Quote:
Originally Posted by tooge
Not trying to be controversial here, but do you really want lots of essentially grease causing your smoke? I don't think so. I wouldn't want the fire to be caused by dripping fat. On a grill it's a different animal, because the steaks are just flamed "kissed", but when smoking for several hours, I would rather have wood smoke than liquified fat smoke.
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Grease and juice vaporizing on the coals is the same thing that happens over direct heat in a grill. It's what gives you that "grilled" flavor. I tend to agree, though, not a good combo with something that's supposed to be smoked.
I think I mentioned that earlier - straight out of the box, the manufacturer says don't use wood, only charcoal. And everything coming off it tastes grilled (which is good), not smoked (which is what I want).
Over the smokes, I've slowly increased the amount of wood chunks replacing charcoal and closely monitoring temperature with my Chef Alarm and air temperature probe. I'm up to about 60/40 charcoal to wood, and the air temp has gone from just below 300 to around 310-315. The "grilled" flavor is gone, so whatever is vaporizing on the coals isn't flavoring the meat anymore.
I'm still working on moving the charcoal/wood mix to closer to 40/60. I may have to artificially block some of the air flow to choke the fire some.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tooge
From Grillbeast.com
Lesson 5: Cook Over Indirect Heat
When you're doing a short, fast cook, drippings falling onto the embers below can add extra flavor to items like steak, chicken pieces, and seafood. However, direct cooking is not something you want to do for long cooks. The meat juices and fat drippings will cool the embers over time, as well as produce a bitter, dirty smoke. Therefore, you want to keep big cuts of meat away from the flames while maintaining a temperature of about 225ºF.
Sayin....
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There are many ways to skin a cat. Lots of folks do hot and fast higher than 225. I don't subscribe to there being only one way to do it, especially since I've done it and created some excellent food.
I haven't noticed any bitterness. For my last brisket (a 10-pound flat), I cooked over direct for the first 2-3 hours until I hit about 165, then wrapped in foil.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inmem58
That's what I was thinking. Drippings on hot embers does create a funny smell, didn't think about that. If FMB likes his product and doesn't have any issues with it, I'd take his word for it.
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As I said above, the "grilled" flavor has lessened to the point where I don't notice it. All I get is smoke now.
