Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Vortex? Or homemade ring? I need on of them for that exact purpose.

 

Wings! And nice combination of sauces

Last Thursday my sons found out I was making wings and both asked if they could come over at the last minute. Only had 4 pounds for the 3 of us but I can only fit about 5 pounds on the 22" Kettle as it is. The one thing that might drive me over the edge to get the 26" kettle is wings.

After 40 min. cooked and smoked with cherry



For my Buffalo sauce I have a dedicated SS mixing bowl. I use the old 70's-80's 3:2 ratio of Franks to butter. They are rich as hell but no one complains.



I take the wood chunk off and put the bowl over the vortex and stir constantly with a whisk. Doesn't take long to melt and mix. Put the wings in and toss then back on the grill. That is the tricky part 6-10 minutes at the most. This time did 6 minutes but could have gone 7 or 8. But is easy to burn them so better safe than sorry.



Then back in the bowl with the sauce which is still hot and toss again



They each ate 2 big plates. I did get to eat one plate LOL. Worth it to watch them go to town on them.

 

Rare?

 

Smoke a water and freeze it, perfect for whiskey.

 

Very nice.

And 26 is worth it. Haven't loaded with wings yet... But will once I figure out a vortex setup.

 

Nah. I want a vortex. This is just the Weber baskets pushed together in the middle.

 

I did that one time, but I partook in whiskey while it was smoking. My brain said "that's ice, just grab the handle of that pot that's been in the smoker" and then my hand said "fuck that's fucking hot now I have lines on me".

 

I do have those. They work ok in that setup? Looks like it. And with the 26" I would have more heat separation I guess. Have to give it a go

 

Nope just was the lighting

 

Baby backs? Light rub? Looks good

 

Pork loin backs. Yup just a light dry rub. Came out pretty dericious

 

In the plastic????

 

I used to love Buffalo chicken, but in the past dozen years or so, Nashville hot chicken has become really popular. I used to eat at Hattie B's once week and still eat there every other week or so. It has ruined Buffalo chicken for me. The heat is a whole different level.

 

Works good enough for me until I can get the vortex. I use these in 4 setups

* Charcoal to the side in baskets
* Charcoal in between the baskets with the baskets on the sides
* Charcoal in the baskets in the middle
* Charcoal around the baskets with the baskets in the middle

I've also done charcoal half way around the baskets with the baskets in the middle and lit like the snake method.

 

Smoke water. Cool it down some so it doesn't melt the ice trays. Pour into ice trays and freeze.

I prefer to do this with solo cups. You get one big chunk of ice instead of smaller cubes that melt. Plus you don't have ice trays that smell like smoke. The "cube" depends on how full you fill the cup.

 

I'm interested in a new smoker. I've been using a hillbilly minifridge style smoker for 6 or 7 years. It uses a coleman propane single burner and I put chips in a small cast iron pan. It will run 350F+, but at the lowest setting it runs around 200F or so. For smaller stuff like Jerky, that means I have to wait until it is ass cold outside to smoke or the meat just gets roached. I mostly smoke fish, jerky, country ribs and smaller cuts of meat. What commercial smoker would you get in my situation? I like not having to plug it in to electricity, being portable, and being able to store it out on the deck 365 days a year.

 

Weber varients are a good choice. Smokey mountain or kettle. Craigslist finds can be good. I also rock a propane smoker occasionally for the capacity when needed.

 

I had one of those years ago and I could never get a good smoke out of it. Everything just tasted...like wet socks and creosote. I didn't really know what I was doing then either, but it just seemed like it steamed the meat more than smoked it. Hard to explain I guess.

 

Weber Smokey mountain for sure. I never cover mine and they look like new. I also don't put water in the water pan, so no steaming of meat.

 

Would it still handle larger cuts of meat as well? I usually smoke a couple turkeys a year and various 3-4 pound chunks of meat, but mostly stick to smaller stuff.

EDIT: It looks like that is what I'm looking for, thanks guys!