I just did a smoke, nothing fancy just 2 racks of ribs. I hadn't done anything for a good while, probably since last summer. I fired up the PBC, hung the ribs and didn't check back for close to 3 hours. Things were coming along fine, I added some sauce with about 10 minutes to go. Pulled them at just over 4 hours, everything texture wise was great, tender, left a clean bone, etc. Flavor would have been fine except there seemed to be something off. Tasted as though I used starter fluid or something, which I didn't. I used blue bag briquettes and a single chunk of mesquite that I had on hand. The only thing that may have been different than normal, when I got the smoker out there was some left over briquettes in the basket. Instead of throwing them out, I shook out the ash and reused what was left. I've done this before with no ill effect, however, the wait between smokes was not nearly as long. I've never cleaned the inside of the PBC as I look at what's in it as seasoning. I'm just wondering what could have caused the off taste. Any suggestions or ideas why this happened would be great. Thank you.
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Just a shot in the dark here but, could the ribs have been bad? I bought some ribs once and when I opened them they smelled bad, threw em out because I didn’t feel like returning them. The only reason I noticed it was because I held them up to my nose to smell em up close. I don’t see anything from what you’ve said that should cause on off putting taste. -
Maybe the mesquite was too strong for pork ribs? I find it too much for anything but beef myself. 🤷♂️Last edited by Jfrosty27; May 28, 2023, 01:24 PM.Comment
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I stay with fruit woods for pork.
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If charcoal does not burn well it will smolder and put off a smell just like lighter fluid. I witnessed this myself. I doubt it came from the coals you saved from the previous use. In the situation of a fire, these unburned gases is what causes flash over.Comment
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You can apparently sometimes get a creosote-like taste if you load the meat too soon as in immediately after pouring in the lit coals from the chimney into the basket. Doesn't happen all the time but can happen. If you wait about 5 minutes or more after pouring the coals, you should be fine.
I've never had this happen to me, but I recall a few posts that reported the same thing (an off taste like creosote) which doesn't happen if you let the coals burn a bit after pouring the lit coals into the basket. All reports like this that I can remember involved KBB.
That said, the mesquite could have been the culprit as well. Lots of reports of over-smoking with mesquite wood chunks involved.
KathrynComment
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What we should ask TheDrifter75 is…..have you used mesquite before and if so did you like it? I honestly don’t see how just one chunk of mesquite could do that. Especially if it was kiln dried mesquite, which it sounds like it is. Now I will admit that I like mesquite smoke for some of my cooks.Comment
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Ok, so reading through the responses so far... I don't think the ribs were bad, I've used mesquite before and I only had a single chunk this time, I like it well enough. It wasn't an over smoked flavor but more of a creosote or starter fluid taste. I thought maybe it was the old briquettes sitting around. I'm going with Kathryn's response though. I was trying to meet up with a friend and put the ribs on pretty quick after dumping the chimney. My friend swore it was because I hadn't cleaned the smoker, my head initially rejected that but it did make me wonder later. Thanks everyone for the responses.Comment
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Did you fail to have your favorite Adult Beverage? BBQ and Beverage go hand-in-hand.
If so, may I suggest BBQ and PBR?
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Did your fire keep temp the whole cook? I have had the drippings from ribs almost snuff the fire once, producing bad smoke until I caught it. I could taste a slight gas/lighter fluid flavor on ribs. It disappeared once the ribs were sauced.Comment
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You said you haven’t used it in a while.
I hope there wasn’t a field mouse or some other critter making a home in there.
Never mind, forget I ever said that.
Just go with what Kathryn said.
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Honestly, I was gone for a good bit of the smoke. If it had last temp for a significant portion of time I don't believe they would have finished when they didOriginally posted by DTro View PostComment
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