Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Not a slave if you enjoy it.

 

Enjoyment or not you gotta babysit it.

 

After about 2 hours of with vents and the coals, I usually can leave mine be every couple hours.

I need to get a stupid chimney I reckon, would grill/smoke much more frequently. Also need more Weber starter cubes...

 

The cotton ball/IPA method is super effective. Made up a jar from shit I had at home in two minutes for free. But yeah, when I bought the Weber I also bought the chimney. Going with hardwood briquettes for now.

 

I enjoy smoking on all sorts of different smokers. I find the entire hobby no matter the vessel to be very relaxing.

 

Cotton ball/IPA?

 

I made paraffin/cotton/sawdust fire starters way back in my Boy Scout days. Weber cubes are like the easy button, just noticed that I can't find them all walmert lately, bLowes still has em.

 

I've just avoided a chimney for years, don't really know why either. I do see their benefit and I should own one.

 

I like lobster grilled too but only have had split the tails down the back not all the way through although some do.



More and more are splitting King Crab legs in half to grill also. Haven't tried that. Yet!

Great choice on the gasser and the smoker and kettle too

Yes I love the sear station. And also Porterhouse although never have done one vertical.

My Genesis is an older model and over the years have added to it. Replaced the grates with GrillGrates and love them





And have the griddle. Because bacon.



And rotisserie.



I like my birds spinning on a stick and have rotisseries for the Genesis, 22" kettle, 18" JJ and WSM. One of these days will pick one up for the 26" kettle.

Automatic Temperature Control. No babysitting.





Set it and forget it



Many Big Green Egg owners use them too, it is the most popular adapter kit sold by a lot of the ATC units.

My sister in NC called me Sunday, my BIL decided to fire up a WSM he purchased used a year ago for the first time and had a pork butt on and they had some questions for me about 6 hours in. First time using it and it only took him an hour from starting it to keep it running at 235° the rest of the day.

Have 2 chimneys and many boxes of Weber starter cubes, I love the cubes and they are cheap. Doing a snake on the 26" kettle I don't even bother with the chimney just put a starter cube on the tail and a few pieces of charcoal over it. Light fires and life is good.

 

.21 cents each. Delivered to your door with no hassle of going to a store. I usually purchase 4 boxes of them at a time that is almost 100 cubes.

 

Isopropyl alcohol. Although I suppose IPA beer would also be a better use than drinking it.

Saw someone said they noticed a waxy taste when using a couple different kind of starters. Plus, this was free.

 

I've been using the tumbleweed starters recently. I always had to use a couple weber marshmallows so the cost seems a push to me.

 

They're $4.99 at bLowes right now. Have 31 on the shelf lol

Why wait 2 days when I can rub elbows with Rona?

 

We made fire starters, to start fires. Not always for cooking purposes, just proof of concept and life lessons. I wouldn't use what I made for food fires.
Also, not "free". You bought cotton balls and the alcohol, but I do see your point sir! And I might give them a whirl and compare to the weber cubes

 

I have a charcoal barrel grill, no insulation to it but typically I can leave it be for 90 minutes or so without any problems.

I don't use any starters. I use a chimney on the gas grill side burner.

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1174904/anyone-try-lighting-a-chimney-starter-on-a-side-burner

Burning within a few minutes and then up to temp within 20 usually. Then I'll drop some chips on the charcoal pile and then just maintain as it goes. No starter fluid, no waxy flavors, etc. I can't stress enough to anyone, no starter fluid that flavor sticks around. The link above has a short video of it, my coals aren't usually that hot when I put them in for smoking. But after that, usually every 90 minutes or so I'll need to drop some more in there. Sometimes 1 hour, but in the warmer summer months usually somewhere between 60-90.

 

Yeah, same. I think we have the same grill? Char Griller?

 

Char Griller duo. gas and charcoal yeah.

 

It was just one of those things I saw on a YT video, and since we already had the cotton, the IPA, and a spare jar I tried it out as an experiment. True that it isn't free, but it's cobbling off of excessive spare materials that I already had. Sunk cost? I used the 91% IPA because it's what I use to clean electronics. Was the easiest thing I've ever lit and this was my first time in almost twenty years lighting charcoal. No more lighter fluid for me. The alcohol should burn clear and scent free, and the cotton is just that. Had the chimney going strong in about thirty seconds, so I was impressed.

Didn't even consider that. However I do try to keep the grills covered and didn't want to uncover both just to light some bricks. Good point, though.

I guess I also now need to get started designing a covered area adjacent to our patio for this stuff to fit in. This grill gazebo is now too small and it's been rusting terribly.

 

https://durasheds.com/products/bicy...mU26z-g2VvW9aLZ1lq3f5Rsqdd2LZmnwaApxeEALw_wcB

I've looked at doing something like this where the roof can lift off instead. Basically open sesame, use the grill, close up.

 

I just use a chimney and light it with a propane torch. Hold the torch under the chimney for a couple minutes, then let it burn until ready.