Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I should just rent out my house for a week. Make a few grand during Super Bowl.

 

$7,000 to rent. Hire maid service $300 to clean up.

 

The generic ticket package with a buffet is about $4,000. Basic seating.

 

looking for a good instant read thermometer.
I smoked some drumsticks last weekend and my current thermometer took forever to read.

thinking of getting this

Instant Read BBQ Meat Thermometer For Grill And Cooking. Sold In Elegant Gift Box. Best Ultra Fast Digital Kitchen Food Probe. Includes Internal Meat Temperature Guide. Spring Loaded.

https://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Grille...540&sr=8-2&keywords=alpha+griller+thermometer


which ones do you all use if any

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/meat-thermometer-for-grilling-kitchen.439535/

 

I have a Camp Chef DLX which I really like. Set and forget.

 

Exactly! Add as much cheese as your stomach allows.

 

Now that the weather will start to cool down, I am looking forward to smoking cheeses.

Another note, WSM.. can you guys touch on it at all? I want to get a charcoal but get torn in different directions every time I look. The Pit Barrel Cooker also looks good.

 

WSM is great, 18.5" is most common but there's a bigger and smaller size. If you're just cooking for 3-4 people it's big enough. Most barrel smokers are designed do you hang the meat, FYI. Some people may be reticent to do that maybe.

 

Is it true that the larger 22.5" is headset to control temp? Is the 18.5" easily managed?

 

Not sure what you mean by headset. Harder?

Takes more fuel to run and maintain the 22. That's probably why the 18 is most popular. If you have enough meat to cook to warrant the 22, there are better options to use like a Primo (aside from pellet poopers). WSM 18 is just a good all around smoker for the casual smoker because it is a good combo of size and ease of use. Some people do haul them to comps, because they're easy to transport.

 

i have an 18.5 WSM and no issues with temp control at all. It hits 250 pretty easy. Havent tried high temp 300+yet but I don't think it will be a problem.
Im 90% leaning towards doing a high temp brisket for the first time this weekend which calls for 325+ degrees, so we will see

did I mention how much I love my WSM

 

I did high temp brisket in my 18.5, no problem holding 350 for 4-5 hours. Don't use minion method, instead dump full chimney unlit and then full chimney lit.

 

Crap! Harder to*** is what I meant. I currently have a pellet stove and like it but I also want one for charcoal flavor.

 

Just ordered the shelf for my Traeger, should have come with it for the price. Not my point for this though. I was wondering if anyone here that has a Traeger has tried the Nomex gasket kit for it? I found it on Amazon when buying the shelf and it's about $20 for 15' of it. Just wondering if anyone hard tried and what their opinion was.

This was the one I found:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CI72E8E/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A262TPPYXMWGNT

 

Yeah, but you're hard core... Jigzor, you don't *have* to pre-coal. That's only for true addicts like Scott

Didn't want to scare off another pellet-to-coal convert.

 

I'm with ya. Fun as hell trying to perfect the process.

 

That's the only similarity between coal burners and pellet poopers... The libations

 

All you need is to try a different brand of pellets if you're not getting enough "charcoal/smoke" flavor. Not a new smoker, IMO.

 

Currently using cabellas but charcoal will still produce a different flavor. What brands do you use?