Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Corn. Maple is way expensive here and my wife gave me the "look" when I wnated to pick up some of that. Ive used molassas before and I cant tell a difference.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Done.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...c/DSC_0051.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...c/DSC_0054.jpg

Now it gets a nap for a while before pulling.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Nice lookin' butt there Chip!!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

-(P

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks guys. More pics after it gets pulled.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

More of that Bro-Mancing going on around here!

:D

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

You're just jealous I wasn't complimenting your butt:tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That's right...!

:r:r:r

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

No one does a Butt like Brent... I mean
I like Brent's Butt the Best... wait
can't I just compliment another man's BBQ!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Mine are so good 'cause I let Steve rub and pull my butt!!!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That's Right...!

:r:r:r

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

This is getting uncomfortable. :xxx

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Okay read through about 15 pages of this thread.
Have an nice gas grill like Bsmokin, but want to get into smoking.

Would you guys recommend starting out with a WSM or something else? I see the dedicated smokers at the hardware stores etc and I just dont know which way to go.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

For a family sized smoke it is hard the beat the WSM.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yep. I LOOOOOVED my WSM.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Just found a New Braunfels Smoker for basically free.
Think I may grab it and learn with it then upgrade.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Is it an offset or a cabinet style?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Offset

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

It is a very good smoker. Way more work as far as keeping it cooking, but a dang good smoker.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

There are a couple of easy modes that will make it easier to cook with though. I have an older one in my garage that I used a lot before I got my Lang. I don't know how old yours is that you found, but mine is made from fairly heavy ga. metal. Some of the newer ones are a bit thinner and it's harder to keep the temperature level.

I'll look around for a typed copy of the mods, if I can't find them I'll re-type them and post them.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I was looking for a NB Smoker when I ended up buying my Char-Griller. I was PI$$ed when I found
out they were no longer making the "quintessential" smoker, and had gone on to either be sold or
just changing the most important materials feature of the thing that made em famous. I had
ignored the company forever, I could have ccared less about smoking. The one day I caught
fire and it was too late. :(. I have enjoyed my Char-griller, though. So while it may not
get the props of the new favorites in the smoke biz, if it is a thick metal unit, you got a winner.
Like I have said too many times, I just indirect grillnsmoke my meats. There is plenty of space.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Here is a pic from dinner last night. Couple of ribs and some veggies. Dont be too hard on them they taste better than they look.

Attachment 7207

Attachment 7208

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I wonder how much the different sugars found in corn syrup versus refined sugar play a part in the end product....

Where's Alton Brown when you need him, eh?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:banger @ alton.

I wondered also on if the hig fructose was a good thing or not, but it didnt seem to hinder the flavors and the meat was dripping in juice from inside to out, even after resting for 10 hours. I would love to get ahold of some syrup made with cane sugar, i bet it would give a great flavor.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Woah... back the truck up...

Did you use corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup? Big difference

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

It was corn syrup but after you asked, i went back and looked at the ingredients and it has some high fructose in it.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Cool. Thanks. Basically, the reason for the question was that it's a different sugar, and it can behave differently.

One of these days I'll see if I can dig up a scientific explanation if there's any advantage to using HFCS and/or CS either alone or in conjunction with refined sugar in brines, or rather, how, if anything, it might affect the meat differently.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

From earlier this weekend - I only took one cell phone pic after everything was finished and rested. This was about 11 p.m. and I was shot.

LtoR - Cubed brisket point I turned into burnt ends, sliced brisket flat, and pork butt. I started with a 9-lb packer brisket and an 8.5 pork butt and cooked for about 12 hours on my cheap, Brinkman Gourmet with lump charcoal and a mix hickory and cherry wood.

I've done a brisket before, but this was my first pork butt - and I will definitely be making more of them!


http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...101/photo1.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Looks great!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:dr :dr :dr

That looks sooooo good! :tu


I'll be making my first pork butts this weekend. I'll probably make two. Going to use my new weber charcoal grill and the smokenator! :)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Good luck Bryan and take pics!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

marinated some chicken breasts in jerk sauce over night. stuck them on the smoker about an hour ago. going to baste them every hour or so with some scotch bonnet sauce to give them a little zing.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Nice!.....loved jerked chicken!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:dr :dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Brent, I can see myself taking you up on that offer. What kind of fool would I be not to?
:tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Suprised you did not use half chickens instead.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

A Bama fan:r:r

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

PEPPERS!! and soon. My jalapeno plant is finally starting to fruit and I'm gonna go nuts smoking the little suckers. This plant looks like it's going to produce 60-75 peppers this go round alone. His little brother is right by his side :) Fresh chipotles anyone?? :D

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Chicken turned out ok. I went out for awhile yesterday and forgot about it so it stayed on an hour longer than it should have.... Flavor was great and the scotch bonnet sauce just made my lips tingle and my a$$ burn like fire today. :r

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Okay boys need a little input.
So I picked up the smoker for 20.00. Not a bad starter especially for the price
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/183500ae.jpg

I modified the chimney as I read its an issue. My question is how shold I set up the bricks or should I use bricks. I did some ribs the other night. Going to do a tritip tonight and want to nail it.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/5f2d25bd.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Well, it's not in the smoker yet, but I've got a couple big shoulders curing in the fridge for some Buckboard Bacon. I'll be smoking it next week. Here's a shot of the last batch I did. I processed over 40 lbs on that smoke. It was awesome. http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...on011Small.jpghttp://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...on013Small.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Can't tell for certain from the photo, but that looks like one of the older ones that was built out of heavier metal than they use nowadays. Good score.

Few things...

There are a few potential problems with red clay bricks... Sometimes the clay used in the construction of the brick has compounds in it that you don't want venting into the firebox as you would end up eating them, at best, they taste off, at worst, they're toxic. Red bricks also trap moisture and can shatter when heated. Finally, they aren't anywhere near as good a heat sink & buffer as refractory firebricks. You should be able to find firebrick at ACE hardware or OSH or any rockyard. Two firebricks should cost you less than $4. If you must use red brick, I recommend wrapping them in a few layers of heavy duty aluminum foil.

Just place the bricks across the drum to form a barrier, it's not really critical if they are overlapping or butted up together. All you are looking for is to restrict the charcoal to a small area at the end of the chamber opposite the exhaust. How much area? Fill a chimney with briquettes, and dump them in, then mound them up into a tight pile, then put the firebricks a little bit further out than that, allowing room for a bit more charcoal and smoke wood. If you have an angle grinder and a dust mask, grinding them to match the contour of the drum is a snap, firebrick is very soft.

Any major air leaks should really be sealed. This means the bolt holes on the back side and the airgap around the firebox door. These things aren't a big deal to a grill, but can be a very big deal to a smoker/bbq.

I'm not sure what the chimney issue is that you are referring to, but what I see that extension doing is causing smoke to bottle up inside the pit. This could lead to a layer of carbon and creosote on the food. If you are going to use the extension that you have in place now, since it's galvanized tin, I would build a hot fire, grab a can of PAM cooking spray and spray it down inside and out a few times during the burn to bake a layer of oil onto it, to prevent the chance of any metallic off flavors.


As for tri-tip, I wouldn't smoke it. Indirect cook at medium-high heat (350-375) until about 130 internal (30-45 minutes depending on the thickness of the cut). Use oak or grape vines for smoke, or get a bag of Lazzari mesquite lump and cook with that. Either make your own rub or pick up a 2lb jar of Pappy's seasoning rub at costco or sam's and a 2lb container of granulated garlic and mix them together 1:1. Rub meat down with that a few hours before cooking. You could also dump some Lea & Perrin's worcestershire sauce (all other brands pale in comparison) over the meat, then coat with rub, wrap tightly in saran wrap, and put back into the refrigerator for a few hours. After it hits about 130F internal, pull the meat off, allow to rest for 10 minutes, slice very thin, pile it high on fresh sourdough or french rolls and top with fresh salsa.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Here's a bit of info on that chimney extension. A link below will take you to SMF where you can read up on other mods to do as well as find a ton of info and help for your new smoker!

Chimney Extension

Most of the entry level models have the chimney hole cut in the top of the smoker and the chimney does not protrude into the smoke chamber at all.. Heat and smoke rise so what happens is the heat from the firebox rises, runs along the top of the lid on the way to the chimney, and exits the smoker without doing much at grate level. Since the meat is on the grates, we would like to encourage the heat and smoke to travel across the meat on their way to the chimney. This helps to even out the temperature across the grate and makes the smoker more efficient. To accommodate this, it is a good idea to extend the chimney down to close to grate level. There are several different ways to do this. One is to use dryer vent ducting.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...et-smoker-mods

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

If you're extending the chimney a few inches into the chamber, sure.

The way the photo looked to me, and maybe it's just the angle, my eyes and this crappy monitor, but it looked like the extension went all the way down to the grate level, which is something that could be potentially disastrous.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Forrest thanks for the link I read about the chimney extension somewhere else, but will be reading up on the site to get more info on mods. The chimney does hang down a little but only like an inch. Guess I will look into getting a muffler shop to make a down pipe. Unitl then I will use what I got .

Adam it is defiently the old one with very thick metal. Its a friggin tank I almost lost it unloading it from the truck . There is a gap between the chimney and grill. Thought it was a few inches will double check.

There is an ACE down the street will get a few bricks there today. Got an angle grinder and water tile saw so I am pretty sure I can shape them.

I noticed the air gap on the fire door box. Will seal that up today. Didnt even notice those holes in the back LOL. Fail on my part.

Will cook the meat using the method you said. Picked up a meath thermometer yesterday As for prep I did it last night. garlic and salt rub. Tri tip to me just does not need a lot of seasoning if it is cooked right to taste awesome. its one of my favorite cuts of meat. Funny its such a west coast thing.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Don't use a wet saw on firebrick, only dry saws or a cold chisel. Then just hit it with the angle grinder to shape it. Refractory firebrick is super soft, that 10k RPM angle grinder will make very quick work of it. If you can't find firebricks, LMK, I'll bring you a few next time I'm down that way.

I agree, not much seasoning is needed for Tri-tip. I've done them with as little as just Lawry's garlic salt (which has parsley in it) and mesquite wood, although I prefer a little bit more spices in there - normally for tri-tip, I only season a few hours before cooking.

Oh, crap, forgot to mention a couple of obvious things (just in case) on the cooking: 125-135 is going to be about medium rare in the thicker parts leaning towards more done in the thinner parts. A little bit over halfway though the cook (about 20 minutes) you would want to rotate and flip the meat because you are cooking in an indirect offset. And I can't believe I forgot to mention that once the meat is at done temp, open all your vents up 100%, get the fire nice and hot and then move the tri-tip to the grate directly over the coals and just stand there, don't even close the lid, and just sear the meat for a few minutes per side.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

???

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

If the exhaust is that low, basically at the same level as the coals, you'll fire will probably smolder too much due to the trapped carbon monoxide and in turn, you'll end up coating your food with soot and creosote, assuming you can even maintain a temp to cook it.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Got her fired up, going to get the tritip on there in about 20 min after its going good. Wife is even a little geeked as I will be cooking more.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:tu My wife can always count on me to grill or smoke dinner. Problem is that she gets tired of only eating meat and no vegetables. :r

Btw- Corn on the cob turns out really good in the smoker.