too much smoke?

[user 51917]

I just built a stainless smoker from a scrapped dog kennel and fired it for the first time yesterday

My question is, can you have too much smoke in your smoker or is it the more the merrier.
thanks

 

[Ravenshead]

You can't really have too much smoke in your smoker but you can smoke things for too long. Two to four hours is usually enough for all but the heaviest meats. The rest of the cooking should be primarily with heat only.

 

[adiochiro3]

I disagree; too much smoke deposits creosote on the meat. If you can smell smoke, you're smoking. Thin, blue smoke out the stack is the goal. If you have white, billowing smoke, you will have acrid creosote on the meat. Keep your smoker temp between 225-250F until the meat hits the appropriate internal temp. You smoke your meats to temp, not time. It's done when it's done.

 

[adiochiro3]

BTW, is that old kennel galvanized, by chance? If so, scrap it; galvanized metal + heat = toxic.

 

[Ravenshead]

You're probably right on the Creosote I just haven't experienced it since I keep my temps below 225F.

Galvanized metal doesn't start becoming a problem until you get well over the temps used in cooking (think hot enough to melt the steel). It really more of an issue for welders and such. As long as you don't use it for a firebox you should be okay.

 

[whoaru99]

Depends on the wood too. What may be OK with one wood, say oak, may be too much with something like mesquite or even hickory.

My mainstay is pork, generally using a mix of oak and apple wood.

 

[brewinchef_fairfax]

My take has always been that the only smoke you want from wood is the smoke that is generated from lightly smoldering embers to an internal smoker temp of 225 to 275 at the highest end - which is a bit too high in some regards. If the firebox burns too high to maintain that temperature then the wood will put off a more acrid smoke along with different chemical structures that you don't really want on the meat.

Operating a "mother fire" outside the pit to get wood past the initial burn stage and on its way to coals is ideal. As Myron Mixon said in a passing comment a while back - it's ok to add wood to the pit "as long as it's already burning." Your mileage may vary.

 

[crazyirishman34]

I think that with pork it is hard to over smoke it. Beef is a different story. When I do brisket I give the meat 3 or 4 hours of thin blue smoke then lay off the smoke. For pork I normally do TBS till the internal temp is about 155F

 

[Cyclman]

Just smoked 30 lbs. of meat @ 225 for 4 hrs. with a signifcant amount of smoke, turkey and pork came out awesome.