQing things, but now decided it is time to explore the smoking frontiers. So please be patient with me if I am not speaking the lingo or saying something stupid on this forum :-).
My first project was smocking pork tenderloin. I cured for almost 24 hours in the brine (one cup of solt and  one cup of sugar on a gallon of mix of water and little bit of red vine vinegar plus different spices), then I put the meet in the plain water for about an hour (to make sure that it gives away any unnecessary spices) then I paper towel dried it. Recepie of the brine I picked up from internet.
Once meet was ready, I preheated smoker to 170 then I placed meet in the smoker and had it smoking for about an hour on 170 degrees. I used Maple bisquettes (I ordered to try sample package with different wood flavors in it - maple, hickory, bradley special, cherry, apple, and one more starts with "a" forgot what it is).
After one hour or so, I changed the temperature to 220 and had it smocking like that for another hour. After second hour I noted that meet does not get smoking color that it should, it stayed very light. So thinking that my smoke vents out through the vent at the top I closed it up completely (after reading this forum a bit I now know that this was a stupid idea) and had the meet cooked and smoked for another hour and 20 minutes on 240 degrees. So I would say the total time meet stayed in the smoker was 3 hours and 20 minutes. I tasted the meet after it cooled down, it is cooked ok and tastes good and full of juice, but I am disappointed with the color of the meet. I expected it to be 50% darker then what I have.
So based on the loooooong description above what would you say I did wrong?
Should I have kept it on a higher temperature from the beginning? But if that is the case I think my meet would have been ready even sooner and the smoke color would be even worse then what I have now...
Why didn't I get the right golden/brown color of the meet that I was aiming for?
Should I use different wood bisquettes to get darker color? If so what would you suggest?

Thanks,
Edgar

[Tenpoint5]

Edgar first off Welcome to the forum. Second I would suggest purchasing a temp probe IE: Maverick ET-73 (So you know what the internal temperature (IT) of your meat is. Smoking is just like BBQing in that LOW and SLOW reign supreme, and after way too many late nights looking on the internet. It is my understanding that the meat in the smokehouse will only take on or except smoke until it reaches 140 degrees ( or somewhere close to that) The dark red color that your looking for doesn't always show up like you would want. This could be from several variables, The individual cut of meat (every animal is different), there could be moisture on the outside of the meat, to much mustard or rub on the meat if you use it. The worst part is the Bradley doesn't give you a perty smoke ring. I hope this makes sense for you. If not, somebody else should be along to help you out better than I can.

[Habanero Smoker]

To add to what 10.5 stated, try air drying the tenderloin until it feels tacky to the touch prior to placing it in the smoker. I just took some Canadian bacon out of my smoker, they are a nice golden color (I only like to apply 1:40 hours to loins and tenderloins). Other things that add to color are the total length of time the product is in the smoker, and the type of seasonings you use.

There is smoke penetration and smoke adhesion, smoke will only penetrate so deep and the most common temperature is when the surface gets to 140°F smoke will no longer penetrate. Then there is smoke adhesion, in which smoke will continue to adhere to the surface of the meat well beyond the 140°F, though it ability to adhere lessens as the temperature increases.

[beefmann]

Edgar,

welcome to the forum

your on the right track, how ever DO NOT confuse bbqing and smoking two different beasts! !
with bbqing it is  high heat, fast and eat quick typically...

with smoking it is  LONG, LOW AND SLOW... most of all the smoking and cooking process in a smoker is a lot  longer..
my typical  smoke and cook is about 8 hours and up to    18 hours for 1 piece of meat verces an hour or  less on a bbq....

another idea you want to do is get a wireless therometer  so you  can monitor the Internal tempture of the meat you are smoking./ cooking.. this way you know the tempture of the meat befor you  pull it better to cook by tempture then color ... if you  think it is too  light it may not been in the smoker  long enough.

if you get closer to 170 - 190 it practially falls apart... 140 - 160 morefor cutting and a bit  tougher and not as juicy or melts in your  mouth..

it  will take some practice and lots of pacetence...

as for me ..i cold smoke for2 hours (  heating  element  totally  off ) then    turn off the smoker and turn on the heat at 190 to 210 for a box temp to do the cooking till i get to the tempture im shooting  for... my  range is 150 to 180 depending on what im cooking

again  welcome to the forum and good luck on your next smoke...

P.S. there is only  one  dumb question... the one that  doesent  get  asked

so ask away

Beefmann

[SFBayArea]

Thank you guys for all your welcome notes and your inputs.
Would a different wood flavor give it a more golden/brown color? Hickory for instance I would think will give better color?
What do you think?
What are the rule of thumb on which wood to use on different foods?
Pork - Hickory, Cherry?
Beef - Mesquite, Hickory?
Poultry - Oak, pickan, hickory?
Fish - Alder, Maple?

[Gizmo]

Never noticed a different color of meat based on the wood but then I have never looked hard enough to compare. 
Can always toss the meat on a screaming hot grill for a few seconds to get a nice color on the outside.

[Tenpoint5]

DO NOT confuse bbqing and smoking two different beasts! !
with bbqing it is  high heat, fast and eat quick typically...

Ok Beef Im gonna start the ol Tamatoe, Tomato argument in a fun way!! I always thought High heat, fast cook and eat quick was GRILLING not BBQing! ;D ;D ;D

[josbocc]

SFBay Smoker,

Welcome to the forum!  As one of my predecessors has already pointed out, there are no dumb questions.  The folks that you will find lurking in this delectable are of cyberspace are more than willing to share their experiences, and expertise.

My first smoke with the DBS6 was with pork loins.  Although they did come out with a rather nice brown outside..., I believe that had more to do with the rub that I used, as opposed to the length of smoke time, or wood smoked with.  I only applied two hours of smoke, alternating with apple and mesquite.  Smoking temp was around 160, then I increased it to 240 until my internaltemp told me the meat was ready for consumption.  In hindsight, I would have left the temp around 200 - 220, and let it go a little longer.  I had no complaints, so I guess that the flavor is much more important than the appearance.

Continue to experiment, and try some of the links that you will find to the recipe site for some more ideas.  You'll get the hang of it in no time, and you'll find that you just might have a few more friends than you had before once they've tried your fare!!!

Jeff

[Gizmo]

DO NOT confuse bbqing and smoking two different beasts! !
with bbqing it is  high heat, fast and eat quick typically...

Ok Beef Im gonna start the ol Tamatoe, Tomato argument in a fun way!! I always thought High heat, fast cook and eat quick was GRILLING not BBQing! ;D ;D ;D

I'll have to agree and disagree.  Disclaimer, I would use cooking in the following definitions however, cooking is as subjective of a term as BBQ.

Grilling is typically preparing food on a grill, however, you can smoke food on a grill.  It is High Heat and fast.
Smoking is typically preparing food in a smoker, however, you can smoke food with other methods such as a grill, or in a couple pans on the stove (best use old pans to keep from getting in trouble  ;D).  It is low heat and slow.  With Beefman's 2 million watt Bradley heater mod, you could grill in the smoker.   ;)

With my BBQ University knowledge, I tend to go with Steven Raichlen's explanation of BBQ.
It includes:
A type of food that is smoked
A method of cooking
A piece of cooking equipment
A meal cooked and eaten outdoors
An American Public celebration (I would extend this to other countries as well)

[KyNola]

SFBay,
Welcome aboard.  I see my learned friends have given you lots of really good advice.  If you are looking for a really nice color, Habs gave you the best advice.  Next time, let the loins or tenderloins air dry to a nice tacky touch.  You can do this in the frig if you are concerned about leaving your food on the counter although it will take longer.  The smoke will literally "stick" to the surface and you will have the color you are looking for.  Another thing to consider, the Bradley is different than pretty much every other smoker out there.  The smoke produced is much purer so it doesn't require as much smoke for the flavor you desire.  It also may not give as much color as you are seeking.

Have fun and keep smoking,
KyNola 

[Smokin Soon]

Welcome to the forum SFBay!, I'm in the east bay of that wonderful mess. These guys have you on the right track I'm sure. I do a lot of tenderloins and Canadian bacon and the drying is very important. Also with sausages. I do not brine my tenderloins, I inject them with some goodies with a Cajun Injector and lay a couple strips of bacon across them to baste while cooking. Remember, it just keeps getting better while you learn, and you are in the right place.

[beefmann]

10 . 5

im gonna give your tomato a tamato... :P

grilling and bbqing is basically the same with a minor difference .. that  difference is most bbqers would use charcoal , propane, wood and in some cases natrual gas.. all still faster hoter  and quicker then the slow, low and long of smoking


beef

[Habanero Smoker]

Terms and definitions can become difficult and confused when using mixed cooking techniques. To me barbecuing is low and slow (using cooking temperatures approximately 190°F to 275°F), and while barbecuing you can add smoke. Barbecuing is what most of us are doing with temperatures we are using. If you talk to those that have smoke houses they will tell you hot smoking can be between 90°F to 180°F; and cold smoking has to be kept below 80°F or so.