Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

If you replace that water tray with aluminium baking trays your smoker will keep a more constant temperature. It will hold more water and allow for better air flow.

 

I had just cleaned mine too.. I shop vac up all the ash after each use to that pile of ash is all from the Charcoal pellets.

My water pan has louvers in it for airflow and it holds about 3 hours worth of water...I'm good with that but thank you for sharing so others may utilize that great idea!


You can see in the picture above how the louvers and the shape allow the right airflow.

 

I have basically the same smoker as you. Different name. same manufacturer. I spent a lot of time testing it. It is burried in this thread many pages back. The louvers actually prevent the air from flowing especially if you are smoking a large amount in these awesome smokers.


After hearing complaints about heat spikes I did a test with multiple probes all over the smoker. I will sum it up.
There are three levels - heat box, water box, cooking box.

Heat box - Where the most temperature fluctuation occurs. 5 degrees at least. At the temperature selected the auger feeds pellets into the fire pit. As the pellets light up the temp rises very quickly. As they burn up the temp cools down until the controller decides to add more pellets. This is the burn cycle.

Water Box - The one that comes with these smokers is small and the louvers do not provide enough flow. There are many post that are mostly from owners that pack in a lot of meat and the smokers cant keep up. What it comes down to is the design. The water amount and the few louvers aren't enough to provide enough airflow if you want to smoke more than a couple pounds at a time.

Cooking Box - A lot have complained about the temperature swings in the cooking box area. By now you have read on the first two issues and if you have addressed them this should be solved.

I have been using the Louisiana for over a year and am only trying to help.

 

Haha I appreciate the information... Here's my take on mine since I've had it a couple of years now ... I keep the original water I place because I feel it's perfect for the design of the smoker. It keeps all that fat from dripping into the fire box area, it helps regulate the heat.I've test ran it without the water pan in there and the chamber temps near the top were over 100F higher than the set point.

There's always more than one way to do things and with this not being my first nor my only vertical smoker I've learned along the way. I've done single pork shoulders and I've done 10 shoulders at once in this thing and I do understand the airflow etc.

I'm definitely not saying there can't be improvements to these style smokers but I for one have always ran the water pan and I will likely continue to do so. I'd hate for someone to come along and read all this and ruin a $100 brisket because they took the water pan out.

 

All you really need is a big pot and a thermometer.

 

they all will have some smalls in the bag, based on my experience. I normally use brick though.

 

I guess it was a success! 14 pounds gone in a few hours.

 

I did some split chicken breast last night I wanted to try out the rub that I got for Father's Day.
Rub
I felt like cooking on the Weber kettle...so many options...kettle, smoker, gas grill...I've perfected chicken on the Weber Genesis. I haven't burned a piece in nearly 8 years. Heat the thing up to 400F (all 3 on Med). Place the chicken skin down over the left burning flame for three minutes flip it over and sear the underside for three minutes. Shut off the left-hand burner with the right two burners on medium 20 to 25 minutes later your chicken will be 165F and crispy and not burned. This works for bone in meat and wings. Best part is it also pre-burns the hairs off the wings...
Back to business.
The tools for tonight. This Royal Oak burns really hot and fast. I like to use it for this type of cooking, we are going to need a temperature of about 350F for at least an hour. It takes far more Kingsford's to get that temperature and I didn't want as much surface area for the coals. It would overcook the outside too quickly. I also used some maple chips to give a little bit of sweetness.
Seared
Smoking
It seemed stalled at 160F so I repositioned them closer to the coals in the tray.
A little rest...
Malbec with smoked meats.
Plated with some corn on the cob I foiled and cooked along side the chicken. I cut off the end hairs and leave it in the husk. I also picked up a large house fried rice from the Chinese restaurant in town because I was just craving the hell out of it while walking the dog and thought I'll pick some up on the way home. That way I'm also supporting local businesses.
Good stuff.

 

That was eye catching! Ryobi

 

We got a little off track talking tools...a buddy has the rigid multi tool and loves it

 

Now I want fried rice with chicken for dinner tonight. THANKS.

actually I’ll probably do that. Chicken thighs/drums on the gasser with a fried rice from the Chinese place down the street.

 

I may try to put these leftover ribs in the sous vide to see if they can work as leftovers. We had over a full rack left as my son found the Butt Rubb too spicy and my wife had to grab something on the way home. I ate my share, though.

 

Anyone have both a vertical (cabinet style) and a horizontal (grill style) pellet smoker. If so which do u prefer

 

Yes and I prefer the vertical.

I have a gas grill for grilling and I think the cabinet has better heat distribution.

Purely my opinion tho and I'm sure there's others.

 

Cut them into mini racks of 3 or 4 bones and freeze them. I keep a few in the freezer for months. I reheat it in the microwave for 30 seconds to liquify the ice and then cut them into single ribs, foil pouch them in the toaster oven for about 45 min. Open it up, add some bbq sauce and finish on high heat for 5 min.

 

Yep, vacuum seal if you have one. Sous vide will work to reheat from frozen that way. 5-10 min in the oven at 350-400 to bring back the bark works well.

 

Smoking this green chile fatty on the egg. Holding right on 250 f. No more adjustments needed. I can't even remember life before my big green egg.

 

Disclaimer!! I'm sharing MY opinion and a process and link from where I learned it.

There will be many different opinions on this subject so take it with a grain of salt and do your own research and keep the negative to a minimum.

@nDub

I've personally used this wet curing brine with great success with many things from making bacon to inventing pulled ham to corned beef, Canadian bacon etc.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine.110799/

While this is off your current topic of beef jerky, it is a great resource. Unfortunately, even on SMF there's many opinionated people who will tell you this is all wrong etc.

However, if you want to try your hand at it you need Cure #1 and a digital scale that measures in grams.




The reasons for this are to weigh each ingredient to make each gallon of water exactly the same. You want consistency in case you have to make another gallon to cover a piece of meat.

Do NOT try to make a half gallon or cut the recipe in half. The ingredients are cheap and if you only need say a 1/2 gallon to cover the meat, you can pour the other half in ziplock bags to weigh the meat down. (If you use water in the ziplock bags and it leaks it will dilute the brine)

I actually took the time to measure out all the ingredients in grams and while the salts and sugars are negotiable, the amount of cure is NOT.

For every gallon of water I use the following:

1 gallon of water
24 grams of Cure #1
144 grams Kosher salt
(OR 136.50 grams of table salt but NOT both!!)
200 grams Sugar
200 grams Brown Sugar


Mix well and use it.

Like I said I weighed out the things in 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 cup sizes. I started with 200 grams of Kosher when I began to keep things easy, but I've cut the Kosher salt back.

Again, I'll be happy to answer any questions about this process that I can, but I'm not here to defend it again and again. (Speaking from experience here)

Here's Pops himself explaining it.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pops-curing-brine.298897/

 

Lots of ways to accomplish the same thing. I have a cookbook that is probably older than me I use for reference. I personally have never "cured" my jerky. I do however seal and freeze it for long term storage.

The book:

And my favorite recipe (dry rub).

 

Perfect. Thank you!

I need to looking cure #1.