Need help and suggestions - harsh, acrid flavor

[Chris D]

Hey there folks,

I recently purchased a 1400 and with the exception of the first meat prepared (shrimp and salmon) the meat has come out with a harsh, acrid flavor, perhaps too much smoke.

I have cleaned out the creosote but not returned the smoker to "like new" as the guide suggests. I have reduced the amount of wood in it to maybe just 1 oz of Apple Wood and while it wasn't as harsh as before, the meat, in this case a pork tenderloin, had a harsh, acrid flavor.

I just bought new wood, thinking there is something wrong with what I had.

Any advice and suggestions for me are greatly appreciated.

cd

[Formerspeaker]

Chris D,
I am rather a newbie myself. I bought my ST 1400 in September. I have had a similar cooker made in 1990 in Oklahoma for years thought but it has been out of service for a decade or so. (I am rehabbing it now). What temp and how fast did you smoke? How did you prep the product prior to smoking? Did you put any charcoal in the smoke?

[lonzinomaker]

I have a smoker that makes the wood burn instead of smolder. The solution was to make a couple of boats out of aluminum flashing to put the wood in.
I could tell the wood was getting too hot because it was all ash instead of charcoal.
You can make a foil boat or wrap your wood in foil and poke several holes in it and then smoke and see if that helps.

[Chris D]

That's a great point. I seem to recall it turned everything to ash. I'll give this a shot! thank you.

[lonzinomaker]

here's a pic

[Chris D]

Thank you for that!

[Chris D]

Boom! nailed it!

I put a couple of layers down in the smoker box and put a very small wad of foil under the box to lift it up a bit off the heating element - perfect chicken legs!!!

Thank you for shedding some light on this for me!

[Chris D]

no charcoal added. 225 and 250 respectively, which is the highest it goes.