There’s always something about the smoking process that brings out more flavor on your meat and does help it become more tender. Because of this, more and more people are getting obsessed with this process.

However, we also can’t deny that it’s harder to perfect than grilling. So, if you’re new to smoking, take note of these four mistakes most beginners make. This way, you don’t end up doing them, too.

1. Opening the Lid too often

Smoking applies the process of cooking your food under low temperatures for hours while infusing smoky flavors of the meat. Because of this, patience is important; you can’t rush it.

Temperatures should stay consistent all the time. The more you open the lid to check the meat, temperatures will fluctuate, adding more hours to cook it. So hold down that lid and use a meat thermometer to monitor internal temperatures.

2. Oversmoking

Smoking meat doesn’t mean piling up a lot of wood and covering your meat with a lot of smoke. No. Don’t do that!

Oversmoking your food will most likely end you up with something inedible. This is because the smoke has already overpowered what could have been a tasty and juicy meat.

Just add a few chunks of wood at a time and keep those vents a little open so the smoke can flow out gently.

3. Using the wrong type of wood

Speaking of adding wood chunks, it’s also important that you always use the right kind of wood. Depending on the cut of meat you have, there’s an equivalent wood you can use. Yes, there’s a learning and experimentation period, but it would help a lot if you know this information beforehand, so you don’t ruin the flavor.

For example, if you’re smoking poultry, you have various wood choices like alder, apple, cherry, maple, oak, peach, etc. But if you’re smoking veggies, maple would only be the best.

4. Not controlling the temperature properly

Temperature is key to smoking as it can direct if you would overcook or undercook your meat. If you don’t know how to control this, you’ll likely fail. So, how do you do this?

Make use of the air valves: one is located on top to release excess smoke while the one below controls the temperature. Open the air vents if you wish to increase temperature and close them to reduce intake. While doing this, keep a close eye on the temperature and ensure that it stays the same.