Hello

[Spolvs]

Hello everyone, Joe from Toronto here. I'm a little late to the show, have owned a model#2 since March 2015, have had about 8-10 smokes so far and can't help but notice everyone on the forum site saying they're turning out amazing Q, not the same for me, it seems my #2 has a strange taste on all food that is smoked and I can't pin the nail on it. I followed the seasoning instructions to the T, I use minimal wood on smokes and it seems I was turning out better ribs in my oven and gas bbq than the SI, does anyone know what the problem might be? It's almost like a funky grease flavour that on the meat, I wipe down my smoker after each smoke so I'm puzzled at this point.

 

[swthorpe]

Welcome from Delaware, Joe!  I have not heard of the problem you are describing, but I wonder if another seasoning might help?

 

[gregbooras]

Hey Joe,

Welcome from Saint Augustine Florida.

What you are experiencing is not usual at all for this smoker. Maybe some questions might help sort this out.....

What are you using for wood (never use green wood) and how much are you using in each smoke (do you have a scale)?
You said you wipe down the smoker after each use, do you mean the outside or the inside. If it is the inside what are you using?

When you did you initial burn-in did you go the full 4 hours (you might consider placing about 4 oz. of wood and burn-in again).

Are you using foil on the bottom of the smoker and if so making sure it does not touch the element. Also when using foil on the bottom, did you remember to poke a hole in the foil to allow air to flow from bottom to top (drain hole)?

I sure others will chime in also, but if you can answer some of those questions maybe we can find out what is going on.

Best Greg

 

[Spolvs]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I'm using warm water and a rag to wipe the interior only, fouled the bottom and the hole is punched, using hickory that came with the si, I would say I'm not even using 1oz because the wife is pregnant and can't stand too much smoke so it's definitely not the smoke. Anyone know how to strip the seasoning and start fresh? Dont get me wrong, the food looks fantastic! Im just noticing a funky taste that's driving me mad!!!! Lol

We have a few bbq joints in town using cookshacks and the ribs are fantastic so I know te si should be pimping out the same results.

 

[gregbooras]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I'm using warm water and a rag to wipe the interior only, fouled the bottom and the hole is punched, using hickory that came with the si, I would say I'm not even using 1oz because the wife is pregnant and can't stand too much smoke so it's definitely not the smoke. Anyone know how to strip the seasoning and start fresh? Dont get me wrong, the food looks fantastic! Im just noticing a funky taste that's driving me mad!!!! Lol

We have a few bbq joints in town using cookshacks and the ribs are fantastic so I know te si should be pimping out the same results.

No you are right, the stuff you get out of your SI should be at least as good, but I think you will find it much better.

If you have as few smokes as you say there is really not a lot to strip. When my unit gets over greasy, I just run it with just the firebox for 4 hours. I would suggest you do the same and then on your next smoke, don't use any wood and see what the results are.

Greg

 

[Spolvs]

Thanks for all the help Greg, much appreciated. I have to admit, this forum is pretty active when you submit a post and get an answer within 5 mins, I had a feeling I was buying into something good when I ordered te SI. I'm sure I will figure it out, I'm going to run a cleaning cycle on all the racks/side rails, give her a nice wipe down and do a 4 hr cycle with no wood and see if that does the trick.

 

[gregbooras]

Thanks for all the help Greg, much appreciated. I have to admit, this forum is pretty active when you submit a post and get an answer within 5 mins, I had a feeling I was buying into something good when I ordered te SI. I'm sure I will figure it out, I'm going to run a cleaning cycle on all the racks/side rails, give her a nice wipe down and do a 4 hr cycle with no wood and see if that does the trick.

Glad to help, keep everyone here posted, this is a weird one!

Greg

 

[NDKoze]

I don't ever wipe down my sidewalls. That is just the seasoning coat and I don't want to wipe that goodness off.

I do wipe down the floor of the smoker because no matter how well I foil, the bottom still gets greasy. But I just use paper towels. Once or twice a year I do a more thorough cleaning.

I think we need more details a out your prep and smoking process.

Give us an example of one of your smokes from prep all the way to the end.

Are you using any drip pans or water pans?

 

[Grampy]

Joe, Welcome from SW Arkansas! My advice would be to get you some different wood and try that. Now people will argue on here that the dowels that come with the smoker are just fine but I did not like the flavor that it left either and stopped using them. Before you go spending money on more expensive wood I would test some cheaper wood to see if that makes a difference in what you are experiencing to try and narrow down the problem. I suspect since you are experiencing the same result using the same wood that that is the culprit. Buy you a bag of hickory or some other variety of cheaper wood from a big box store like Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart etc. and try it as a test and see. If that is the problem then purchase you some better wood from Smokinlicious or Maine Grilling Woods.

 

[SconnieQ]

+1 on switching out the wood. That was my first thought. If your dowels are hickory from SI, then try apple, cherry, pecan, or maple instead. Sometimes people just don't like the taste of certain woods. Good idea on running for 4 hours without wood to try and purge some of the flavors in there.

 

[NDKoze]

I agree that trying different wood would be a good idea. But, I disagree about buying the junk wood from a big box store. We use such little wood in our smokers that I would hate to have to use up a bunch of kiln dried big box wood.

I would get some Cherry and Maple (great full flavored yet mild smoking wood) from Smokinlicious and avoid the big box wood.

My 2 cents.

 

[Spolvs]

So here's my full run down on prepping/cooking spareribs...

I start off with rinsing/drying and removing membrane.
- salt and let that sit in order to draw out some moister.
- mustard followed by dry rub (I used bone sucking sauce rub for the first time)
- wrap ribs in plastic wrap overnight (about 15 hrs)
- take out of the fridge the next day and let the, come up to room temp (30min-45min)
- I use 2 3x 10 aluminum foil trays that fit perfectly beside the fire box
- place the ribs on the highest rack, close door and turn on the smoker to the 225 setting and let them rip for 5 hrs no peaking. (I used to foil previously but read on the forum that it was not needed so I skipped the foil and never looked back)
-also wanted to add that I just purchased a maverick 733 and noticed how much the smoker temp control was off, we're talking almost 75 degrees on some swings. I smoked pork shoulder last night and decided to moved the pans above the heat box and noticed that I got really good temp control with 25 degree swing at the most.

I used both pecan and hickory chips which were store bought because I thought the wood sent with the SI might have been bad so that's another area I covered. The end product looks fantastic however, they look better than they taste. Once every couple of smokes I get a good turn out but for some reason the usual taste that I can't pin point always makes an appearance. I was trying to upload some pics from my iPad but it just hangs and doesn't allow me to attach, not sure if I have to use an actual cup in order to upload pics?

I wanted to say thanks to everyone who reached out to this post, great to see how involved everyone is on this forum and hope that I can contribute to future discussions.

I will try uploading some pics.

 

[Spolvs]

See attached pic

 

[Spolvs]

Pulled pork!

 

[SconnieQ]

I still wonder if it is the flavor specific to the wood species. Sounds like you've used hickory a fair bit? Have you tried cherry or maple? I would stick to using just one flavor of wood per smoke and experiment.

 

[Spolvs]

That's definitely an option sconnieQ, I'm going to first run a cycle without anything in it and then try my next smoke without wood and see if I still get the taste.

 

[DivotMaker]

So here's my full run down on prepping/cooking spareribs...

I start off with rinsing/drying and removing membrane. Great!
- salt and let that sit in order to draw out some moister.
- mustard followed by dry rub (I used bone sucking sauce rub for the first time)
- wrap ribs in plastic wrap overnight (about 15 hrs) Up to here is good, too!
- take out of the fridge the next day and let the, come up to room temp (30min-45min) Skip this step! ...COLD meat in a COLD smoker.  You will get better results.
- I use 2 3x 10 aluminum foil trays that fit perfectly beside the fire box  Use one water pan...2 is overkill.  An aluminum mini-loaf pan should be plenty.
- place the ribs on the highest rack, close door and turn on the smoker to the 225 setting and let them rip for 5 hrs no peaking. (I used to foil previously but read on the forum that it was not needed so I skipped the foil and never looked back)
-also wanted to add that I just purchased a maverick 733 and noticed how much the smoker temp control was off, we're talking almost 75 degrees on some swings. I smoked pork shoulder last night and decided to moved the pans above the heat box and noticed that I got really good temp control with 25 degree swing at the most.  Don't worry about monitoring box temp, and I definitely recommend keeping the water pan on the floor, not between the meat and smoke box.  If you watch temp swings, you will possibly go insane, and we don't want that.

I used both pecan and hickory chips which were store bought because I thought the wood sent with the SI might have been bad so that's another area I covered. The end product looks fantastic however, they look better than they taste. Once every couple of smokes I get a good turn out but for some reason the usual taste that I can't pin point always makes an appearance. I was trying to upload some pics from my iPad but it just hangs and doesn't allow me to attach, not sure if I have to use an actual cup in order to upload pics?  See comments below...

I wanted to say thanks to everyone who reached out to this post, great to see how involved everyone is on this forum and hope that I can contribute to future discussions.

I will try uploading some pics.

Hey Joe,

I personally believe your problem is your wood, more than anything else.  First, you mentioned "pecan and hickory chips;" are you using a chip screen, and soaking them?  If they are chunks, are you doing anything to prevent combustion?  Most store-bought (big box, hardware) wood is VERY dry, and prone to burning.  Your problem sounds more like wood combustion (bad smoke) than anything else.  I would recommend ordering some good-quality wood from smokinlicious.com, fruitawood.com, or mainegrillingwoods.com.

Also, you mentioned the amount of wood you use... 1 oz?  This is also part of your problem.  First, that is such a small amount of wood, you probably wouldn't even notice the flavor it imparts.  And, if you are using dry wood, I bet you don't see much smoke coming out for very long!  Wood smoke is actually a VERY big part of good BBQ flavor profile, so up that amount and get your smoke on!  At least 3-4 oz for ribs.  Trust me, my wife doesn't really like most smoked food, but she devours my BBQ!  Most BBQ joints actually over-smoke.  You should be using 5-7 oz on those pork butts.

 

[old sarge]

Splovs - I would forgo the cleaning/wiping down the smoker with water.  Clean the racks but as for the interior of the cabinet, let it alone.  If the 'patina' becomes so thick that it alligators (cracks) then I would use a clean stiff brush to remove the loose particles. Also, you say you use 2 "3X10 foil trays.  Assuming this is for water or juice to help maintain moisture, you could be creating something akin to acid rain/liquid soot in your smoker as it liquifies the patina from prior cooks and some of it drips onto your food. I realize I am way out on the limb with the acid rain/liquid soot remark but try smoking without adding moisture. I hope this helps.

Dave

 

[Spolvs]

I'm thinking you guys might be right. How do you tell if there's combustion, what will I notice? This past weekend I experimented with lining the fire box with foil and rapping 1 piece of wood (SI hickory) in foil (put holes in foil) and noticed it produced a slower smoke stream and left a black chunk of burnt wood at the end where's before it was leaving white ash. I'm assuming it should leave something after its burnt out or should it be leaving ash?

 

[Spolvs]

I also forgot to mention that when I'm using chips im not using a screen but I am soaking the chips. I'm also using the chips separately, if I'm using pecan it's only pecan and vice versa. The reason why I'm using such little wood is due to my wife who is expecting and she can't handle too much smoke at the moment, but you have me thinking that maybe the smokers to strong because of combustion? I always had that in the back of my mind but it's not a creosote taste, it's not bitter or unbearable to eat.