fairly new to smoking

[megastevie]

i have built a wooden smoker 3 foot tall,lil over 2 foot wide.powered by 2 1000 watt hotplates,ive noticed yall call this a wattburner..haha...made some jerky last night texture turned out great but way way to smoky and chaulky..i did smoke for 3 hours.gonna try again tonight any help would be greatly appreciated.thanks

[sweet_magnolia]

i have built a wooden smoker 3 foot tall,lil over 2 foot wide.powered by 2 1000 watt hotplates,ive noticed yall call this a wattburner..haha...made some jerky last night texture turned out great but way way to smoky and chaulky..i did smoke for 3 hours.gonna try again tonight any help would be greatly appreciated.thanks

I can't help you with the jerky but

[megastevie]

hi any clue how to put a pic beside your user name.

[sweet_magnolia]

hi any clue how to put a pic beside your user name.

That I can help with! Go to the menu at the top and click "User CP". From there you'll see on the left menu, "Edit Avatar"

[Fired Up]

Welcome aboard!

[Fishawn]

Stevie.... Based on what you have stated..... Some things IMO can take on too much smoke (jerky being one of them)..... Do you have exhaust vents in your smoker? allowing the smoke to pass through? ..... What type of wood are you using? ..... Again,

[SmokinOutBack]

to the site. This gang will get you straight in no time.

[megastevie]

it is vented at the bottom and top sides.ajustable,but i kept them both fully open.i used apple wood chips in a 6" cast iron pan sitting directly on the hotplate,seems that it really puts off lots of smoke fast.

[Fishawn]

it is vented at the bottom and top sides.ajustable,but i kept them both fully open.i used apple wood chips in a 6" cast iron pan sitting directly on the hotplate,seems that it really puts off lots of smoke fast.

Sound like you are set up correctly & Apple should not be your problem. Maybe just go 1 small pan next time? Ya know a lot of the jerky folks make is done in a dehydrator with no smoke, where the brine or marinade is the only flavor. If you are aiming for something more in that area, you might try just drying it in your smoker with no wood at all, or just a little bit?

[megastevie]

ive been making jerky for around 5 years always in a round dehydrator.just using liquid smoke for flavor.always turned out great.now ive become addicted to smoking i wanted to try it this way...tonight im gonna take your advice 1 small pan of smoke.i hear talk of you dont want lots of white smoke pouring out fast.which seems what i get..is this ok?

[megastevie]

thanks every1 for the warm welcomes.and help.i hope to figure out that pic deal soon...im new to forums.this being my 1 and only

[BBQ Engineer]

One of the biggest mistakes when starting is to over smoke. It doesn't take a lot of smoke to permeate the food...in fact, it doesn't even need to be barely visible...if you can smell smoke, the food is taking on plenty. As for jerky, you have sliced it really thin, and therefore increased the surface area dramatically. Because of this, a little smoke goes a long way. Do what Fish suggested and use less apple wood to begin with.

you might try just drying it in your smoker with no wood at all, or just a little bit?

Since my smoker is well seasoned, I have always thought that just a small lump fire and no flavor wood would provide enough smoke seasoning. I have never tried this, but I bet it is true...Heck, if I walk by it and catch a whiff, it about makes me start to drool and that is with nothing in it.



Welcome to the forum...you'll get the pic thing worked out. We'd love to see that smoker setup.

[Doug S.]

[megastevie]

i do believe ive got a pic up from last night of my smoker.thanks again every 1

[Fishawn]

Here's a little bigger shot of your smoker, but some of the detail was lost in resizing it.