Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I just ate and y'all making me hungry!!!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I LOVE this thread. I'm finally getting some work done on my UDS build. I bought some parts, drilled my intake holes on the bottom, did a high heat burn to remove paint/oil from it's previous occupation, and started putting my charcoal basket together.

Here's the inspiration for my design:
http://mancavemeals.net/the-uds/

However, I'm making a few mods. I'm cannibalizing some parts from a Weber knockoff 22.5" grill I've had for years, and from a tabletop charcoal grill. My basket will have the same 3" legs as his pictured here:
http://mancavemeals.net/wp-content/u...asket_0439.jpg
but they'll be bolted to an 18-19" ash pan made from the bottom of the tabletop grill. I'm hoping this way I won't have to flip the drum over to clean out ash after each use.

It's going to look something like this when completed
http://mancavemeals.net/wp-content/u..._Drum_0479.jpg
I loved his idea of piping the intake valves up to be easier to reach. Although I am a noob so I have no experience, it just looked/sounded like a good idea. It will have two cooking grates, about 7" apart. I read the bottom one needs to be at least 24" from the bottom of your charcoal basket. So, that's what I'm trying to achieve.

I still need to wire-wheel the remaining paint/rust off, paint, bolt ash-pan to basket, and more. I'll post some of my own pics soon.

That said, what kind of thermometer's I should get? I ask because I know there is a ton of experience in this thread. I can get inexpensive analog BBQ replacement ones that bolt through a hole in the drum but I'm not sure if the analog ones are accurate, and if so which ones. Also, I'm considering a remote digial meat thermometer. Any and all suggestions on thermometers and/or my build are welcome.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Mike,

I've found that inexpensive analog thermometers are a crap shoot. Sometimes they work, sometimes they are about as bad as the el-cheapo analog hygrometers that come with many humidors. I've seen many that don't work well, yet I have two inexpensive "Grill Care" (something that Home Depot sold years ago) that are actually pretty good, while they are slightly off, they are consistently off. I figure it's only a matter of time though before they go kaput due to being exposed to the elements all the time.

The industrial / food machinery service large analog gauges are generally very good, but also very expensive.

The Maverick dual probe wireless is a popular choice for digital. I believe the model # is ET-732.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Going to try something different tonight.

Seared ahi.

Take the Traeger as high as she'll go with a pizza stone during pre-heating.
Before everyone goes apeshit, I've cooked fish on my Pampered Chef stones before with no lingering fishiness.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

357... After a bit of experimenting you'll find temp variances between the edge and the of your cooking grate. Temps can vary as much as 75F from grate edge to dome top, or anywhere in-between. A short stemmed gauge mounted at grate level will give you a false reading. A removeable side thermo with a long 12" is one option. I used to have my UDS set up with a 12" fryer thermometer.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

x2 I love mine. Accuracy, and peace of mind during the cook are priceless.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Let see some pictures of everyone's smoker... I'm sure they have been posted before I just didn't come across them yet I guess.

This is my modified ecb. I have been looking online a lot the different smokers.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps32a0b954.jpg
Anyone have a ecb? For my limited 2 years messing around with it, I'm very happy with it. Just seeing what tips some of the experienced people have. So far I added a charcoal grate, damper on the lid, real thermometer, and holes in the charcoal pan.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

While this is true, they tend vary consistently. Meaning, if you're pit is, whatever, say 50F low at the side from the center, then it tends to always be about that difference from center to side.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Best accessory I have purchased!!!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

http://americanfood.about.com/od/sea...una_Recipe.htm
No pics but it was gooooood.
About 2 min each side.

The balsamic reduction was tasty.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I have a modified Gourmet ECB (one with the sealed bottom base and pan), originally was an electric smoker, now is a great little smoker.


Here's my midi-wsm (16 gallon drum + Smokey Joe):
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pscec37175.jpg

Shot from a recent cook:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps590d1d1a.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Took a chicken out this morning that I will brine until tomorrow and then dry out and rub for the smoker Saturday morning. This will be my first attempt at smoking anything!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:banger

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Excellent my Newfie friend. Once you try it, at least the times when you do it right, you will be hooked.
TOO EASY, too good, too little left after its done. Looking forward to seeing the results. I have a few smoked
chicken legs in the fridge here at work, thinking about firing one up at ten am, lol.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

It's been entirely too long since I've smoked a rack of ribs. And getting tired of the baby backs. Thinking about a few racks of St. Louis spares, on sale for 2.49/lb at the grocery store today.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I know you will do what you have to do, and I know that is lower than the regular price,
but man, I sure love cutting my own ribs to shape. That extra meat is SO DAMN GOOD
in a pot of pinto beans, red beans, maybe even a pepper steak-type of thing. But like me,
if that is what is on sale and that is what I need, I will make adjustments. They are ALL
on sale today at Krowgur. Thank goodness I got that big ole bag of squirrels out of my
freezer. I DID replace them with 2- 9 packs of english muffins and a big ole loaf of good
quality bread. But I ain't gonna let $3.50 in bread items take up the room for rib stock-ups.
I can eat the bread up, and if they DO get a little moldy, what do I really lose?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I really need a chest freezer. I have both freezers at work loaded to the gills with pork butts, a few whole lamb legs, misc. packs of chicken thighs/drumsticks/wings, etc.

I hear ya on trimming the racks yourself. But I'll be honest, I've never trimmed a rack of ribs before. I probably should. And - gasp - I've never made a pot of beans from scratch. Though I talk about trying it EVERY time I put something on the smoker.

I don't know what meat prices are in your neck of the woods, but the $2.49/lb is about 30% off. Baby back ribs are normally 4.49/lb around here, the spares a little less. No Kroger, Costco, anything like that up here either. Just locally owned places. So, I HAVE to take advantage of the price break. Maybe buy a hunk of side pork for a side o'beans.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Speaking of ribs, 5 racks smoked on a little charcoal grill with lump coal, applewood, and mesquite.http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...psd3d8c724.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

You need to stop using that Kingsford Blue.......Try the red, or go to Royal Oak, lol.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

OK, I admit, my big city life has gotten to my head.
That'sa pretty good price for a local market. BUY BUY BUY.
Cutting ribs is easy, and fun once you know where to make that first cut.
You can easily get that info on the Yousetube if you are ever so inclined.
I also cut away the thin flap at the end that holds a tiny coupla rib bones
and toss it into the beans, too. As for scratch beans, just soak the dry beans for
about 24 hours in a container of water leaving enough room for double expansion of volume.
Then proceed along the lines of this recipe, which admittedly is another rambling novel by me.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

My BETTER beans recipe. This one makes more sense....http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...82#post1854882

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I recently joined SmokingMeatsForum so I can better prepare myself and my UDS. I ran across a thread where a member in Memphis Tenn area is selling 55 gal drums for $5 each.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/1...rums-5-each/40

Anyway, I did a nice hot burn on my barrel and watch the paint fall off. Yet, when I went to grin off the remaining stuff, it's surprisingly resilient. I spent about 90 minutes and only got the top 1/3 of the inside of the barrel done. The only reason I got that far was I switched from my wire wheel to a 36 grit flapper disc. That seemed to work better but wore out the tip rather quickly leaving it less effective. Now I'm looking for a cheap sandblaster gun/tube setup I can use with my compressor as I'm not looking forward to sanding the bottom 1/3 inside the barrel.

Weird thing is I know the burn was hot, I was shooting compressed air into the intake holes I drilled prior to the burn. :sh

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

http://www.harborfreight.com/20-lb-p...ter-68994.html

You can add a 3' to 4' piece of bent pipe between the outlet of the final ball valve and the nozzle so you don't have to stick any body parts in the drum while blasting.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Problem is I don't have the blaster yet. I found one on Home Depot's site that should work with my compressor's capabilities and it's only $10. But I waited a day before ordering it (no in store pickup) and now it shows out of stock and won't let me order it. :fl

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

This one?
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-San...4#.Uc2bJ9nX1c8

I have a similar design suction blaster out in the garage somewhere, along with a gravity feed that came with my compressor. They are actually the same design guns, just one has a tube that goes into a bucket of abrasive and the other with the hose attached to the bottom of a hopper. They're kind of ehhh. They tend to sputter / feed inconsistently, coverage area is kind of small and don't really accelerate the blast media as much as I would like. They do work, but not really that quickly - seem to be designed for quick, small jobs, like blasting small steel parts. From what I remember of the design of the ones I have, I'm not sure if an extension could be fitted to the nozzle because of the way the ceramic fits, and, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be sticking my entire arm down into the drum while hovering my face directly over the top or even in the drum a bit when I'm blasting. Maybe there's a way to mount the gun to the end of a broom handle or something.

Although I can also sympathize with not wanting to spend $40-50 on a tool (pressure blaster) to be used once.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

My daughter turns 16 tomorrow, not sure when that happened :sh.
Big party tomorrow for her and her friends, she requested brisket and ham (she's definitely my child). So there is a 16lb brisket and a 9lb ham going on the smoker this morning. I'll take whatever prayers are offered for my survival tomorrow. :D

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks Andy. I called HD's online customer service number and was able to order it through them. I also ordered a water/oil filter for the compressor to take water out prior to hitting the gun. I've read that makes a big difference for keeping the gun from clogging up. Plus, I found black diamond coal slag at TSC near my house for $8/50lb bag. I've read it does a good job, few clogs, without the safety concerns of using sand (silicosis). I should have everything I need for blasting (including my respirator and other safety equip). I think mouting the gun to a pole of some kind, like my pushbroom handle, is a good idea for the bottom parts of the inside. I hope HD doesn't take forever in getting the order to my local store. It showed 4-7 days plus 3 days processing. Lame, but we'll see. Thanks guys for your help. I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Cool.

I've never used that brand of abrasive, I'd be curious to hear how fast/well it works.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I might have went a little aggressive with 3 pork loins and 2 racks of BB ribs. Wish me luck. If they turn out good ill snap some pictures.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

About to go toss some ribs on the bbq and give Brad's pinto bean recipe a try.
(Don't worry Brad, I actually did read the entire recipe first this time so the beans have been soaking since Friday night).

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps391997ce.jpg
Here is what I have left. Ribs and the sea salt only loin

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Looks very yummy

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I can't believe I smoked a small butt today and took NO PHOTOS. This has to do with the fact that i got up,
walked outside and was STUNNED that it was in the mid 60s (summer in Memphis?!?) and I proceeded, after
firing up the grill and putting the butt on to smoke, to shower and grab my cameras and head to the zoo in
time to open the place up. Sunday is great, since the bible belt crowd is in church and everyone went to the
zoo the day before. It did not get hot all day, and there was almost no humidity to speak of. Spent 2.5 hrs there.
I got home to a 'cold' grill and a pretty much done butt. But I did not take a pic, got too distracted by the whole
completely unexpected, not to mention pretty much solitary spot in the US where you could FIND, GREAT WEATHER thing.
Plus I kinda dried it out, my first one ever to do that. I guess I was honoring Jeff in Canadadia. And really, the interior
was pretty much perfect. Only the outer 1/2 inch showed signs of over-cooking. Problem was, it was a tiny butt, about
the size of a small meat loaf. I foiled it and re-fired the smoker when i got home, let it go 45 mins, then crusted the outside
for another 20 mins. I think that is what did it. I shoulda just pulled it when i got home. I KNOW it had to have been done.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

God bless Texas!


Stopped at my favorite BBQ Wood store today to pick up some Sugar Maple and Cherry. I counted 6 types of fruit wood plus Maple, Mesquite, Oak, & Hickory all in chips, chunks and stick form. Owner told me some pear might be available soon, that'll be a new one for me. Took some photo's for those who like this kinda stuff. :cool:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/9...84aff2f7_z.jpg
IMG_20130701_165000 by kydsid, on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2875/9...ec7168b3_z.jpg
IMG_20130701_164957 by kydsid, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7435/9...edb87f90_z.jpg
IMG_20130701_164952 by kydsid, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7437/9...4bcfdaa9_z.jpg
IMG_20130701_164949 by kydsid, on Flickr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Wow! At one point we had a BBQ supply store that carried some different types of wood, but NOTHING like that!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That is... incredible. I think you've topped everyone in this thread, haha.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Only a small batch tonight. Using apple, pecan and hickory wood

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...pse6a9d07b.jpg

Nice night. Smoking on the outside while the butts smoke on the inside of the grill!

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2ddcf935.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:emo2004

Haha. :sh

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

For those that care - Lowes has 40lbs of Kingsford charcoal for $10 through 7/8/13.

CLICKY

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Cool store. My dream is to have a BBQ supply store with grills, wood, supplies, hundreds of sauces, etc.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I am expecting this thread to explode from awesomeness today.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Holy buckets that's an awesome store. I like the wheelbarrow instead of cart idea too.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I will start!
http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/...ps55410058.jpg

Pics of the finished product in about 6 hours!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yeeeeeeeees

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Here's the finished before hitting the dinner table!
http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1b88f280.jpg
My plate before I dug in! :dr I made the coleslaw and some BBQ Sauce while waiting for the ribs to be done.
http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0698a927.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Nice!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Did a pork loin yesterday, to try out a new rub.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb64ff243.jpg

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps41a04d6a.jpg

Using that rub on 17+ lbs of pulled pork going on for an overnight smoke.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6c12d9ac.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Smoked some split chicken breasts for dinner tonight. Just a couple hours and very tasty.

Coated them this time, for the first time, with a slather of softened butter and Tony's Spice. Sweet mother that turn out some good crispy skin. Definitely gonna prep that way again.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3770/9...1c092dba_z.jpg
IMG_20130707_200244 by kydsid, on Flickr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Tony's is the best sprinkle in the world til you lose the taste for it.
If that ever happens, look for Luzianne. That is some great sprinkle.
It used to come in a white can with a plantation home on it. Now it
is a green can with a plantation home on it. HOPE it is the same stuff.
Never had to find out, I have so much on hand, lol.

I got worked again this weekend, second BBQ holiday in a row my sister
has tapped me to help her with her new house/move. Looking forward to
a weekend at home for a few months before I have to drive ANYWHERE
again. 4 funerals in LA, 1 Mardi Gras, 2 visits to friends in LA, and 2 move
weekends in NC....most of my weekends have been eaten up this year so far.

But I have three racks of ribs and a few chickens in the freezer.