Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I have and am seriously considering a pellet to replace my gasser. Can always keep the WSM for when I need to generate some testosterone (more than the pellet, but less than a stick burner). But I need the gasser to die to justify it in my head.

 

Wish I would have bought a 26”. I bought a red 22” with the tall legs instead and regret not getting the bigger kettle almost every time I smoke something.

A 26” is definitely in the future but don’t have space for one right now.

 

@Delta09

Don't be alarmed if you see the digital temp fluctuate... the pellet smoker / grills cycle much like an electric oven. It feeds the pellets to get to temp, then it cools down then cycles up again. If you put a $5 oven thermometer on the grate you'll see that the grate temperature remains at a constant temp.

 

So first use today. Sorta a success, and sorta a failure, but more of a learning curve. Two racks of St. Louis style ribs on sale at the local Food Lion. Rubbed with Rajin Cajun seasoning and let it sit for a hot minute while I got the pellets going. Foil wrapped the top rack and set them on. I initially had it set on "S" or smoke mode. 30 minutes in I just felt like it just wasn't doing any cooking. This is where I messed up, but lesson learnt. Turned it up to 220-250 for the entire 3.5hours I had them on there. Periodically coated them with apple cider vinegar and the last hour I moved them to the bottom rack and added sauce.

This is almost done here



Pulled them off and let sit for a good 20 minutes or so. For the most part they were pretty good. The thinner parts were a little dried out and the thicker fattier parts were really good. You could taste the hint of smoke, so it definitely "smokes" even out of "S" mode. Overall 6/10 compared to what I've done before. However, I loved the fact that I wasn't constantly babysitting the thing. Only time I checked up on it was to wet it down, so that's a plus to me.

 

What pellets did you use?

 

Pit Boss comp blend. I'll have to experiment with different ones as well I recon. Although as far as flavor, it was top notch. Not overpowering, but there.

 

You'll want to verify the smoker temp with an good quality thermometer. Like the dial thermometers on most other grills, the digital thermometer on your pellet grill can't always be trusted. On my Traeger, it consistently read about 50F lower than the actual temperature and I ruined a lot of food before I figured that out.

 

I think some put a smoke tube in if you dont get enough smoke flavor. We dont like a lit of smoke flavor so it works out

 

@Delta09

I use the Pit Boss Competition Blend for everything. I could save you the trouble of trying all the other flavors as I've been there and done that, but I'll let you decide what is best for you

As @Kremtok mentioned, you can buy an oven thermometer for around $5 and set it right on the grate so you can monitor actual temps at food level. They're usually rated to 500F so no issues other than cleaning the face of it now and then with soapy water and a green Scotch bright pad.

I've found that a 2-2-1 method works best for me, but I suggest a small notebook to keep track of your cooks so you remember what you did, what you liked or not and what you wanna try the next time.

You can also turn your ribs the other direction and see if that makes a difference.

 

So north-south works best??

 

That's the way mine were facing sooo maybe not...

 

Good point. So have them directed toward the sunrise.

 

It's more about the direction of the air flow through the chamber and the thick side vs thin side of the meat. Some of that science stuff. But what do I know?

 

I use Lumberjack Competition Blend pretty much exclusively. Had great luck with and the flavor from them is great. Their Comp blend is M-H-C (Maple, Hickory and Cherry). Wife has been asking me to try out the charcoal ones, every once in a while we miss that charcoal grill taste on our burgers or steaks. I may try the pellets or see if I can find a cheap used Weber.

 

For sure. I flip my ribs and turn them around so that each side gets time being close to the heat. Same with other cuts of meat.

I like to take an active role in smoking!

 

I wasn't a fan of the charcoal pellets but everyone has different tastes. Buy a small bag to try out and then you can buy a bigger bag if you like them

The Pit Boss Competition Blend is Hickory, Maple and Apple.

 

Just having some fun this morning. I was thinking of “rib-henge” with a circle of ribs all aligned for sunshine on the summer solstice.

 

Not sure what it's called when you take a rack and tie it in a circle like a crown... sure those would want to be facing the sun too! Haha

 

Like this: