BBQ List Mini-FAQ Read Me First

[Bill Wight]

THE BBQ LIST MINI-FAQ

Version 1.01 Last Updated 7/29/976

This is the mini-Frequently Asked Questions of the BBQ List. We
hope this list of questions and answers will get you started going
in the right direction in the land of barbecue. This document was
edited by Bill Wight. Please direct comments, corrections or
additions to: wi...@odc.net.

This mini-FAQ and the full FAQ were put together by the BBQ List
FAQ Team and various list contributors and I wish to give credit to
the people who did a lot of very hard work bringing this document
to you.
The FAQ Team:

Ed Pawlowski, Lloyd Carver, Tom Kelly, Dan Gill, Bear, Rock
McNelly, Rodney Leist, Garry Howard, Bill Wight

So let's get started with some questions and answers. Much more
information on barbecue will be available in the full FAQ.

[Who are we, and what do we do here?]

We are list subscribers to the Rick Thead BBQ List. We're just a
bunch of down-home folk, a lot like you. We like to sit around the
barbecue pit, watching the smoke rising out of the stack, drinking
a beer or a Dr. Pepper and having us a real good chat about
barbecue, the size of the universe, the meaning of life and other
important stuff.

Definition of terms:

ECB El Cheapo Brinkmann smoking pit. Refers to a vertical
water smoker made by several manufacturers that costs in the
neighborhood of $30. Can produce, in the hands of a skilled pit-
master, prize-winning barbecue.

Larding A technique for use with very lean meats where slabs of
fat are placed on the outside of the meat. This acts like a fatter
piece of meat and bastes the meat as it smokes. The slabs of fat
can be 1/2 to 1" thick and can be held in place with cotton string,
the kind you'd use to tie a rolled roast with.

Lazy-Que A derogatory term used by wood-burning pit
traditionalists referring to those who choose to use gas or
electricity to fuel their pits and wood chips/chunks for smoke.
The Lazy-Q'ers thereby relieve themselves of the necessity to
expend any but the most trivial effort in the act of barbecuing.

MD Mindless Drivel. A term used for postings to the BBQ List
that are utterly without any redeeming social merit, sort of like
smut. 'I can't describe it, but I know it when I see it'. Also
known as 'Total Waste of Bandwidth'.

NBBD An offset firebox smoker pit manufactured by New Braunfels
called the Black Diamond.

Hondo A pit like the NBBD, made by the same company, with a
metal shelf instead of a wooden shelf.

KCBS The Kansas City Barbecue Society. They sanction many
barbecue competitions.

Pseudo-Q or Faux-Q (don't say this one out loud) Meat that is
boiled in water (parboiled) and then finished on the grill and
served with a barbecue sauce containing liquid smoke product. Also
used to refer to foods cooked in the oven that simulate real
barbecue.

SnP A smoker pit manufactured by Brinkmann called the Smoke N
Pit Professional. It is similar to the NBBD.

SWOCS A barbecue pit made by Southwest Outdoor Cooking Systems.
An offset pit that uses gas for fuel and to heat and burn wood
chips or pellets to produce the smoke. The company ceased
operations in early 1997.

Thread A series of list or newsgroup posts that share the same
subject with each subsequent contributor adding something new to
the current subject.

[Tell us, just what is barbecue?]

Ed Pawlowski--
There are many interpretations of the term 'barbecue' in the world.
Some people use it to describe a social gathering and cooking
outdoors. Others use it to describe grilling food. For our
purpose here, we are using the term to describe meat, slow cooked,
using wood smoke to add flavor. There is equipment designed just
for this type of cooking.

Barbecue is not grilling. Grilling is cooking over direct heat,
usually a hot fire to sear the outside of the meat. Barbecue is
cooking by using indirect heat and cooking low and slow. The smoke
from the wood gives barbecue its unique and delicious flavor.

[I've seen it spelled: 'barbecue', 'barbeque', Bar-b-que, Bar-B-
Que, and 'BBQ'. Which way is correct?]

Darned if we know. It tastes the same to us no matter how we spell
it. For this FAQ, we will use the spelling: 'barbecue', from Mr.
Webster's big book and the abbreviation 'BBQ'.

[How do I subscribe to the BBQ List?]

To subscribe to the Thead BBQ List, set your Web browser to this
URL:

http://listserv.azstarnet.com/cgi-bin/lwgate/listsavail.html

Follow the directions to subscribe to the BBQ List. You have a
choice--regular form or digest. See below.

[How do I unsubscribe to the BBQ List?]

To unsubscribe to the Thead BBQ List, set your Web browser to this
URL:

http://listserv.azstarnet.com/cgi-bin/lwgate/listsavail.html

Follow the directions to unsubscribe to the BBQ List

Posting guidelines:

As with any newsgroup or list, there are certain courtesies that
all subscribers should adhere to.

1 We are all friends here. There should be no posts that are
insulting or degrading to any members of the list.

2 There are women and kids on this list, so all posts should be
respectful of that audience.

3 This list is about barbecue. Keep off-topic posts and mindless
drivel posts to a minimum.

4 Avoid sending posts to the list that are devoid of any real
information content to the list members.

5 Everybody appreciates a joke or humorous story once in a while,
but these should be limited to stories that are appropriate to this
list, i.e. stories about Q and Grilling.

6 Nothing in doing barbecue is written in stone here. Everybody
has their own way of making Q. Diversity is a good thing.

7 When you reply to a post by another list member, cut the
original post to the minimum number of lines necessary to make a
meaningful reference. Please save the bandwidth--the Internet is
getting to be a very crowded place.

8 Remember, we're here to have some fun and to share information
on barbecuing.

9 When you post a message to the List and you have a barbecue-
related question, make sure that the subject line reflects your
question. i.e. 'Subject: How do I smoke fish?' You'll get
answers that way--boy will you get answers. If you post your
question to the List by replying to an existing thread, that thread
may have nothing to do with your question and people may delete
your message from their in-box without reading it, thinking it was
related to a thread they no longer wanted to read about.

10 Advertising on this list is discouraged. If you do it, expect
to get flamed big time. If you can condense your ad to a couple of
lines, put it in your signature. Then no one will complain too
loudly. If someone asks questions about your product or service,
just answer them by private email.

[Where Can I Find The Archived Digests?]

The Archived Digests are not available at this time. Check back
from time to time and we'll let you know when and where they are
available.

Where Can I Find The Recipe Archives?

Set your Web browser to this URL:

http://infoest.sbc.edu/barbeque.html *note barbeque is spelled
here with a 'q'

[Where Can I Find the full FAQ and Updates Of This FAQ?]

This FAQ will be posted to the Thead BBQ List on a periodic basis
and will be the latest version available.

The full BBQ List FAQ is still under construction and version 1.0
is scheduled to be completed and posted to the Thead BBQ List on or
before September 1, 1997. The full FAQ will thereafter be posted
and updated on a monthly basis. The Full and Mini-FAQs will also
be available for downloading on Dan Gill's BBQ Survival Guide Web
page at:

http://members.tripod.com/~DanGill/Survive.HTML

[Can You Tell Me Something About Barbecue in General?

This portion of the mini-FAQ was written primarily by Ed Pawlowski-
-a barbecue pitmaster and teacher of Q par excellence. It is to
help the novice barbecuer get started and to help him or her find
the information needed to cook excellent barbecue. Recipes are
abbreviated here, as there are as many variations as there are
cooks. Look at the ones that seem appealing to you and try them.
Excellent books abound, as well as information on the various web
sites, newsgroups and other mailing lists on the Internet. Check
the recipe archives listed above and barbecue-related Web sites
listed below. There are hundreds of barbecue recipes available.

[What is the best way to learn how to barbecue?]

Put the engineering books away. This is cooking meat here. There is
far more art than science, more alchemy than chemistry. Get some
wood, matches, and meat and go to it. You will learn far more by
building a fire and watching the results than anyone here can tell
you. There is no instruction book on making good Q.

Editor--
Six months ago I was a Q-newbie. I found the BBQ List and started
reading the posts. I asked a few questions, got a few answers. I
found a copy of the book "Smoke and Spice" by the Jamesons at the
library and read it cover to cover. I downloaded the recipe
archives. I bought a new electric bullet water smoker for $40. I
started barbecuing with a pork picnic roast. It was a success, as
were my ribs, brisket, chickens and fish. I then borrowed my
neighbor's charcoal-fired bullet water smoker. After reading all
the posts on pit fire and temperature control, making a fire with
lump charcoal and keeping the temperature right where I wanted it
was easy--the whole chickens I barbecued over the lump charcoal was
some of the best chicken I've ever had. It was the great guys on
this list willing to share their knowledge of barbecue that made
that possible. So if I can do it, so can you. My next stop along
the barbecue road is a full-sized wood-burning pit.

[Will the smoke preserve my food?]

There are two types of smoking, cold and hot. Cold smoking is a
method of preserving meat. First the meat or fish is soaked in a
brine solution, then smoked cold at temperatures of 100F or so.
Bacon is done this way. Hot smoking is really smoke cooking. It
is done at temperatures in the 225F range and will not add any
preservation to the foods. This FAQ is devoted to smoke cooking.

[What meats are used?]

Beef briskets are favored in Texas, pork shoulders in North
Carolina, ribs in Kansas, chicken in Louisiana. Much of the
regional favoritism is due to the type of animals raised in the
area. Seafood can also be smoked in this manner.

[Why cook the meat so long?]

Barbecue is an evolution of cooking technique that involves using
the tough, cheaper cuts of meat and cooking them until they are
tender. Brisket comes from the breast area of a steer that does a
lot of work and tends to be very tough. This is also true for pork
shoulders (the forelegs of the pig). These cuts of meat have a lot
of fat and collagen, the material that holds the muscle together.
Long slow cooking transforms the collagen from a tough material to
a gelatin that dissolves. This can take hours at a temperature of
about 160F.

[What is a rub?]

Often meats are seasoned before cooking by application of a dry
rub. It is a blend of spices and herbs rubbed onto the meat to
enhance flavor. There are many variations. Most rub recipes
include: salt, paprika, chili powder, garlic and onion powders,
black and red peppers. There is no limit to the imaginative use of
spice combinations.

[What's the best kind of smoker for me to buy and what will it
cost?]

You can spend as little as $30 for a Brinkmann water smoker or tens
of thousands of dollars for a custom built rig. Most of us spend
less than $500. Keep in mind that equipment is only part of the
story. A good pitmaster can turn out good barbeque on simple
homemade units costing a few dollars. Starting out, consider the
Brinkmann Gourmet or similar units that cost about $50. Once you
have mastered barbecuing on one of these pits, you can move up to
an offset firebox smoker that runs about $200 (the NBBD or SnP) or
a more expensive unit.

[Are they all wood-fired? Can I use my gas grill to BBQ?]

It is the wood that is used to generate the smoke. That is the
common denominator of all barbecue pits. For a heat source, some
use charcoal, wood, gas, wood pellets, even electricity.
Traditionalists use wood as a fuel, but many of the newer units
work well with charcoal. A gas or electric smoker with wood chips
for the smoke can do a very good job of making barbecue and be much
less labor intensive in keeping the fire at a steady temperature.

The common backyard gas grills are not air tight enough to do
proper smoking, but you can still get some flavor by using the wood
chips in a pan over the lava rock. Use one burner and keep it as
low as possible and put the meat on the other side of the grill,
elevated if you have a top rack.

[I’ve seen some inexpensive water smokers. Are these smokers any
good?]

There are two main types of BBQ smokers, horizontal and vertical.
The horizontal smokers usually have a firebox offset to the side to
provide the heat and smoke. I highly recommend the vertical water
smokers to the beginner, especially if you are not sure if this is
the way of life for you. They are very capable cookers and can
turn out prize-winning food.

There are three basic types of vertical water smokers, segregated
by the fuel they use: wood or charcoal, gas, or electricity. All
can give the beginner very good barbecue.

Vertical smokers are more compact and can be cheaper to build. A
good example is the $30 Brinkmann, the better $50 Brinkmann Gourmet
and others made by Weber and Char Broil. What they have in common
is a water pan. This is what differentiates the smoking process
over indirect heat from grilling over direct heat. The water pan
is a buffer between the heat source and the meat. It also acts as
a heat sink and thermal mass, lessening the temperature spikes
often seen while adding fuel to the fire.

The original Brinkmann had two pans, one for water, one with a hole
in it for the charcoal. Due to someone burning down his deck, they
no longer provide the hole in the bottom pan. This restricts the
airflow and makes it more difficult to use. See the full FAQ for
information on how to modify your smoker to make it work more
efficiently and to give you better barbecue.

Start the coals with a chimney starter and let them burn until a
white ash covers the coals. Put the water pan in place. To make
clean up easier, spray it with Pam first and put in a foil liner.
Pour in some hot water. I suggest hot (almost boiling) because it
will get the food cooking faster instead of wasting the heat output
to bring the water up to temperature. To add water during the
cooking session, use a long-nose water can or similar item. Open
the door, not the lid, and pour,. If you are using an electric or
gas-fired water smoker, lift the dome lid and pour the water past
the meat into the lower water pan. DO BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU MOVE OR
POUR HOT WATER, AS SERIOUS INJURY CAN RESULT FROM UNSAFE HANDLING.
FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURER'S SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR YOUR SMOKER.

It is best to pre-start coals if you must add more than a few.
This can be done in a bucket or other pan. Use tongs to transfer
the coals to the smoker. If the temperature drops, give the coals
a stir with a metal rod. Re-bar and old Studebaker lug wrenches
work well for this job.

After you use the smoker a few times, you can experiment. Instead
of water, leave the pan empty, but cover it with foil, much as if
you were making it into a drum. You will still have the buffer,
but the smoker will now operate at a higher temperature. If you
have a well in the center, or place an aluminum pan on the top, it
will still catch the drippings from the meat.

You may want to add a more accurate thermometer to your smoker to
supplement or replace the simple thermometer that came installed in
the dome of your smoker. Most important is knowing your smoker.
Note the needle position of the factory gauge--the actual number
will not matter. After a few tries, you will know if the
temperature is running too hot or too cold. The end result is what
counts.

Resist the temptation to peek. You release a lot of heat and smoke
every time you lift the lid. You can use wood chips, pellets, or
chunks to get the smoke you want. Just put them on top of the
burning coals. Chunks should be soaked in water for an hour or two
before hand so they do not burn up too fast. It only takes a few
chunks to turn out good smoked food.

[Is it really possible to get good barbecue from an inexpensive
water smoker?

Frank Boyer--
There is a gentleman named Harold F. from Oregon who has ten or so
Brinkmann water smokers, and he often uses up to four units to
compete with. He has won the Oregon state championship, as well as
taking first in ribs [open] and brisket [invitational] at the 1994
American Royal Barbecue Championship in Kansas City. The
invitational is all-state, comprised of champions or winners of
previous cook-offs. There are over 50 cooks competing and the
cook-off is KCBS sanctioned. If you learn to use your water
smoker, world class results can follow.

The RE Max team at the KCBS of 1995 uses 2 or 3 Weber water smokers
and has won many events. The Weber units cost about $170 and are
the highest quality of all of the water smokers, and they have the
best air controls.

[Can I make good BBQ on a gas or electric smoker using chips of
wood?]

Danny Gaulden--
I just want to say this. Sometimes we ole pros and perfectionists
get so carried away with the long, slow, wood-only, "perfect" Q'ed
product, that I think we get some of the beginners thinking that if
they can't do it that way, then just don't BBQ anything. That's
horse hockey. If you have the time, and gain the experience, then
do it the old-fashioned way....it can't be beat. But if time is
short, your experience level low, or you're just plain lazy,
there's nothing wrong with a little faster smoking time, or using a
gas or electric pit. It can still be damn good, and better than
most anything you will ever put in your mouth.

You can make excellent barbecue on a gas or electric smoker--no
question about that. However, the very best barbecue comes off a
wood-fired smoker.

[How do I maintain an even temperature inside the smoker?]

Regulate the amount of fuel in the fire. Dampening down the
burning wood can make the fire smolder and make a heavy bitter
smoke. It is better to use less fuel burning at a high temperature
rather than a lot of fuel burning at a low temperature. If the
temperature gets too high, open the door to release the heat.
Short temperature spikes and drops are normal and will not affect
the end result.

There are two approaches here. One is the Lazy-Q way, letting an
electric or gas-fired system make your life easy. The other way is
to have a traditional wood-burning pit. The Lazy-Q'ers are often
at odds with the wood purists. Have to say though, the wood
burners work harder and have more skills to make their Q good. It
is more challenging, both mentally and physically to keep a fire in
a narrow, low temperature range for a long period of time.

You have to learn to think ahead, not for what the thermometer says
now. You have to anticipate. Using a baseball analogy, the batter
starts his swing long before the ball is over the plate. He has to
figure out where it is going to be and has to be there to meet it.
Same with wood; you have to know how long the coals will be hot,
how long for the next log to catch, what the wind will be doing,
what effect the sun or lack of it will have on the smoker. What
works at 2 PM in the afternoon is not going to work at 2 AM the
next morning when that brisket is still going.

The sun affects the heat of the smoker. On a 90F day, you have a
differential of 135F from optimum cooking temperature. Later that
night, you have a 175F differential. At night you'll have no heat
absorption of the sun's IR, and a slight breeze may carry off lots
of BTUs from the surface of the smoker and you'll have a stronger
draft in the flue.

[What's the best kind of wood to burn and do the different kinds of
smoking woods 'taste' different?]

The southwest uses a lot of mesquite, the south uses mostly
hickory, the northeast has maple. The main reason is because these
woods are plentiful in those areas. Any wood from a nut or fruit
bearing tree can be used. Do NOT use any softwood. The resin in
conifer wood (pine, fir, spruce, etc.) will ruin the meat and make
you sick. The main types used for barbecue are hickory, oak,
mesquite, apple, pecan and cherry--grapevines are good for flavor
too. There is more information available in the full FAQ regarding
smoking woods.

[Can you make good Q with briquettes and what's the difference
between lump charcoal and charcoal briquettes?]

Charcoal is made by burning wood with very low oxygen levels. This
leaves mostly carbon. In this form, it is known as natural or lump
charcoal. It will be of irregular shaped pieces of wood broken up.
If you shake the bag, it sounds like the tinkle of broken glass.
Briquettes are different. The charcoal is ground into a powder and
then additives are introduced. The additives can include starches,
coal dust, oil products and other binders. Under high pressure,
the ground charcoal and additives are formed to the regular shapes
that are familiar to us. The advantage touted by the manufacturers
of briquettes is the consistency of the product in heat output and
burn rates. Lump charcoal has a higher BTU rating per pound and is
preferred by many barbecuers. Never use the easy-light type
charcoals for slow cooking. They have additives that must be
burned off at high heat and if used in a smoker will give your
barbecued meat nasty flavors.

[How can I modify my NB Black Diamond/Hondo (Brinkmann S n P) to
make it work better?]

There are instructions on how to make these modifications in the
full FAQ. They include tightening the lid with gasket material,
extending the stack inside so it reaches down almost to the grill
level, and putting a baffle between the firebox and cooking chamber
to force the heated air lower.

[My door mounted thermometer read 220F the whole time but it took a
lot longer than I expected for the meat to get done. Why is this?]

The thermometer on the door is giving you the temperature at the
door. Cooking temperatures are defined as the temperature at the
rack where the food is. All smokers have hot and cold spots as
well as temperature stratification. Heat rises so the readings at
the top can be 50 or more degrees F hotter than at the rack. Use
an oven thermometer on the rack to find the difference in your
smoker. Keep in mind, it can vary depending to how it is loaded,
so you will want to try this several times. Once the difference is
known, you can make the adjustment by knowing that you have to keep
the door thermometer at a certain temperature so the meat cooks at
225F or so.

[What is a smoke ring?]

Smoke rings are produced by a chemical reaction between the meat
and the penetration of the smoke. You will see a smoke ring on
meat barbecued over a wood fire. It is a pink color that extends
from the outside surface into the meat. It's thickness is
dependent on several factors, such as the type of smoke and the
duration of smoking. See the following section about chicken for a
better understanding of the chemical reactions involved. You will
only see a smoke ring in your meat if you are using a wood-fired
smoker.

[Why is my BBQ chicken pink? Is it still raw?]

No, the smoke has a reaction with the chemicals in the bone and
meat. The meat turns a pink color even though it is thoroughly
cooked. Ash is loaded with potassium and sodium nitrates. This
reacts with oxymethyglobin to form nitrosaminoglobulins and gives
us the pink color of hams, lunch meats, hot dogs, and smoke rings.

Man has known this for a long time and has been using salt to
preserve meat. It was found that nitrates are a natural impurity in
salt. This was isolated and used to chemically cure meat.

[When do you use a dry rub and when do you use a marinade?]

Much depends on your personal choice. Marinades penetrate into the
meat and can flavor and tenderize it . Rubs are put on the outside
and can add flavor only.

[Can you give me a few recipes for dry rubs and marinades?]

Dry rubs contain some salt along with other spices. Many have
sugar in them to take the bite out of the spices. Experiment to
find what you like.

Dry Rub for Ribs

This is for sprinkling on spareribs or pork shoulders before you
barbecue them. Use heaping measures when you are mixing it and do
not skimp when you use it.

6 Tbs. salt
6 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. dry lemon powder
2 Tbs. pepper powder
2 1/2 Tbs. black pepper
1 Tbs. paprika

=================

Dry Rub for Poultry

Sprinkle this on chicken and turkey before barbecuing.

6 Tbs. salt
3 Tbs. black pepper
2 Tbs. pepper powder
2 Tbs. garlic powder
2 Tbs. ground bay leaves
1 Tbs. paprika
2 Tbs. dry mustard
==================

A simple marinade is 8 ounces each of cider vinegar, lemon juice,
two ounces of Tabasco, a few cloves of crushed garlic. You can use
beer and onions or you can use Dr. Pepper or Coke, or all three
together. Another simple marinade is to just combine orange juice
and beer.

There are many dry rub and marinade recipes in the BBQ List recipe
archives.

[When do I apply the BBQ sauce?]

Finishing sauces, especially those with tomato and sugar, should be
applied only at the very end of cooking. If applied too early,
they will caramelize, burn and turn black from the heat.

[What's a mop and when do I use it?]

Mops are basting sauces used to add moisture during the cooking
process. They usually contain liquids that can take the heat with
no ill affects. They consist of one or more of: beer, wine, beef
broth, fruit juices and some spices. Apply them about every hour
during cooking.

[How do I BBQ really good tasting and tender pork ribs?]

Everybody likes ribs, especially baby backs. On the fat side of
the rib there is a membrane over the fat. From one corner, cut it
with a knife and work the rest of it with your fingers. Pull it
off working to the other side. You can marinate them or you can
put a rub on them. Remember, ribs are thin so you do not want to
pile on the rub like you would a large piece of meat. Just a light
coating on each side will do.

Fire up the smoker and get it to a temperature of 225F on the
grill. If you put them on flat, place them fat side up. If you
want to save space, use a rib rack to stand them on end. Smoke
baby backs for about 4 hours, spares about 5 hours. You will see
the meat pulling back on the bone when they are done. Serve with a
little sauce on the side. Opinions vary, but the meat should be
the star, not the sauce. Sauces are to accent the taste of the
meat.

[How do I BBQ North Carolina-type pulled pork?]

True NC pulled pork is a pork shoulder smoked over hickory. You
can use either the picnic half or the butt half as it is difficult
to find whole shoulders. Each half will weigh about 7 to 8 pounds.
Smoke gently until the meat is very tender. This takes from 8 to
12 hours, keeping the meat at 160F. It is ready when the bone
moves easily. The meat should be ready to fall apart. Pull or
chop the meat, putting it into a container. Eastern NC style uses
a sauce consisting of cider vinegar, salt, black pepper, and red
pepper. Variations include sugar to offset the vinegar. About 12
ounces of sauce to 6 pounds of finished meat. Mix this together,
refrigerate overnight so the flavors meld together and serve on
white bread buns, perhaps with coleslaw on the top.

[Can you tell me what went wrong?]

[I tried to smoke a 3.2 lb. sirloin tip roast yesterday. Held 220F as
best I could (you know how that is). Had rubbed it with pepper and
garlic after oiling the outside, hit it with oil once more and sprayed
it with water every hour or so. Was on for nearly 6 hours and the
internal temp never exceeded 138F It was rather dry inside.]

Edwin P.--
My guess is that while you were waiting for the temp to go up, it was
just drying out. I've done sirloin tip, but for less time and it was
good. Could be that it was just a dry tough piece of meat anyway.

[I'm new at barbecuing. Other then burning burgers in my backyard or
on those highly sanitary permanent grills at all city parks I've never
REALLY cooked. I finally broke down and bought me a New Braunfels
smoker. The problem is the meat turned very black and was
bitter (esp. the briskets). I expected some blackening of the meat
due to the smoke but the briskets were so bitter my dogs laughed at
me. Any help would be appreciated.]

Edwin P.--
OK, this BBQ List is the place to learn. Step one is to quit your
job. There are more important things in life than working and BBQ is
one of them. You can work part time in the winter, just enough to buy
some meat for making Q.

The bitter and dark smoke you encountered was from having too big a
fire dampered down too low. You want a small amount of fuel burning
to make the temperature you need. Smoldering will produce heavy smoke
and it also makes a bitter taste. Open the dampers and control the
temperature by the amount of fuel. If it gets too hot, instead of
closing the damper, open the door to release the heat. Most of all,
practice. You will get better each time.

Tom Kelly--
First piece of advice from a Q-newbie like me would be ignore the NB
instructions to use the exhaust damper. The group says, and I follow
their advice, to leave the exhaust damper wide open. Otherwise, you
can get incomplete combustion and the bitter creosote flavor.

Belly--
Rule 1----small fire, big open damper,
Rule 2----big fire--- you get burn bad tasting meat
Rule 3----small fire, six pack, good meat, ten hours slow cooking call
me I be glad to check it
out for you.

Rodney Leist--
Probably one of the biggest hazards to great tasting Q is stale smoke.
The reason for including a few words about this subject here is
because bad wood is often blamed for bitter tasting Q. More often
than not, the real culprit is smoke that has been trapped in the meat
chamber and allowed to cool and condense on the meat. ALWAYS leave
the exhaust vent completely open to prevent smoke from becoming
trapped and cooled in the meat chamber. Use the inlet vent to control
the fire. Trapped smoke picks up bitter flavors from creosote
buildup in the chamber, cools, and deposits them on the meat, just
like a rain cloud. Stale smoke can also be caused by the fire cooling
too much due to lack of attention or attempting to add too much cold
wood into the fire chamber. No matter what the cause of stale smoke,

the meat comes out the loser.

[I purchased a Brinkmann charcoal water smoker last year. I'm having
some problems with temperature control. The temperature drops as the
hours go by even though I have the same size fire. Any ideas on
this?]

Scott Mark--
When you light a big pot of charcoal, with the smoker top portion off,
there's plenty of oxygen available. All the coals get burning; all
the coals get hot; all the coals give off a lot of heat.

When the smoker top gets put in place, the air flow gets cuts back
quite a bit. The coals slow their burning rate, and they don't
generate as much heat. The overall amount of heat being transferred
to the smoker is less. As the smoker burns, ash accumulates, further
reducing airflow. The only solution I've found that works well is to
lift the entire smoker off of the fire pit (my smoker is actually
three parts: fire pit, cylinder, and top) and then use a shovel to
dump the burning charcoal on top of a grate (getting rid of ash, which
is also removed from the fire pit) and then reloading the fire pit
with the burning charcoal and more that is already burning. Because
of the lack of airflow, adding non-burning charcoal to the pit
doesn't do much good.

In addition, my understanding (from the School of Southern BBQ) is
that all charcoal briquettes give off a bad smell while they are
lighting, even if no lighter fluid is used. Something to do with the
binders used, as the problem is not supposed to exist for true lump
hardwood charcoal, which you may or may not be able to buy.

So you don't want to add charcoal briquettes to your smoker anyway,
unless they are already well lit.

[I smoked a brisket. It tasted great but had the texture of old
tires. It was still juicy but was very gristly and sinewy. Did I
overcook it?]

Rick Thead--
It was undercooked. Brisket is just about the nastiest piece of meat
out there. It really has to be cooked past the point of 'doneness' to
be edible. But, IMHO, when cooked properly, it's the best BBQ there
is.

If you are having trouble keeping the temp on the smoker up, then
smoke it as long as you can for flavor, then wrap it in heavy duty
foil and finish it in a 250 to 275F oven. I'm not recommending this
as a preferred method, but in some cases, it's the only way to go.

Here's how to tell if a brisket is ready: check it by feel. I happen
to use one of those small instant-read thermometers to track how the
meat is doing. I found that I can tell by the feel when I insert it
in the meat if the meat is 'done.' You could also use a carving fork,
but try not poke any more holes in the meat than necessary. When you
can feel that the thermometer glides in without any resistance, it's
done. If you feel any resistance (it feels like it's hitting gristly
meat) it's not ready yet. If you've ever cooked corned beef (usually
brisket) the principle's the same. Anyway, if you check the meat
periodically, you'll be able to detect the shrinkage of the tough
part. Shoot for about 160F internal temperature.

[I have, perhaps, a boneheaded question: Is it possible to over-smoke
something? The last time we smoked some meat, it had a very harsh,
acrid, taste that was not appealing. Simply put, it was sour!]

Larry Willrath--
Sounds like you might have gotten hold of some green wood or your
smoker is very dirty--I would check the type and age of the wood and
the condition of your smoker--I use some green wood but try to limit
it to a 1 hr burn or not to exceed 15% of the total smoke cycle.

Frank Boyer--
Different smoker manufactures recommend to use wood that is from a
couple of weeks old to totally dry. I have cooked large quantities of
ribs and left 10 to 20 slabs in the cooker after I served. The slabs
pulled out when they were done were good, and the ones that sat in
the cooker after I stopped putting wood in, had a very bitter taste.
What I am guessing happened is that after the fire died down the
smoldering wood imparted the bitter taste on the slabs. So what might
have made the difference on your "over-smoked meat" was that the fire
died down, started smoldering and caused the bitter taste. I have
cooked brisket up to 16 hours and whole hog for 25 hours and never had
a bitter taste problem. Some people say preburning the wood will
eliminate the bitter taste, also.

Mike Cain--
I've run into situations of using green or wet wood--beware of molds
or other natural fungi that can grow on the bark of these pieces.
There are some pretty scary looking and smelling grungies that can
accumulate on certain pieces of wood which could affect the flavor of
the smoke, especially at lower temperatures.

[I recently purchased New Braunfels Black Diamond Smoker. I keep
running into the same problem when I try to smoke briskets and
Ribs. There is too much smoke. The ribs have a smoke ring all the
way through them, and the Brisket is way to smoky. When I cook the
ribs, I use a lot of regular charcoal, and only one 12" piece of
Hickory. What do you suggest?]

Stephen J. O'Connor--
I had a similar problem with my OK Joe of a similar design. I had
the problem when burning straight wood though.

The problem with these units, is the temptation to build a fire big
enough that you don't need to tend it so much. I kept having to
choke my fire down after getting it going. I made the mistake of
trying to control my fire with the top vent, rather than the
intake. This resulted in stagnant smoke and a sooty flavor.

Be moderate with your fire, even though it will mean more tending.
Regulate from the intake rather than the exhaust, even though it is
slower to respond. Lastly, give up regular charcoal and get lump
charcoal--it gives a much cleaner flavor.

Frank Boyer--
Try using 2-3' chunks of flavor wood. Hickory is one of the
strongest woods, Pecan is mellower. Make sure that you have a good
air flow...Don't control the outlet airflow. If the smoke smells
nasty the meat will taste nastier.

[What goal should I aim for in my barbecue? How should I judge
that it is good enough?]

M. Baudoin--
"I've made ribs that make grown men fight and chicken that has made
women faint."

(Sounds like a pretty fair goal to me. --Editor)

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