Why does my smoked food taste bitter?

NOTE: This article is primarily intended for users of the the Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill. But the science applies to other wood-based smokers as well. (edited: 07/24/2024) If you're noticing a bitter, almost "spicy" flavor to your smoked foods, don't worry. You're not alone...You're simply doing it wrong!

Most people see all that billowing white smoke and think that's a guaranty of great food to come. It's not. 

The thick white smoke and resulting bitter flavor comes from byproducts of "incomplete combustion" that commonly occurs during the initial stages of cooking with wood products. 

At the start of your cook, the wood product is at room temperature, and during the first several minutes will produce that thick, billowy white smoke. If you put your food on during this stage, your end product is going to taste like an ash tray. Wood fuels ignite more quickly, and burn much more cleanly once they're heated nearer to the point of combustion.

This image shows the difference between dirty smoke (left) and clean smoke (right). Notice the difference in transparency?

After about 10 minutes, and increasingly more so as you get nearer (and beyond) 20 minutes, the bulk of the wood product in the cooker will have warmed up and will be burning much more cleanly. The smoke coming from the exhaust will be more transparent, sometimes with an almost blue tint. THIS is when you know it's time to add your food (NOT when the display says "add food" and MOST DEFINITELY NOT just after you press "start") And you'll be in for a TREMENDOUSLY improved flavor experience. SIDE NOTE 1: It's a common misconception that since a Ninja Woodfire hopper only burns for about an hour, this wait will drastically reduce the smoke effect. UNTRUE! The woodfire only uses the pellets for color and flavor. And that effect happens early in the process and comparatively INTENSELY! You can read about that in this article. SIDE NOTE 2: Users of full-size pellet smokers don't typically experience the "white smoke" situation. This is due to the fact that since they use the pellets as the heat source, they burn the pellets 2x+ hotter (with the assistance of a fan - think blast furnace!) than the Ninja Woodfire does. And by the time the smoker reaches cooking temperature, the initial white smoke has burned off, and the pellets moving along the auger tube have heated to just below the combustion point.

Good luck! - W