I messed up

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I messed up

Postby badjak » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:02 pm

So I smoked chicken breasts yesterday.
Brining/curing all went fine, even managed to hang the whole batch nicely inside the smoker. Fired up the little proQ, couldn't find a tealight, managed eventually with citronella tealight. Left it burning for a while, outside the smoker as citronella taste was not required.
Everything proceeds OK but when I went to check the proQ (as I couldn't smell smoke anymore) she had gone out. This happened a couple of times.
In the end I took the breasts out of the smoker and cooked them inside the oven till the required internal meat temperature.
I estimate that they only had about 2 hours of smoke, instead of the intended 5 to 6.
I tasted one today and they are definitely edible, but no or a very faint smoky flavour.
Are there anyways I can still do with this batch to increase the smokiness? Maybe warm smoke? Or another cold smoke cycle?

I will now go on testing the different sawdusts. I saw a number of posts, and will go through them and learn
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Re: I messed up

Postby badjak » Sun Sep 08, 2013 7:05 am

I sliced one up and had some people have a taste. They all liked it anyway so I ended up slicing and vacuum packing them. They are now in the freezer.

I tested the proQ with the same saw dust and it was now working fine.
Got no real clue as to why it didn't wanna go properly the last time.
I can just see 2 options:
There was a section were the layer of sawdust was a bit thin and that is where the proQ stopped smoking.
Then when I tried to relight it, the humidity may have been high as it was getting toward the evening and my lawn had just been watered.

I am just putting it down to experience. Maybe I was getting a bit cocky as the first attempt went so well.
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Re: I messed up

Postby JerBear » Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:51 am

I have a smoker similar to the Pro-Q (a-maze-in) and I've been having some problems keeping mine lit and determined it's likley due to moisture, especially if you've had the sawdust for a while. The owner of a-maze-in suggested I microwave my pellets for a minute or so to dry out which helped only a little. I think next time I'm going to roast them in the oven at 350ºF for about 30 min before smoking. Just my .02 worth....
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Re: I messed up

Postby badjak » Sat Sep 28, 2013 5:20 am

Thanks!
I haven't had any problems since, and am quite convinced it was a humidity problem.
I don't have a microwave and am just a tad scared of heating up sawdust in the oven as mine is a gas oven....
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Re: I messed up

Postby Laripu » Sat Sep 28, 2013 2:56 pm

I had the same problem with the ProQ, and humidity is the reason, 100% certain. Tampa is a humid place, being so close to the Gulf of Mexico.

My solution was to take the sawdust I needed and microwave it until it was dry. It didn't take too long, and then it worked fine.
Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen. - Heinrich Heine.
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Re: I messed up

Postby wheels » Sat Sep 28, 2013 11:19 pm

Doh! I never thought of the microwave, I've always put mine in a cool oven. I keep some in the house that's dry; the rest's in a leaky shed. So I'm used to drying it.
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Re: I messed up

Postby Laripu » Sun Sep 29, 2013 2:29 am

wheels wrote:Doh! I never thought of the microwave, I've always put mine in a cool oven. I keep some in the house that's dry; the rest's in a leaky shed. So I'm used to drying it.

Isn't the ProQ a great little device?

Did you see the suggestion I made in another thread about a tin to hold the candle? This works really well.

I wish I had one with the nifty message like this one.
Image
Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen. - Heinrich Heine.
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Re: I messed up

Postby BriCan » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:54 am

wheels wrote:Doh! I never thought of the microwave, I've always put mine in a cool oven. I keep some in the house that's dry; the rest's in a leaky shed. So I'm used to drying it.


Yee gads lads. Just please watch wot uh iz doing ... I really do not want to ear that said owses av burnt down cuz y'all wantid tu do sum smoking :shock: :shock:


Frum one ow az dun that .. not bun owse down but started fire in mico ..... :oops:
But what do I know
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Re: I messed up

Postby Laripu » Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:00 pm

BriCan wrote:Frum one ow az dun that .. not bun owse down but started fire in mico ..... :oops:

:lol:
Dat only happing in Bricklish Colbumbia. :lol:

BTW in Tampa, Flo'da, dis normle tock. :oops: Dat why pipl frum Tampa called Tampons. :oops:
Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen. - Heinrich Heine.
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Laripu
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Re: I messed up

Postby BriCan » Mon Sep 30, 2013 4:03 am

Laripu wrote:
BTW in Tampa, Flo'da, dis normle tock. :oops: Dat why pipl frum Tampa called Tampons. :oops:


Sits tightly on hands :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :shock:
But what do I know
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Re: I messed up

Postby Laripu » Mon Sep 30, 2013 4:52 pm

BriCan wrote:
Laripu wrote:
BTW in Tampa, Flo'da, dis normle tock. :oops: Dat why pipl frum Tampa called Tampons. :oops:


Sits tightly on hands :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :shock:

It's just a joke! :lol:

I can spell, really! I even know when to put a 'u' in color/colour, and when not to. :D

I was just playing "follow the leader"... and you were the leader. :D
Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen. - Heinrich Heine.
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