apple wood or not

[hank1965]

Ok so every one loves my puled pork ..except me..lol
that last 2 times ive made it I used apple wood and smeared mustard all over the butts
seems like im not getting the smoke penetration and flavor I once did. I am not sure if this is
attributed to the mildness of the apple wood or if the mustard is blocking the smoke....
any one already solve this problem

[Frank_Cox]

Mustard leads to a good Bark when combined with the right spices/ rub. It also burns....
Are you "burning" the butt? I prefer applewood for a lot of meats but I am most fond of cherry wood when I am doing pork. I like a sweet hot rub. the 2 go real well IMHO.
What have you been using?

[SoloQue]

I doubt the mustard is the issue unless you are caking on like an icing but if that was the case you would have blobs falling off as it heats up. I always use mustard as part of my prep to help hold the dry rub in place and I have no issues. Did you used to inject and now you aren't? Lower moisture levels in the meat at startup will generate thinner or shallower smoke rings within the meat since that is a key factor in the whole smoke ring thing. Apple is fairly like flavored but I have never solely used it so I can't comment for certain. I'm sure others will jump in on this one shortly.

JMTCW

[Gizmo]

Try this...

Mix 1 part hickory with 3 parts apple wood.
Spray down your meat with PAM only and apply your rub sparingly.
THEN see what you think of the smoke presence.

After the pork is pulled you can toss more rub into it to bring up the flavor.
If you like it then gradually change from there and above all - KEEP NOTES

One other thing... I have noticed more than once after I have spent all day cooking "Q" that I don't taste the smoke very much that night.
But boy I can sure smell and taste it in the leftovers a day or 2 later ... something about "tuning it out" when you spend all that time with it ... just a hunch ...

[The Czar]

Hank....Frank and Solo and Rick all bring up super points.....I can't even add to that .....

[hank1965]

thanks guys and I agree to a point Rick I due notice a difference the next day after i am de smoked...lol I also think I will start adding a bit of hickory
which is what I was using before getting the apple wood wish I could get cherry here would like to see what it does.

[SoloQue]

wish I could get cherry here would like to see what it does

I had a chance to use some cherry..on the light side in my opinion but had a good flavor

[alleyrat58]

I have been cooking exclusively with apple all year long and I love it! That said, if you really want to get a smoke flavor in your pork try turning your smoker temps down - way down. Run it at 150 and just roll smoke through it for a couple hours and see if you get the flavor you want. I cook everything at 275 and my old man says that the meat has less smoke flavor since I started doing it. I personally like the smoke to enhance the flavor - not BE the flavor, but that is just one man's opinion.

Good luck!

[SoloQue]

Run it at 150 and just roll smoke through it for a couple hours and see if you get the flavor you want

That makes a lot of sense sine the smoke ring effect stops once the meat reaches 140F. If you are exposing the meat to smoke at a lower temp it will keep accepting the smoke longer since it is rising slower towards 140F.

[hank1965]

thats something I didnt consider to be honest I have been watching alot of comp bbq and they are doing butts at 275-325 at about 8 hours so I did increase my temps and took my cook time to about 9 hours from about 12-14.....I guess ill have to readjust and play around with it till I find the flavor I lke

Thanks every one this was a very informative post for me....

[TuscaloosaQ]

I have cooked butts for many years with pecan and hickory with great success, I personally bring my cooker up to temp 225,250,275 and choke the damper on the stack for a good while and get the smoke flavor i want. I have heard people say you will get a cresote taste..... never had it in my entire life. As a young by my dad cooked on an open pit with some green hickory added and it was off the chart good. Cooking to me is a really simple thing, people complicate it today. I dont need a plumb bob, slide rule, transit, or a digital thermoter i just cook till it is done. What on earth did the gurus do in years gone by they just cooked till it was done. It all kinda makes me laugh!!!!! And personally if my cooker runs 20 degrees different from one end to the other I DO NOT CARE if you can cook it really DOES NOT MATTER 20 degees WHAT IS 20 DEREES!!!! Im done peraching now!!!!

[Smokeone]

You go TQ!
I have to agree here. If you can cook, you can overcome the equipment. But a spot on cooker makes for more relaxing and refreshment time. You know a big ol sweet tea and a sunburn.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[TuscaloosaQ]

Smokeone, you know TQ has to get in the wind every now and again, just can not help myself

[wsiddoway]

So do you want your meat wet or dry to accept more smoke?

[SoloQue]

Moisture is needed to get the smoke ring to really develope IMHO If you make an extremely thick gooey rub for a really moist exterior it will probably just glaze over and burn instead of getting the smoke into the meat so a brine or injection can be helpful to get the internal moisture you need or you can just work with a nice fatty piece of meat like a butt and the moister is there already. Hope this helps, I'm not the highest scoring cook on the site so you might get better answers from the veterans.

[alleyrat58]

Moisture is needed to get the smoke ring to really develope IMHO If you make an extremely thick gooey rub for a really moist exterior it will probably just glaze over and burn instead of getting the smoke into the meat so a brine or injection can be helpful to get the internal moisture you need or you can just work with a nice fatty piece of meat like a butt and the moister is there already. Hope this helps, I'm not the highest scoring cook on the site so you might get better answers from the veterans.

I inject everything to keep the moisture. I've heard that a gooey rub will block smoke, but I'm not entirely sure I believe it. Whatever your approach, make sure you rest your meat for an appropriate amount of time before you slice it or you will lose all the juice you retained. I let large cuts of meat cool (to stop cooking...) then hold them in the mid-100's for 2 or 3 hours before I slice / pull. Really helps keep juices in the meat.

[Frank_Cox]

[SLOW SMOKIN BBQ]

well i have tried allot of different woods and i have to agree with frank when it comes to pork i love cherry wood ! chicken i like hickory or a prefer pecan its just hard for me to get it all the time but its in the same family that hickory is
just my thoughts

[Tom_Heath]

I had a bad deal with apple and havent used it since.

When you burn apple wood that has out lived its life you get a nasty smell. Something like a cross between mesquite and burnt horse shi*.

The apple we were using was probably to old and not in fit condition to smoke with. '

I love cherry but it has a short stack life, and the bugs love it..