British BBQ Society Forums

The last few times I’ve been cooking brisket & pork I’ve not been happy with the amount of smoke in the meat.

I'm using the same amount & same type of wood as before, where I’ve been happy with the amount of smoke.

One thing that i think might be different is that I’ve not been letting my meat come up to room temperature before putting it in the smoker.

Does meat struggle to take on smoke if it's too cold?

Or maybe my tastes have changed?

I think there's a temp (140 ish?) where the meat no longer takes on smoke so if anything, the colder it is when you put it on, the more chance it has to absorb.
Sorry if am stating the obvious but i also put my chips on first, wait for the first wisp of smoke then put my meat on, straight from the fridge just so its not sat there for a while before the chips start to smolder.

That's partly what i was thinking and why I’ve been doing it this way but i've not been having great success with it.

Normally I’ve only been giving it about half an hour to warm up a bit. Last time i seem to remember the meat was at about 54f internal when i put it on. Normally is i think room temp is about 69f depended on the day so would i be better to do this instead.

I have a feeling that i might be picking up 2 pork shoulders this weekend to try this theory out.

I'm sure that there are many who will disagree with me and especially at competitions where time is of an essence, but I tend to put my meat straight from the fridge into an oven of 185F-200F.with plenty of wood for smoke. I stay at these temps for 2-3 hrs[ or until internal temps reach145F] before ramping up to 225F.I find this way gets maximum smoke into the meat.At about 160F . I usually foil briskets until 185F, then remove the foil and return to the smoker. At this point the internal temp usually drops and I add more wood so as to get some added flavour and develop the bark. When the meat comes back up to 185F, I test for doneness with a skewer

Cheers John,

Another member in the states posted something in another thread which suggested that meat doesn't take on smoke until it is around 100*f and stops when it stops. I may be recalling it wrong but I think that is the essence of the thread. I will try and find it for you Ed it was interesting.

Beers

Adie