How much smoke is the right amount?

Thank of the "smoke" as a seasoning like salt and pepper; you would not like too much of either. In wood smokers, the power of the smoke is dependent on how much wood you add as you're smoking the meat. Some woods are heavier in taste and some are lighter. Experiment and you'll come up with what you like. For me, I've learned over the years less is more and don't care for a heavy smoke flavor.

When I jerry rig my Weber Go Anywhere (wrap foil over the sides) for a rack of pork ribs I smoke em for about 2.5 hours on a rack.
Requires a few ice cold Heinekens.

When I do ribs I do 5 hours in smoker, 2 hours of smoke, 2 hours ribs wrapped in foil with marinade, 1 hour of cooking to firm up.

They have prefect amount of smoke for us. I love Hickory and Apple wood personally.

Good Luck.

Dean

dpgllg wrote:
I attempted to smoke just one rack of ribs and I definitely used too much smoke. The ribs were cooked to perfection but WOW the smoke was so strong it made it very hard to try and eat them.

How much smoke should be applied and how do you control it?

Thanks!

Dave

Meat will only take so much smoke. After that point, the smoke layers on the outside of the meat and just tastes foul. Getting the right amount of smoke takes a good bit of trial and error.

Unless I am burning wood instead of charcoal, I generally only smoke for a few hours, then whatever I am smoking gets covered in foil for the rest of the cook time. Your cooker should not spew smoke like you just dowsed your camp fire with a bucket of water. It should be a slow steady stream of thin smoke.

If you are buying your wood chunks, then you should only use 2 to 3 chunks at a time. If you are lucky enough to have the wood in your backyard, a small chunk or two will be good. We have hickory and oak in our backyard. I like to cut it so it is like a fat hockey puck. It will smoke slower and will be less likely to burn. If you are cutting your own wood, don't use any oil lubricated saw. It will make its way into your meat.

The chunks should not burn, they should just smolder and smoke. I only soak chips, but the only time I use chips is for short duration smokes like boneless country style ribs or thick porterhouse cut pork chops.

For a meaty rack of St. Louis cut spare ribs, I usually smoke for about 2 hours and then foil each rack individually for another 2 to 3 hours. Less meaty racks maybe 90 minutes to 2 hours before wrapping in foil. If I'm saucing the ribs, unwrap, sauce them and cook for about 20 minutes more.

-Michael

We, on the other hand, love the taste of mesquite and smoke the entire time. We rarely use anything but mesquite with our pellet grill

This is my go to pork injection. The original recipe called for a couple tablespoons of kosher salt but because I brine, I omit the salt in the injection. I believe that the brining helps seal the outside of the meat and the injection works like a meat water balloon but with meat juices. Super moist and tender pork butts.

1 cup apple juice
1/4 apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 Tbsp rub
1 Tsp garlic powder

Simmer until well dissolved. Fully cool and inject with 1/2 oz. / pound.
If you want to add any other aromatics or herbs, simply strain before injection.

For meats I generally smoke for about 2 hours and then wrap for the remaining time. here's a hunk of smoked corned beef ( aka pastrami)

FWIW, I've always found brining to be a bit easier to get right (or it's more forgiving) than injecting (for me, anyway).

On smoking, you don't need to bathe the meat in smoke for the whole cook time; Also, one needs to damper down the grill so that the wood chunks are simply smoldering, not combusting (i.e. no yellow/orange flame).

I am not familiar with your grill, but I've always found that an offset smoker helped separate the heat and the flame (if any) from the smoke and the meat.

is it friday yet?

I printed your pics in full color & eat them. Damn, that was good. :B