30" Masterbilt Electric Smoker question

[droopie69]

I bought the smoker over a year ago and promptly made the best ribs I have ever had. Considering I live in Memphis and have eaten at all the 'name' joints, that's saying something. Even my 14 year old son who has 2 food groups, Pop Tarts and cereal said they were awesome and asks me to make ribs all the time now!

Here's my question. The first time I made ribs and a shoulder on it, I used hickory. Everything was great. 2 times I have used Mesquite and the meat ended with a black greasy film on it. Is that the oils and resins from the Mesquite?

Or do I need to clean the smoker better after use? I clean the racks, water pan, grease pan, but I haven't really done much on the inside other than take a metal scraper and scape out the bottom under the element. I thought leaving everything else alone was like seasoning an iron skillet.

BTW, love the site! Grilled chicken breasts yesterday using the Memphis Dust I had left over from last rib batch. I could have gotten the skin a touch crispier, but other than that the bro and sis-in-law raved about them. The LW (lovely wife) was pretty excited about them too, especially when for the 2 years we have been married she won't eat chicken with the skin on!

Meathead is Da Man!

[Max Good]

Mesquite is known to impart a harsh, bitter flavor and aroma. A skilled Texas pit boss will know how to use it, the rest of us are better off avoiding it. Check our our Zen of Wood article: http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_tech...n_of_wood.html

[droopie69]

That's what I was thinking. My bro-in-law in South Texas has a big old cast iron home made grill. We can just walk around on the 160 acres and pick up mesquite. Best tasting steaks and pork. But I'll leave it out of the electric smoker from now on. I have a little stainless box for wood chips I will use it in my natural gas grill. Now for the second part of the question...I was thinking of getting a steam cleaner for use around the house. Good idea or bad to clean the inside of the smoker>

[Max Good]

You just want to clean the excess gunk and creosote out. It doesn't need to be spotless. Take care not to damage the electronics.

[droopie69]

We will find out later today if I can accomplish that...not damaging it! I've read that before and after reading again, I have another question. Would putting a few lumps of charcoal in with the chips be a good, bad or neutral idea?

[JimmieOhio]

My simplistic view is that mesquite is a Texas wood. Texas does beef for BBQ. Pork, not so much. I wouldn't use mesquite on anything but beef, personally. I may have tried it years ago and come to that conclusion.

[fzxdoc]

We will find out later today if I can accomplish that...not damaging it! I've read that before and after reading again, I have another question. Would putting a few lumps of charcoal in with the chips be a good, bad or neutral idea?

droopie69 , in answer to your question, you might want to read the discussion on this post, where I asked about getting more smoke flavor in an electric smoker. CandySue and Meathead have some pretty good responses.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...4675#post64675

You probably know this, but make sure you read all 5 comments (the comment section condensed on that post, showing comments 3 to 5, so click the up arrow to get the first couple of answers). They're all good.

Kathryn