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Bitter after taste from ribs and brisket?

by Jerry
(Bremerton Wa. U.S.A.)

Recently purchased new, small electric smoker. Instructions were to pre cure smoker by adding wood and then turning on smoker for a few hrs. This done; the inside of the smoker has a black coating.Possibly used too much wood. Our first attempt at smoking was turkey legs. I believe we used too much wood and too high heat,as the legs were very dry, black and extremely bitter. Since then we tried smoking pork ribs and brisket, on seperate occasions. Both came out cooked just right but they both leave that same very bitter after taste in your mouth and throat. My question is; could we have possibly coated the inside of our smoker with creosote, that leaves this bad taste in the meats? If so can I clean the inside of this stainless steel smoker and start over with the "curing smoker" process? What do you recomend to clean with. Thank you for listning.

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Bitter after taste from ribs and brisket?

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starstarstarstarstar 		TOO MUCH SMOKE ALWAYS RUINS YOUR FLAVOR NEW
by: Anonymous

Too much smoke will always make your meats bitter. The problem with most grills and smokers is that they have no way to regulate how much smoke you are delivering to your meat. Long exposure to heavy smoke also makes seasonings and marinades bitter. Over smoking garlic makes garlic nasty. You know you have too much smoke if you get that nasty after-taste and indigestion that you keep on enjoying for days. Solution, use much less wood, or get a Traeger Wood Fire Grill that regulates the exact volume of sweet hardwood pellets that delivers just the right heat and smoke to season your meats and marry all the flavors perfectly. Good luck.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Great feedback ! NEW
by: Jerry

Hi Michael
Thank you for your response. You were right on with the solution. Aparently the black coating on the inside of the smoker was the culprit. For whatever the reason; it was the factor that caused the extremely bitter taste in all the smoked meats. We had in fact cleaned the inside of the smoker with dawn (the same solution you recommended)a week ago. The results were dramatic. Every piece of meat prepaired since the cleaning has been a success. Now all the meats have the desired smoke flavor we were after. The briskets and ribs are delicious.We had fifteen people here for the 4th celebration and they all raved about the great baby back ribs. Hopefully other people that come to this website will benifit from this experience. Thanks again Michael for your feedback. Also, thank you Smoker Cooking.Com for bringing people together.
sincerely Jerry
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starstarstarstarstar 		Too Much Smoke NEW
by: Michael

I believe all smokers get a black coating, so that shouldn't be unusual. When you smell the inside of your smoker (when it's not in use), does it smell bitter, or just like firewood? If it smells bitter, you may want to clean it off. Just a good scrubbing with dawn and a grill brush would get a lot of that off. Otherwise, you might be letting too much smoke sit inside the chamber. This is usually due to poor ventilation or wood that's too wet. If your smoke is very thick and billowy, then this is probably your issue.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Bitter after taste from ribs and brisket? NEW
by: Anonymous

Jerry here again.
Thank you for your response Mike.The wood was hickory. I used four pieces . They were aprox. 3/4" thick and 2" square. It is a Smokin-Tex smoker.The smaller model. The inside of the smoker is very black.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Bitter taste` NEW
by: Mike

I wonder what kind of wood you used and how was it's moisture content. My smoker is dark but has the smell of fine smoked hardwood. I,m no expert but creosote would be hard to get as long as the wood was hot enough and smoking well. let's see what others have to say!

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