Expert: John Langenfelder - 3/25/2009

Question
I recently purchased an offset lang smoker.  I have been using a vertical water smoker and am having a trouble making the transition.  on the vertical smoker my meat would turn out great and not over smoked.  With offset, that cost 10 times as much, the meat turns out way to smoky.  I understand its a smoker and should taste smoked, but I would like to turn it down a notch and slow cook it without such a pronounced smoky taste.  Is this possible?  When I go to BBQ contest and watch the food network it seems offset are what is being used by the experts.  Do I need to wrap meat in foil?  Where can I find some good info on offset cooking/smoking?

thanks for your time.

Alex

Answer
Alex,

First, nice cooker!!

Are you using all wood, or a combination of wood and charcoal?  All meats can only hold so much smoke so you can turn down the wood a bit.  What kind of wood do you use?  Mesquite will overpower most meats.  Do you soak your wood in water?  Then stop, just use it as is.  When I cook I only use wood for about 2 hours for an 8 hour cook with charcoal.  How close is the meat to the heat and smoke coming into the chamber?  Try moving it away.  I know a lot of guys use pure wood in the langs or similar type cookers but more cooks agree that meat will only accept so much smoke. Also, taste is very subjective, smokey to you might not be smokey to someone else.  In the BBQ circuit, a lot of us wrap the meat with foil as you mention and I don't feel that is a bad thing.  It allows the meat to cook in its own juices, adding more flavor, it keeps it from drying out and it will keep it from getting too smokey.  A little contradictory from what I said above but the outside of the meat may get to smokey, the inside will not.

Also, doesn't the lang have a cooking surface that circulates the smoke in the cooking chamber but keeps away from the food.

try theses tips and see what happens.