Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Nice job, where are the pics

Some would say that you don't want your ribs to fall off the bone as its usually a sign that they are a little over. I prefer mine to be at the stage right before they are falling off.

 

I dont have any

They werent even that close though. I think they turned out a little tough still due to not getting to quite adequate temperature. Hindsight i should have cooked them longer but i was running short on time. The leftovers i ended pulling off the bone/chopping to make sandwiches! Yum

May try a brisket this weekend. Are there any seasoning tips?

 

Gotcha. I usually do a few hours on the smoker, then wrap them in foil with some apple/grape juice mix with the meat side down and cook them for 1.5-2 hours like that, then I pull them out and put some sauce on them and finish them on the grill. They usually turn out pretty good.

Most all of my rubs consist of heavy brown sugar and paprika and then a little bit of salt, garlic/onion salt, chili powder, and some cayenne. Sometimes when I'm lazy I buy the stuff from the store too

 

ill be sure to give that a try next time!

ill pull my meat to be thawed this evening. already getting hungry thinking about it

 

I have done baby back ribs on my smoker and they came out great, but a much easier way and they come out just as good in just a fraction of the time using the oven and BBQ grill...
just wrap them in foil, but them in the oven for about an hour at 250- 300 until they grey and they should be "falling off the bone" at this point(but look like gray crap)..then just put them on the bbq for a few minutes and put whatever sauce...this give them the finished "Grilled Look"..they come out perfect and everything thinks I had them on the smoker for hours.




Now for real Texas style brisket...there are no shortcuts. Oak & Time

 

yea ive seen oven/grilling techniques just seems like cheating but if it works, it works. granted that was my first use of the smoker and first time with ribs so ill be giving it more tries before i give up.

that brisket looks great!

 

Its all about practice. I usually just get the twin pack of baby backs at samms or Costco..that is as cheap as they come...and they are always tender.
I have trouble regulating my temp in our Texas "Winter" - it is definitely harder to keep a steady temp in cold weather for me...and I have a Lyfe Tyme which is a traditional side fire box smoker.

If I were you, wait for the a day for the weather to get up to 50 and see if you can get the temp above 200(with no food)...then try again on a day when it is 30 degees out...see if you have the same problem. It is better to solve your temp issue with no food and not waste any money or have people waiting for food.

I think everyone will agree...a good meat to practice on is a Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder to make a pulled pork.

 

i know the lil smoker can get up to temp, i did the "burn in" (if thats the right word) of placing wood in the night before and barely had to turn it on to maintain a 225* temperature, i would say outside temp was around the same again (it wasnt as windy though). it didnt have the water or ribs to heat also.


i may be wrong but between the extra mass needing heat and the wind maybe it wasnt holding heat well enough that particular day

 

I would say the wind was drawing/draining the heat off.
Wind has caused me grief too. Normally my smoker lasts 2 hours before the temp starts to drop and I have to put more wood in, so I normally wake up 3 times during the night to reload. One night it was real windy and it was stoking the fire box...I woke up after 2 hours and the fire box was complete ash. You live and you learn.

 

glad we are drawing the same conclusion. Ill post up this weekend after my next attempt!

 

Picked a smoke tube up yesterday, for my traeger.

 

Smoking some jerky. It will go in the dehydrator after about 2 hours of cold smoking.

 

Smoked pizzas today.

 

Heres what im trying tonight, sweet/spicy chipotle rub on pork tenderloin with hickory chips.

 

So a guy at work smokes his brisket for a few (4-6 maybe?) hours at 200 or so and then brings it in to sit in a turkey roaster at 225 overnight. Anyone do this? Probably a similar effect to foiling & returning to the smoker.

And man, that tenderloin is gonna be good, Sac!

 

I hope it will, might have to go in longer than expected though, its still chilly outside so its taking a while to get back up to temp from when i added the meat

 

No spectacular sides but the loins came out tasting great, and i chose to leave the sauce on the side. Smoke ring isnt very thick but its there!

 

Good work, man. I haven't figured out how to do great tenderloin yet. I think it's just too uniform in texture for me. I might try a brine on one at some point - my turkey brine should give it a good hammy taste.

 

This was my first. I didnt think texture was too bad, came out different than i expected though with the outer seasoned layer being "crunchier" for lack of better word. But the spice mix i used was very tasty, just something i found online.

 

I spent the day smoking my first Pork Butt and Bacon Wrapped Fatty. Very pleased with the results. I had a blast and everything is so good!

Prep




Loaded up


Finished fatty


Butt after 10 hrs in the smoker about to get finished in the oven.


Result