holy cow mom messed up!! NEED SOME HELP!!!

colee · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 4

Hey y'all, I am a noobie here and to smoking, and man did I mess up this weekend!!! I live in West Virginia, and my sons are avid hunters, and so are their friends, soooooo I have A LOT of venison come through my house during the season. Really tired of plain old roast and jerky, thought I would smoke some. First I marinated for like 3 days, salt, sugar, spices . . . put in the smoker with hickory at 200 until it reached 165 internal temp. Really tastes harsh to me, nothing mellow about it. Now I do not give up easily and have told them all to bring another one. Now I need some help, the boys really put time into their hunting, and I dont want to ruin all the meat they bring in!!!! Please help me save face in front of the sportsmen in my life!! Embarassed

Teleking · Posted: Oct 23 2007 Post subject:

Need info on smoker type, type of wood, color of smoke, etc�.. It�s all in the details, pictures would help

Christopher · Newbie Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 32 Location: Toronto

Make sure you have a clean burning, hot fire. You don't really want to choke down your fire if it gets too hot. This will often give your food an oversmoked/bitter taste. You want a small fire burning efficiently to get you to your target temperature. Add only enough wood/charcoal to maintain your target temperature.

Make sure your smoke wood is dry and has been seasoned (not freshly cut/green).

Some people find hickory a little harsh by itself, maybe mix it with another milder wood like cherry, or apple.

Just a couple of thoughts.

What type of cooker were you using? This will help with suggestions.
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Chris
Big Smoke Que N Brew

CrazyChef · Posted: Oct 23 2007 Post subject:

try reading this post by Alien, It is quite informative:
www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11458
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"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits" - Albert Einstein

colee · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 4

ok sorry, it is a Great Outdoors Grill Co. 34" Wide Body propane power smoker. I used hickory chips, and I smoked it last night while we were watching the steelers, so it was dark gray colored smoke. When the venison is cut, really looks good, about an 1/8 inch smoke ring, just flavor is salty/bitter maybe, and really strong.

Teleking · Posted: Oct 23 2007 Post subject:

It should be a light blue-ish color and looks like this:

http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc43/Teleking101/?action=view&current=DSCF0019.jpg

If it was gray it sounds like it didn't have enough air for combustion.

jvreeland · Posted: Oct 23 2007 Post subject:

It sounds like you over brined the meat. 3 days is a good amount of Brineing...

What was your ratio of Salt/Water/Sugar in the brine?
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Jeff Vreeland
Alabama GrillBillies Team

colee · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 4

3 cups of salt and sugar, 3 gallons of water

lowrider90 · Newbie Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 53 Location: Cape Cod

personally, i'm not a fan of curing game meats with salt every time i have done it, including with a bear roast and venison the meat is just too salty. the only time i brine meats these days is with turkey or chicken meat.

Game meats generally do not have a lot of fat so the slow and low smoke may not be as good as smoking it at say 275 or even 300 degrees. It may be a better way for a venison roast.

so, my suggestion is to try some maple wood for the smoke you will find it much more sublte and do not cure. (add a rub with a little salt but do not brine) along with cooking at a higher temp you might be surprised on the turn out.

Good luck, Jay
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BRADLEY SMOKER

jvreeland · Posted: Oct 23 2007 Post subject:

Tek465 · Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 90

I found chunks give a better result than using chips in my GOSM. They give off less smoke over a longer period of time. (better taste) Also don't use too much wood in a GOSM, rough guess, no more than 1-2 chunks per 2-3 hrs or 1 small handful (1/4-1/2 cup) chips per hour or more.

I replaced the smoker box with a small pie pan so the chunks actually burn down rather than become charcoal inside the smoker box. It also helps to turn my GOSM into a cold smoker, just 2-3 lit charcoal pieces and a chunk in the pan.

The chips usually give off dense smoke for about 30- 45 min. (harsh taste, burning eyes) I'd save the chips for the grill where you need that quick burst of flavor.

Don't soak the wood.

colee · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 4

It was the entire deer, I left the larger muscles intact, pretty much make sure all was the same size.
Thanks everyone, all of your adivise has been so helpful