Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Did some pork belly burnt ends yesterday! Turned out really good. Not as much bark as I would have liked but the family still enjoyed them.

 

My chimney looks about the same as the older one in the pic, not even certain of the brand. After watching the ads about the OJ one I got to thinking (dangerous). I drilled several holes in the side so it could breath a bit better (mine had nothing but the bigger holes only at the bottom. Day light and dark difference, I'd guess almost half the time to perfect coals. I'll be picking up the OJ model very soon, but some one may very well benefit from this simple mod.

 

Ok, so I have a regular charcoal chimney. Not one of the fat, short ones. Should I drill holes in the side of it?

 

Don't know if you should, but I have the Weber unit he was talking about and am going to do the same thing to it.

 

I just looked and mine is a Weber.

 

Does anyone know how to attach fire rope gasket material to a flat surface?

Namely, I am trying to seal up my old offset smoker, having found the fire rope I bought for the purpose over a year ago. The firebox hatch is just like most of them, a curved affair that overlaps the hole in the drum by about a half inch per side.

 

-drill sounds, a la Robot Chicken-

 

High heat, fire resistant silicone.

 

Don't know your smoker, but that leak may be what is needed to keep the smoke from becoming creosote. I dunno.

 

Carburetion is done via the side of the box.

 

So, add this to the list of food that Pitfaced spicy is good on...

Baked sweet potatoes. I have started experimenting with them due to their supposed influence on blood sugar. Microwaved a very small one and added some butter and sour cream and a heavy dusting of Pitfaced spicy on one half, and Konriko Creole seasoning on the other. (I am wierd, eat skin and all of potatoes)
They were both delicious. This will definitely go into the rotation.

 

Then you are sealing the lid to stop heat loss?
I really shouldn't be commenting here, coz I don't use a smoker like the 1 you have. I bet you get it figgered out.

 

Eating the skin of a potato isn't weird but microwaving them is

 

Somewhat, but mainly to control oxygen ingress to the fire. As it is presently, I can not choke the fire enough to gain control over it. This is why all my cooks thus far in this thread (until recently) have been in the oven. That will change soon as I figure out what I want to smoke next, which will be done in my new WSM (thanks again to Dan0mite).

 

Hey, 5 minutes from raw to done, versus over an hour. I can't tell the difference in the final product (well if anything, the potato is creamier out of the microwave).

 

You've never had a properly cooked potato then. There is no way to get crispy outside, soft inside via a microwave. No way, not happening.

Plus I wear a so I try to limit cooking via zapping.

 

I am all ears. What's the proper way to cook a potato?

 

I wash mine with a scrub brush and dry them off really good. Take a fork and stab them in two different spots, about 1/2 way through. Put them in a hot oven, 400 degrees for about an hour then wrap them in foil and let them cook until they feel right. Like they have that give where you know the inside is soft and cooked. Unfoil for five minutes with the door to the oven cracked. I do this with both russets and sweet potatoes and they turn out awesome. Sure it takes some time but that's time to fire up and cook on the grill.

 

So they go in the oven wrapped in foil from the start, right ?

 

No. First part unwrapped, then wrapped.