Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

But is the thermometer difference always relative?

 

Just hit the bbq lottery my friend. Don't worry about the grommet. There is a ton of mods to do on that thing to dial it in. Congrats

 

I think there is a curve, but I don't trust it at all. It will say 250 when my probes say 200. If the sun is hitting it, it will be off by a lot. Even if it were accurate, that is the temp at the lid, not at the grates. With a temp probe, you clip it to the grate you are cooking on.

 

I have some Johnsonville brats thawinget. Was going to grill them but just thought maybe I'd smoke them. Maybe 200 for a couple hours? Any suggestions?

 

On the 5 hour mark of a 6lb butt. Grill is maintaining 230-250 fairly easily and just checked the temp of the butt, 172 degrees. General consensus is pull it off at around 190 and let it rest in a cooler? Or do I have that wrong?

 

In Wisconsin ( Johnsonville is made in WI & my favorite brat) we boil them in beer (The darker, the better). Then throw them the grill!
I don't think you'll get much smoke flavor with the casing still on the brat. I poke holes in the cases when I boil them. I'm not sure that would work for smoke

 

I second that (Milwaukee native). I also throw some sliced onions in the boiling beer & brats. Makes for a good topping

I'm too new to smoking to have an opinion on what will work or not lol, sorry I'm no help there

 

I've opened my pellet pooper in the summer to get it going, and lid thermo is already reading 110+.

I'd say they're just hood ornaments.

 

I tried once. I'm no expert, but mine were just dry. I think beer bath is the way to go. With onions and peppers!

 

Yes they are inaccurate, but a black smoker sitting in the sun is going to be fairly hot without a fire in it.

 

I smoke them quite often, about what you suggested, I go 225 for just under two hours. I love how it renders a lot of the fat out of them. My fav is with a bit of mustard and sauerkraut.

 

I go to 195 and then let it rest. I don't have a cooler for it so I just use the oven with the temp set to 170.

 

Yep, closer to 200 for me. It's amazing how much difference that last 5 or 10 degrees of internal temp changes the meat. If you pull at 190, you'll have a firmer, more chewy meat. If you pull at 200, it will be softer and more pullable. Both are great. 'Pulled' pork at a lot of BBQ restsaurants seems like it's only cooked to 165 or so and then chopped, and it's still delicious. It's just different, and not really pulled.

 

on restaurants, a lot of that pork is bagged up and reheated, which is fine, but it's never as good reheated as it is fresh.

i made the mistake of getting impatient one time because of starting my pork too late in the day. i pulled it off the smoker at 185 and had to chop it instead of pull it. my wife said to never do that again.

 

I have four on my WSM. The first hour they are all over the place. About a 30degree difference between them all. After an hour or so they all come togother to read the same temp. But you always measure your temps at the grate. Not the lid

 

Woohoo! Ok, I think I pulled a little soon (temp at 190ish) because it's not pulling as easy as I would have thought. But it's damn tasty!

 

Great smoke ring.

 

Is it possible with a WSM that the lid thermostat reads LOWER than a probe at grate level? Probe is not touching metal or ribs. I always thought the lid therm would read higher. Just trying to make sure it isn't my probe that's f'ed up. Lid says 220, probe says 255.

 

Any tips from anyone on a full rack of beef ribs on a gas grill?

Was planning to just lather them up with some stubbs the night before then grill indirectly for 3-4 hours with a nice home made tinfoil pouch full of wood chips. Never tried before and with that time commitment I don't want it to be a complete waste of time.

 

Well wtf... Now, about 50 minutes into it, they both read right around 250. Is the lid therm just slow to wake up?