Model 2 overly smokey

[bekirby3]

Hello,
I have been using a Masterbuilt gas smoker for years and regularly smoked pork and turkey tenderloins with great results. 2 pork tenderloins and 2 turkey tenderloins using 3 ounces of hickory wood chips which took about 4 hours at approximately 300° and always turned out great. Just the right amount of smoke flavor and bit of a smoke ring.

When I tried the same with my new model #2, after about 2.5 hours at 250° the meat turned out blackened, dry, and uneatable so was very discouraged.

I then learned about using foil to wrap the wood chips and adding a little tray of water and only used 2 ounces of hickory wood chips wrapped in foil. It turned out a little better (no blackening) but still way too smokey and the smoke flavor was very strong and bitter. We ate it but nobody wanted seconds.

Last time I tried 1 ounce of apple wood chips wrapped in foil and backed the temp down to 225° and had the best results for far, but still way too smokey. I know "smokiness" is subjective, but several people agreed. One person even suggested I should try it again without wood chips, but what's the point of a smoker with no wood chips LOL!

I figured next time I would only use a 1/2 ounce of chips and give that a try. That seems crazy to use so little wood and am wondering if others have had similar results? Maybe the problem is I am smoking such a small amount of meat relative to the amount of wood chips?

I really like the convenience and ease of use with the model #2, but am very frustrated and sort of missing my old Masterbuilt. Any advice would be appreciated!

BK

 

[swthorpe]

These smokers don't take much wood to turn out smoked meat. I use wood chunks (not chips) and usually 3-5oz of wood is more than enough smoke for 3 to 4 hours. For BB ribs, I use 5-6oz with two wood chunks and 5.5 hours of smoking. I wonder if your chips are catching on fire, which might explain the blackened food and strong smoke.

 

[Lonzinomaker]

I second Swthorpe's suggestion to use chunks instead of chips.

 

[old sarge]

Chunks.

 

[bekirby3]

Thank you for the suggestions. Chunks it is...

 

[LarryD]

If you still run into problems after switching to chunks then go back through the old posts to read about the wood catching on fire and what folks have done to mitigate/prevent that...

 

[bekirby3]

Thanks for the suggestions. As I said in my original post, I did learn about wrapping the chips in foil to prevent them from catching fire and that did solve the sooty/blackened problem. I will still give wood chunks a try though.

 

[espo]

Hi @bekirby3, curious to know if you solved your overly Smokey prob? I have a model #3 and recently it started producing really bad quality smoke. I have been buying hickory, oak, and alder from smokinlicious and all of my smokes have been great until just recently. And just for grins, I tried chunks from Home Depot and still getting billowy, gray smoke and bad tasting food.

I’ve read lots of posts, tried wrapping in foil, completely cleaned the smoker and re-seasoned, and still getting very bad quality smoke. You having any luck?

Thanks!

 

[bekirby3]

Hi @bekirby3, curious to know if you solved your overly Smokey prob? I have a model #3 and recently it started producing really bad quality smoke. I have been buying hickory, oak, and alder from smokinlicious and all of my smokes have been great until just recently. And just for grins, I tried chunks from Home Depot and still getting billowy, gray smoke and bad tasting food.

I’ve read lots of posts, tried wrapping in foil, completely cleaned the smoker and re-seasoned, and still getting very bad quality smoke. You having any luck?

Thanks!

Hello @espo,
After experimenting quite a bit (and a lot of wasted meat), I have finally figured out something that seems to work for us.

To be clear, we generally smoke small amounts of meat: a couple pork tenderloins for example. Given the small amount of meat - I use only 1/3 cup of applewood chips wrapped in foil so it doesn’t catch fire and burn. I also add a small pan of water.

I think my problem was due to too much wood and the fact the wood was apparently catching fire - creating soot. As others have said, it’s amazing how little wood is needed in these smokers.

It seems odd that you had something that was working for you and then quit working.

I guess if it was me, I would experiment a little bit using less wood and wrapping it in foil.

Good luck!

 

[espo]

Hello @espo,
After experimenting quite a bit (and a lot of wasted meat), I have finally figured out something that seems to work for us.

To be clear, we generally smoke small amounts of meat: a couple pork tenderloins for example. Given the small amount of meat - I use only 1/3 cup of applewood chips wrapped in foil so it doesn’t catch fire and burn. I also add a small pan of water.

I think my problem was due to too much wood and the fact the wood was apparently catching fire - creating soot. As others have said, it’s amazing how little wood is needed in these smokers.

It seems odd that you had something that was working for you and then quit working.

I guess if it was me, I would experiment a little bit using less wood and wrapping it in foil.

Good luck!

 

[espo]

Thank you @bekirby3! I’ll try using chips to see if it resolves the issue.

 

[LarryD]

I personally tend to do mass quantities when I use my smoker... I have a nice vacuum sealer so I just portion up the extras, seal them, and freeze them. Then I have ready made meals in the future. Throw the whole sealed package in a pot and heat it up to serving temperature. Comes out 98% as fresh as it just came out of the smoker.

 

[bekirby3]

I personally tend to do mass quantities when I use my smoker... I have a nice vacuum sealer so I just portion up the extras, seal them, and freeze them. Then I have ready made meals in the future. Throw the whole sealed package in a pot and heat it up to serving temperature. Comes out 98% as fresh as it just came out of the smoker.

That is a great idea! We are a small family of 3 and the other 2 don't seem to share my fondness for smoked meat LOL.

 

[LarryD]

When you're ready to branch out, search for my old posts on garlic and nuts. I personally still think of fish as meat, but not everyone does. With that in mind, salmon comes out really nice, too.

I went with a nice VacMaster that I got a number of years ago from https://vacuumsealersunlimited.com/. I still get my supplies there and have no hesitation in recommending them and their products. Whatever else you do, avoid the Foodsaver brand like its the plague. Terrible product and high cost. Let me know if you have any specific questions... always happen to share my experiences/knowledge.

 

[MR BBQ]

Don't be afraid to smoke pork tenderloin and turkey with no wood , if your smoker is well seasoned the meat will pick up some smoke flavoring. Both those cuts of meat take smoke and seasoning real easy. Also try something milder than Hickory , try some apple, cherry, pecan, oak or even peach or apricot are 2 of my favorite for mild meats like chicken, turkey and pork. I have even done ribs without wood and they came out with a decent smoke flavor.

 

[bekirby3]

That's interesting @MR BBQ ! We were so disappointed with the overly smokey/bitter taste I had considered trying with no wood at all, but that just seemed wrong LOL. After all, I bought a smoker (and a fairly expensive one at that) to smoke meat with wood right?

I have fixed the problem where the meat would have a black soot on it and be really bitter which I'm sure was due to the wood catching on fire. Reducing the amount of wood and wrapping the wood in foil took care of that. I have also switched to apple wood which seems milder than the hickory I was using.

I love the idea of the Model 2 electric smoker - it's so easy to use, but so far have not been able to get the same results I was getting with my cheap Masterbuilt propane smoker. But I have kept experimenting trying different things and think I am close.

Although I have been smoking meat for several years, I am definitely no expert. I had never considered that the type of meat we were cooking might need less wood than other types of meat. Our favorites when we want bbq are pork tenderloin and turkey breasts. I think next time we will try it with no wood at all and see what happens.

Thanks for the suggestion and taking the time to reply!