Old pitmaster at a competition in KC told me I was using too much wood last month

I always thought more smoke meant more flavor, but this guy said I was choking the meat. He had me cut back to just one chunk per cook and my brisket came out way cleaner. Anyone else get called out for oversmoking their meat?

3 comments

3 Comments

rosebarnes16d ago

Wait, has anybody thought about what kind of wood you're using and how wet it is... Like, I swear if your wood isn't seasoned right, one or two chunks can put out way more smoke than ten dry chunks. That old pitmaster might've been seeing your wood was still green or full of sap, and that's what he meant by "too much" smoke. I've made that mistake before with hickory that wasn't cured long enough, and my meat came out tasting like a campfire. Could also be about what kind of cooker you run, some smokers are just way more efficient at holding smoke in. So maybe it's not the number of chunks, but the quality and your setup that matters most.

jesse_green5519d ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? I've won a couple local comps using two or three chunks per cook. Might be a regional thing or just that one guy's opinion.

sarah_mason19d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah totally get what you're saying @jesse_green55, maybe it's just me but I feel like a lot of the "rules" in BBQ are just people trying to sound important. I mean if your meat tastes good and you're winning, who cares if you're using two chunks or ten, right?