"Stale" smoke flavor on ribs

[TheLoga]

Newbie here... I made spare ribs on my 5D last night, and they had a taste to them that I can only describe as "stale smoke". I smoked them for 3 hours and wrapped for 2. I used 4 oz of Hickory. Has anybody encountered this? Maybe I used too much wood?

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[SconnieQ]

4 ounces should not be too much hickory for ribs, but everyone likes different amounts of smoke. Especially since they were really only exposed to smoke for 3 hours. Most likely your wood was too dry, and maybe caught fire. This might give you an old ashtray flavor. What are you using for wood? Wood from big box stores like Weber or Western is usually bone dry. You might consider trying smokinlicious.com double filets. You also might want to experiment with cherry or maple, which are a little milder. Also, if there are any leftovers, try them the next day and see if they still have that flavor.

[SuperDave]

Were the ribs a little black in color?  I also suspect you had fire that puts too my creosote in the smoke and leaves a nasty flavor.  The only other thing that I can think of is if you changed your floor foil and didn't remember to poke the hole in the drain.  This is how these smokers breathe.  That would have caused smoke to not exhaust properly. 

[TheLoga]

Were the ribs a little black in color?  I also suspect you had fire that puts too my creosote in the smoke and leaves a nasty flavor.  The only other thing that I can think of is if you changed your floor foil and didn't remember to poke the hole in the drain.  This is how these smokers breathe.  That would have caused smoke to not exhaust properly.

They were black in color. It must have been a fire- I'll try covering some more of the holes in the firebox with foil. I did have a hole in the bottom for the grease- I'll give it another go today.