Hello I bought a cylinder charcoal smoker.
You know the type at all the building supply
outlets. However I'm not getting the results
I see on TV? My meat is turning out very
dry and too much bad tasting black crust on
the outside.
I'm not using any tomato baste or anything except
a vinegar base marinade the night before.
I preheat two chimney starters of charcoal and
dump them into the pan. Then I put the grill in,
the meat, the lid and smoke them for 3 to 5 hours
depending on size and type of meat. The temperature
stays around 280 degrees if I don't use the water
pan and around 200 degrees if I do use the water
pan. What am I doing wrong?

"D" <NoMail@NoSpam> wrote in message ...
> Hello I bought a cylinder charcoal smoker.
> You know the type at all the building supply
> outlets. However I'm not getting the results
> I see on TV? My meat is turning out very
> dry and too much bad tasting black crust on
> the outside.

Sounds like too much smoke. You don't have to see the smoke to get good
results. too much and too cool a fire and you get a creosote taste.
Dryness indicates over cooking. What kind of meats? At 280, 2 to 5 hours is
too long or smaller cuts. At 200 it may be OK.

"Edwin Pawlowski" > wrote in message
. com...
>
> "D" <NoMail@NoSpam> wrote in message ...
> > Hello I bought a cylinder charcoal smoker.
> > You know the type at all the building supply
> > outlets. However I'm not getting the results
> > I see on TV? My meat is turning out very
> > dry and too much bad tasting black crust on
> > the outside.
>
> Sounds like too much smoke. You don't have to see the smoke to get good
> results. too much and too cool a fire and you get a creosote taste.
> Dryness indicates over cooking. What kind of meats? At 280, 2 to 5 hours
is
> too long or smaller cuts. At 200 it may be OK.

I agree. It sounds like you are using that little red H2O smoker. You must
use the water pan and you must keep it filled. This smoker has no sealing to
prevent heat loss so you might want to consider using a blanket over the top
to hold the heat better. Use only charcoal, no wood, and let the charcoal
get good and hot before you dump it into the fire pan. I ran one these for
years and never really had great results.

D wrote:
> Hello I bought a cylinder charcoal smoker.
> You know the type at all the building supply
> outlets. However I'm not getting the results
> I see on TV? My meat is turning out very
> dry and too much bad tasting black crust on
> the outside.
> I'm not using any tomato baste or anything except
> a vinegar base marinade the night before.
> I preheat two chimney starters of charcoal and
> dump them into the pan. Then I put the grill in,
> the meat, the lid and smoke them for 3 to 5 hours
> depending on size and type of meat. The temperature
> stays around 280 degrees if I don't use the water
> pan and around 200 degrees if I do use the water
> pan. What am I doing wrong?
>
>
Hi D,

Try the FAQ for starters. The responses by the others are on-point for
your questions.

HTH,

TomD

http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/index.html