Re: What's in your smoker?
 

You'll be fine, WSM's are pretty easy to use. If MACS can crank out good bbq with one, anyone can.

Virtual bullet has some step-by-step recipes w/ vent positions and all here:
http://virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html

If you aren't familiar with the "Minion method" of lighting and fueling, it has some significant advantages over the methods presented in the book that comes with the WSM:
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/fireup2.html

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:hm...I thin Eric needs to relocate to the West coast!

...go smoke em Colin!!!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks, Adam! Can you recommend me a good digital thermometer?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

It depends on what you want from the thermometer.

If you want remote temps, then the Maverick ET372 w/ dual probes (one for the meat, one for the cooking chamber, aka "the pit") seems to be a popular choice.

If you are thinking about getting an automatic draft controller for the WSM, both the Stoker Controller and the DigiQ units have multiple thermometers built in, as they need to monitor both pit temp and meat temp to be able to control the blower properly. Some units have remote reading capability via ethernet / wireless network.

If your lid gauge is calibrated, and once you get to know your smoker, you can do a lot with just a digital pen thermometer. The Thermopens are excellent, but pricey.

:2

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Excellent, thanks. I'm just looking for the first option you mentioned. I'm not thinking of automatic draft control just yet. Thanks a lot!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That was some wind. I noticed my dog is sleeping on my smoker cover this morning. Didn't want to disturb
him to fuss at him. WASTED another weekend. Sure wish Ribs would go on sale. There have been 2 "SALES"
this year already, both of them were surely some kind of joke.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

First brisket ever. Pics as soon as I host them out on fotobucket.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Ok I'm trying this on Sat but instead of sausage inside I will be using a split pork tenderloin with orange marmalade stuffing and my own dry rub between the stuffing and the roast. Pics if it works.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I just got a Maverick ET732 as a belated Christmas present from my dad. This thing ROCKS. I can play with my kids now instead of babysitting the smoker! Just bring the remote unit wherever you are (within something like 300 feet) and you have smoker temp/meat temp at the touch of a button. You can also set max/min temp alerts, so you aren't overcooking anything. I've only used it to smoke a pork loin so far, but it came out awesome - super flavorful and juicy. Previous pork loins always were a touch on the dry side. Cant wait to try it with a pork butt or brisket.

Mine also came with a temp guide, which is stuck to the side of my fridge. This is the one I got:

http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Wirel...averick+et+732

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Glad to hear the review! Mine just arrived the other day. Still waiting to do my first smoke. I'l be gone this weekend, so it's looking like the weekend after. Trying to decide whether to do baby backs for 12 people as a first run or whether I should experiment on my own a bit before subjecting other people to my final product.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I smoked a pork butt the first time around, as I heard it was the toughest one to mess up haha. I still enjoy doing them for larger groups, as they don't take up as much space for the amount of food you end up with, and they are way cheaper per person than other cuts. They are also a little more forgiving in that less surface area is exposed to the smoke, so you can't really "oversmoke" one. I suppose you could, but it's more difficult than most others. And since it's such a high fat content, they are way more forgiving with moisture content.

I've never done ribs for a group, because frankly, they're too expensive for me. 12 people = 6 full racks. On average, the regular price (at least around these parts) is just a hair south of $15/rack. Sometimes they have them on sale for 1.99/lb, but they are definitely not baby back ribs. They label them "Pork loin back ribs" and are considerably larger bone with less meat.

I try to keep my smoker around 225-250, I use natural lump coal, and - at least with pork - prefer apple wood chunks (not soaked). I shoot for a thin blue smoke out of the stack, as that seems to impart just enough smoke flavor to please everyone.

But I use a different smoker than the WSM. I use a horizontal barrel style smoker/grill combo. Currently in the market for another one though.

That's what I've found works great for my tastes. I know you didn't ask for my amateur advice, and I am by NO means an expert; just a guy who likes to cook slabs of animal flesh on the weekends with family, friends, and cigars. And let's not forget the beer :tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Ha, you're way ahead of me on the experience, so I appreciate the insight. I get the ribs at Costco and they're definitely not $15 per rack, but now I can't recall whether they say baby back or pork loin back. I'll have to keep an eye out for that.

I just read on the vitual bullet that ribs can be one of the hardest foods to get right, so I may not make such a large scale attempt as a first smoke. Maybe I'll do a couple of bacon explosions as appetizers so I can scatch my itch without ruining dinner.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Colin, a lot of those guys compete, so "right" to them can have scoring connotations. "Right" to the home cook is much easier. Just look up the "tear test" for ribs, it's really not as hard as some might make it sound. Nothing wrong with spares or St. Louis ribs either, they taste the same, cost less and you get more meat but they take a little bit longer to cook. You might need a rib rack to get a few slabs in the cooker though, since they don't roll up easily like bbrs.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks for the encouragement. I picked up a couple of rib racks, so I'll hopefully be ok there. I may just go ahead with the ribs. I'm not a total noobie to ribs, just have never used a smoker before. I appreciate all the help in here.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Picking up a couple of cases of butts tomorrow for little picnic the park this weekend.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Colin, my ribs improved enormously when I realized they were easy to "over smoke" which created a really dark bark. Go for a clean burn with the thin blue smoke like Peter said. The other tip that really helped me was 3-2-1 for spares. That is 3 hours in the smoker at 225-235, two hours on the smoker but wrapped in foil with a little apple juice added, then one hour with the foil opened back up to reset the bark. Of course you will find you adjust that some according to how you cook, but it is a good rule of thumb.

I have found I usually go a little more than three hours before I foil. I get them to the color I want which is usually more like 3.5 hours. The last hour I check them frequently to get them right where I want them tenderness wise. It is usually more like 30 minutes or so.

For babybacks the times are shorter. I still do about three hours for the first segment, but start checking them after about 1.5 hours in the foil. Once they are a little more tender than I want them I take them out of the smoker, open the foil, and let them rest a bit to firm up the bark. The meat firms up as well.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks, Gator. I'm glad to hear the endorsement of 3-2-1. I've read about a few different techniques and wasn't sure what to go with. I'll give it a shot and be mindful of oversmoking. I think I'll use apple wood and see how it goes.

And thanks to everyone for the wisdom. There is obviously a lot of knowledge here - I appreciate how willingly it is shared.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

last weekends adventures



http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psa67b9d1e.jpg



http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psddb83538.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I like what Peter and Brent said about over-smoking. If you taste your ribs and they taste like they have been
in a house fire, you know you failed the over-smoke test. Thin, blue smoke is the only way to go.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Smoker is lit, meat is getting rubbed, cigars and bourbon standing by...
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I'm gettin in the car!! :r

Sounds like the way to spend the weekend.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Looking forward to seeing you again Jason!

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...cnic%20BBQ.jpg

16 butts and a mess of beans to get things started...

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I knew I smelled something heavenly Steve!!! A guy has an 84 for sale in G'ville, but I am still looking for a 60.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

how shiiiite Steve :dr:dr I would love to be standing in front of a smoker like that! Hope all went well and turned out fantastic

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Just pulled 3 pork butts off the smoker. doing 3 more tomorrow. Got a big tailgate party on Tuesday.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

16 butts wrapped and resting Saturday night...

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...0BBQ%20002.jpg

All that was left Sunday afternoon

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...0BBQ%20003.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Normally I would never cut the ribs apart before cooking nor leave the membrane on the back (inside), but these came that way and I wasn't going to pass up organic grass feed & finished beef ribs from Eel River Ranch for $1.50/lb.

Used it as an opportunity to test a few different glazes, had some interesting results. A mix of apricot jam, sriracha sauce, apple cider vinegar and a dash of oyster sauce seemed to be the winner with the plum/cherry/oak smoke.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1365432571
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1365432571
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1365432571

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

My mouth waters when I look at this thread:dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Ok made the roast instead of the sausage learned I need to split the roast deeper for the spices and stuffing to affect the whole roast instead of the top half.

Pics will be up tonight of the results. All in all it was still delicious thanks for the ideas on how to make it.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Haha, Adam, it looks like you bought those Piggly Wiggly beef ribs I used to get, where they flanken cut all
the meat off for another product, leave you with giant shiners, and they charge you a crazy per pound rate
for basically bones....and still have the nerve to call it 'beef ribs'. I had to stop buying them. They used to
be in the reduced rack all the time, but again, heavy bones were not something I was interested in buying
after I was told not to give the guard dog any more bones. I even got tired of the flavor.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I hear you Brad, normally I won't buy beef ribs that have the meat cut off the top and/or meat gouged out from between the bones. These came as two butchers paper wrapped packs in the frozen markdown bin. I could feel through the paper to tell that they were already separated, which was no big deal, but because they were already frozen, I couldn't tell they were all shiners. Oh well, at $1.50/lb for these which normally go for close to $4/lb, it wasn't a bad deal, but certainly not a great deal when I compare it to the cuts I typically get from the university at their processing facility (corn finished, not-free range, non-organic beef though).

I was actually thinking about throwing the bones in the pressure cooker for stock, but decided against it, figuring that all the smoke would be extracted too, so I'd end up with 4-5 quarts of briquette flavored stock.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Sweet looking smoke ring, Adam!

You're an animal, Steve!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Don't get me wrong Adam, I ate em til I just couldn't get up for it anymore, some $200 worth over a year
or two. But in the end it was the gall of them taking all the meat, selling it to someone else, and then trying
to sell me the leftovers as beef ribs that made me mad. If it didn't have a good reduced for quick sale price on it,
I would never have gotten caught up in it. Add to that the fact that they are only good hot off the grill, and it
was an easy habit to break. Re-heated they are really lame. Or certainly not worth serving to friends as an
example of your smoking skill. I could eat them re-heated MYSELF, but found them a bad idea to share.

I won't lie, though....looking at the pics again today, my mouth DID water.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Question for you guys - I'm doing back ribs tomorrow for my first cook. I obviously can't time it exactly because I haven't done them before on the WSM. I'd probably rather they be done earlier and kept warm than later and everyone else kept hungry. So what do you recommend if they are finished an hour before I want to serve them? Stick them in the oven at 180? Something else?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

If I were me, I'd wrap them in tin foil, then wrap in a towel, and put in a cooler to retain as much heat as possible without cooking them further. Then fire up the grill to reheat. If you plan on saucing them, you're going to want to finish on the grill to caramelize the sauce a little anyways.

But again, I've never cooked ribs for a large group. "Eating time" when I cook ribs is whenever they get done :)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That's always been my thing too! I'll give the cooler/foil/towel thing a try. Thanks for suggesting it.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Good tip right there.

I did 16 7.5lb butts this past saturday for a picnic sunday after church. When they were at temperature saturday night (about 11:30pm) i pulled them off the smoker, wrapped them in two layers of foil, and stuck them in one of my large coolers with some towels. Sunday morning around 8:30 when I started pulling them to serve, my assistant was still doing the hot-hands two-step thru 3 pairs of disposable gloves (I gues to be fair, I really should invest in another pair of nice, insulated gloves like I use for my helper... ;s)

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...0BBQ%20002.jpg

BTW, if you are cooking them ~225*, I would probably figure on about 5 hours to cook. At least that's what mine average out to.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thank you, Steve. I appreciate the advice and the time quote. I'm shooting for 225, so that's great to know.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

If you are using a WSM, you shouldn't have too much trouble. THose things keep temp pretty well as long as you pay attention.

A lot of guys get pretty anal about keeping exactly 225* (and now doubt these guys turn out awesome product), but I usually don't get that worked up about it. With a shorter cook like ribs it may make more of a difference, but most of the time I am cooking for 12-18 hours on average. I think it pretty much averages out as long as you don't let the temp dip too far. You definately do not want to loose time trying to get the smoker back up to temp.

Of course I have been cooking on my Lang for a LONG time and know what her mood is on any given day. After you have cooked on your WSM for a few times you will have a better feeling for how long various items are going to cook and how much fuel you will need. For example, this past weekend, I used half a bag of lump (5lbs. maybe) and 2 or 3 logs to get her fired and warmed up, then maybe another 15 or so quarter sticks of blackjack oak for the entire cook. Once she's up to temperature, she just cruises along.

Enjoy the ride, and especially the eating!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Mark, just ordered mine today. Got a free set of bear claws with them. Amazon has the combo deal for the same price as the single unit. I'm stoked!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

15.5 lbs of boneless Boston Butt from Costco. Brining solution - salt, cracked black pepper, and mined garlic for 12 hours. Rubbed with homemade pork rub. Smoked at 235-255F for 9 hours on Saturday. Beautiful deep smoke ring and absolutely perfect flavor! My entire family has been enjoying them since supper last night. Still have enough to freeze for later. Probably the best butts I ever smoked!

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps0ff0d418.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps4fa15ff0.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...psfcced5db.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Looks awesome Jamie!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Awesome pics Jamie! Great Job, looks tasty

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Nice! :tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Well guys, I pulled off the ribs on Saturday for the most part. I did 6 racks, 2-2-1 ish, had the smoker holding pretty steady around 225. I would say 3 of the racks came out perfect - great flavor and texture. The other three had good flavor, but were not as tender and some of the larger pieces of meat actually were a little dried out. I don't know how to explain them being not as tender (which I think means they needed to cook longer) and also drier except for maybe the placement within the WSM and the idea that maybe I should have used more apple juice for the larger racks when I wrapped them. I'll have to do some experimenting and figure it out. It will be fun "work". I really did enjoy the whole process.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Were the ribs all the same size Colin?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Some were a little bigger than the others, but not hugely so. They were the cryo-packed ones from Costco.

I've attached a pic of them before going into the foil, but I don't think you can tell very much from it.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Has anyone tried using tobacco when smoking meat? I'm thinking of trying it for a BBQ event (BizzareBQ) I'll be going to in June. The idea if the event is to be creative with your dishes. I found a link to a chef who did tobacco smoked ribs with a Guinness sauce, but no recipe. I might have to do some test runs.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Not intentionally.

Accidentally burned the nub of a cigar once. Didn't really do anything noticeable, but it was a rather small quantity of tobacco, maybe not enough to be noticed. Honestly never felt the need to try it again with a larger cigar and see.