First cook on the kettle. Need Help

[mattmountz94]

I just recently got my first kettle of off Craigslist.  Fired it up and put on a chuck roast for pulled beef sammies.  Everything went fine temp ranged from 230-265 for the 6hrs it was on.  I cooked it for 3hrs until it hit 148 then put in in a metal pan with beef broth,onions, and garlic and wrapped in foil for remaining time.  I used a mix of Stubbs charcoal and also Kingsford Match light(came with kettle) and a very small amount of apple and oak wood(Total of 3 pieces all the size of an egg). I have smoked numerous times using my smoke vault and nothing has compared to how smokey tasting this meat turned out.  Any suggestions or knowledge on why it turned out so smokey would be great.  The meat turned out very tender, just super smokey tasting almost to the point i cant eat it.  Anyways here are some photos.

[MrHoss]

Was the smoke coming out the top vent dirty through your cook? Was it as clean as when you used your smoke vault?

[mattmountz94]

The smoke was clean, and i cleaned the grill right before i used it.  I rarely ever clean the smoke vault and i generally would use 3times the amount of wood in that.  I was thinking maybe i should of had the top vent open more. 

[Johnpv]

It could have been the use of the matchlit stuff.  Did you have a snake or some other slow burning process?  Cause the matchlit stuff can put off some harsh stuff as its lighting. 

[mattmountz94]

I put roughly 90 unlit briqs in the kettle (half and half) and then put 20 lit on top so it would slowly light the unlit.  So yea it was lighting the unlit matchlit stuff throughout the entire cook.  Must be it.  Owell live and learn.  Thanks for the help

[MrHoss]

I was thinking maybe i should of had the top vent open more.

Lots of guys leave the top open 100% all the time........some say you will get dirty smoke on your food closing it at all. I will close sometimes when the smoke is clean and/or temps are going up.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

I put roughly 90 unlit briqs in the kettle (half and half) and then put 20 lit on top so it would slowly light the unlit.  So yea it was lighting the unlit matchlit stuff throughout the entire cook.  Must be it.  Owell live and learn.  Thanks for the help

Using unlit matchlight for smoking is definitely the taste you are picking up.  Was it a very bitter smoke that you are experiencing?  All in all there is nothing wrong with matchlight (or lighter fluid) as long as you are lighting it and letting all of the fluid burn off of it before you cook on it.

Also, did you soak your wood chunks?  My bro-in-law soaked his pecan chunks for smoking a beef tenderloin this weekend.  He was cooking on his egg and was surprised how bitter the smoke came out until we started talking about his wood chunks.  He usually uses chip or saw dust and thought he was using my method for chunks until I told him I never soak my chunks in water.

[mattmountz94]

Sounds good.  I'll leave the top vent open next time and only use the matchlit charcoal when i can burn it off before putting it into the kettle.  And as far as the wood chunks no i never put them in water.  Now that you bring up the bitter taste, that is how i would describe it.  A mix between chemicals/smoke.  At least it looks good.

[1buckie]

Yeah, the mactchlite is like burning gasoline......maybe just use up those by dropping a few in a chimney bottom to get things started faster, then adding in Stubb's or regular other charcoals......would probably not be a good idea to chain them unburnt.....

Aim for your "smoke" to look like this:



Thin, wispy bluish smoke is a sign of a clean burning fire......when it hits a wood chunk, maybe a few minutes of whitish smoke, then back to blue, or almost invisible would be optimum......
Also, if you can "see" the exhaust pushing out the top vent, that's a basic sign of good airflow, or throughput......your kettle is drawing air thru from the bottom & exhausting clean....true at almost any temp except maybe very low for cold smoking (cheese, etc.)

[WNC]

Well at least the beef looks great!
Think the guys covered it all with the advice.

[mattmountz94]

They sure did. Thanks a lot.

[Davescprktl]

You said you cooked it on the grate about six hours then put it in a pan with broth then wrapped it or wrapped it with the beef broth?  I would like to try that.  How did you do that again?

[Big Dawg]

Agree about the Matchlight.  I hate to throw way freebies, so I would just use it hot/fast cooks until it's gone.

Great looking beef !  And, welcome from NC.






BD

[mattmountz94]

You said you cooked it on the grate about six hours then put it in a pan with broth then wrapped it or wrapped it with the beef broth?  I would like to try that.  How did you do that again?

I cooked it for 3hrs on the grate till it hit the internal temp of 148. Then I put the beef in a tray with the broth onions and garlic and wrapped that with foil. That cooked for another 3hrs. Total cooking time was 6hrs