Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

when it is said "soak the chips"

is this in ligther fluid?

 

No, soak them in water so they will burn/smoke slowly.

 

to make the smoking effect last longer.

 

Or just use wood chunks in the Slow&Sear, no need for chips nor soaking. That's start a whole other shitstorm

 

That's like asking what gen Tacoma is best!


You'll get just as many answers and arguments! Perhaps personal preference. I've done both up and down....tasted great both ways! IMHO

 

ill try hay.

 

green grass for slow burning

 

Golden rule of smoking'.....

If you're lookin' you ain't cookin!

 

This is absolutely true. You will have to just dick around enough to figure out what you like best. There are very few steadfast rules with this stuff, nor is most advice to be taken as the gospel. It's more about the experience, the "journey" as they say. The payoff is that you get to eat whatever you experimented with, and it's hard to screw it up to the point that it's still not better than anything you could have made in the kitchen.

 

Thats ocd right there!

 

A chimney of lump lasts about 6 reliable hours in my double-walled Akorn. In a thin walled smoker, fuel tends to go much quicker. A chimney of briquettes only seems to last about an hour of high heat in my big round kettle grill.

 

Fat side down... The fat molecules are larger than the spaces in the protein so it's not basting the meat, it's just washing the rub off.

I use Kingsford blue briquettes. It's cheap, easily attainable, and very predictable. Taste the meat, not the heat. Use wood if you want flavor.

 

Wood is my go-to fuel for smoking, grilling or fast cook. Depending on what I'm doing dictates how much I split the wood down.

 

I used to use Kingsford blue exclusively, but one day I noticed an ammonia smell when I lift the lid from the pit with just the lit coals, before or after cook. I kept at it, but every time I would notice that smell. Switched to Stubbs, and no more smell whatsoever. Just my experience, ymmv.

 

If you have a smoker that burns sticks, use wood. I have a wsm, designed and built to burn charcoal.

 

Stubbs is my favorite brand if I'm using briquettes. They're all natural, whatever that means, and they seem to leave a lot less ash. Kingsford is fine of course, but I'm amazed at the volume of ash left over. Lots of binders in there.

 

Sorry but it's the truth. Pork butts off the weber taste better IMHO.