Looking for advice w/Smokenator & 1st smoke


 
L

Laura D

TVWBB Fan
Hello Everyone - I'm Laura and I mainly grill. I would love to try to BBQ. I just took a 9 hour BBQ class and it was great, to see competition level BBQ'ers and get tips. Plus everything they made tasted amazing! Me want to make meat slow smoked over fiyahhhh!

I bought a Smokenator for my 22.5 OTG and would like to use it for the first time. I'm looking for any recipes anybody has that has a shorter cook time with meat that will be a bit forgiving if I make mistakes. I would love to try pork butt but it looks like even with half a butt the cook is still pretty long. It's tough for me to BBQ because I have a crazy work life and I am hoping for my first go round to be encouraging enough for me to want to dedicate more time to it and longer cooks rather than bail and stick to grilling, which takes up a lot less time but delivers amazing food to be eaten.

The longest cook I've done has been smoked beer can chickens or rotisserie meats (chicken, pork, beef), usually around 1 1/2 or 2 hours. I guess I'm hoping for something that is 3 - 5 hours and I'll sit with my Kindle and a margarita in a bucket and enjoy myself.

And any general tips for the Smokenator are appreciated as well - I have the guide that came with and it is very helpful but I am always open to anybody's experience. I have both Kingsford (which I bought for the Smokenator) and Stubbs (which I might use instead because I love it). I also have hardwood lump but I would rather master this with Stubb's and then I can try the lump later on. I also have tons of chunks of wood of all kinds! I'm ready!

Thanks in advance -

Laura
 
You can do ribs at 325-350 degrees in 3-4 hours. Try some apple/cherry with a bit of hickory/oak chunks.

Pork loin roast or a nice beef roast can be done low and slow same wood as above for the pork and hickory/oak/mesquite for the beef roast.

High heat brisket can be done in 4-5 hours.

Pepper stout beef is really good
 
Laura,

Some tips for the Smokenator:

The water pan is optional. I don't think it adds much, so I stopped using it. If you do use it, you can just set it on the grill grate rather than down inside where it would take up valuable charcoal space. You'll have to add water every 45 minutes to an hour.

Rotate your meat. The heat is coming from one side, so you'll have to rotate it to cook evenly.

The lid on my OTS is leaky, so I use 4 large binder clips to seal it tight.
 
Sounds good - I am not sure how high the Smokenator goes for heat. I think a challenge for me will be to sustain the temperature over time if I end up not using it. I'll keep checking it out.

Thank you -

Laura
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Pepper stout beef is really good </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Laura another vote for this. The temp requirements are pretty forgiving with this and it's delicious!

Good Luck!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The water pan is optional. I don't think it adds much, so I stopped using it. If you do use it, you can just set it on the grill grate rather than down inside where it would take up valuable charcoal space. You'll have to add water every 45 minutes to an hour. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

How low do you keep your temperature then without the water pan?
 
Laura,

I used a Smokenator for a couple years, with really good results. When I finally decided that I wanted to continue smoking, I bought a WSM (that's another story for a different quesiton).

I ended up developing a routine. I checked it once an hour. The coals seemed to burn unevenly in mine. Every hour I stirred to even them out and refilled the water pan. Every other hour I would stir the coals, add more coals, add a chunk or two of wood and top off the water pan. I repeated the cycle every two hours.

I did pork and beef ribs, pork shoulder (Costco cuts their shoulder is half, which reduces the cook time) and holiday turkeys. Using foil will cut your time down on things like shoulders.

The uneven burn could have something to do with where the coals were in relation to the bottom vents. Oh, I put the lid vent on the side away from the coals.

Hope it turns out well.

Regards,
Daris
 
That pepper stout beef does look amazing! I will have to try it!!! I'll eke out a day off and get ready.

I will probably be boring and follow the directions and use the water pan, if nothing else to just see what happens when I use it. I don't have a good "cooking sense" - I have learned a ton by grilling but there is still stuff that is mysterious to me. Low slow is definitely mysterious - I know how to get good heat for searing and pumping up a fire after a bit for grilling - but I want to learn how to maintain a temp over time and I want to make delicious food.

Maybe someday I'll get a smoker, a WSM. I am am going to play with the Smokenator for a while and see how I do.

Thank you!

Laura
 
Something else I like about the pepper stout beef is that I can get it started on the grill, and I am pretty sure I know where the oven is in the kitchen so I can finish it off in there.
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It's a nice short amount (2.5 hours or so) on the grill so I can get some confidence there.

I need to check in with my guests though on their heat tolerance factor - any thoughts on substitution for jalapeno peppers? Or maybe I'll do 2 big peppers instead of 3.

Yay!

Laura
 
You could go ahead and just leave the peppers out but after they've been in there a while (cooking and mellowing) I don't think there is much heat at all. If your unsure cut it back to two and you will be (IMO) more then safe.
 
I actually dug out my smokenator and have been using it a lot lately. I have been using it more than my ceramic grill or other indirect ways on my kettle, results have been great with ribs. The water pan really gives my kettle a real moist environment. I thought 60 briquettes used to do ribs was pretty good fuel usage.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Koch:
Laura,

Some tips for the Smokenator:

The water pan is optional. I don't think it adds much, so I stopped using it. If you do use it, you can just set it on the grill grate rather than down inside where it would take up valuable charcoal space. You'll have to add water every 45 minutes to an hour.

Rotate your meat. The heat is coming from one side, so you'll have to rotate it to cook evenly.

The lid on my OTS is leaky, so I use 4 large binder clips to seal it tight. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Binder clips-brilliant.
 
Laura,

I've used my Smokenator for years with good results mainly cooking ribs and smoked salmon. Go easy with closing and opening the vents as is described in the instructions. Your temps will go up and down quickly. Meathead just put some tips regarding the Smokenator on his webpage that you may find useful.

http://www.amazingribs.com/tip...smokenator_tips.html

Have fun,
Oak
 
Thanks again, everybody. Really wanting to try ribs!! My day off to BBQ is still a ways off so I will keep checking out recipes here and links you've given me.

Laura
 
Hi Laura,

Once you get the hang of doing long cooks, you could just start it early in the morning and go to work. Then just finish it up when you home.

Please share a picture of the WGS CI grate when you get a chance.
 
Shaun - I wish I could. My grilling situation is such that I couldn't leave it unattended. No overnight or away from home cooks for me.

My Go Anywhere grates are supposed to arrive in the mail starting today - I will definitely take pics when they get here!

Laura
 
Laura, I have used a Smokenator on and off for the last 3 years. I found the water pan does indeed keep the temps stable. I was averaging 225-250 deg F. If the water ran out the temp would spike to 350+. Over the course of a week in August 2009 I smoked 60# of butt and 30# of brisket for my wedding reception. It was a hit. 60 people attended and all I had left was 3# of the pulled pork!

Consider the Smokenator a gateway smoker. Before long you will be building a mini-WSM or buying and 18/22 WSM.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Laura D:
Thanks again, everybody. Really wanting to try ribs!! My day off to BBQ is still a ways off so I will keep checking out recipes here and links you've given me.
Laura </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I did one rack of baby backs the other week. They were just as good as if I used my ceramic grill. Actually I liked the texture a little better. Smoke ring was a bit better than the pic showed. That was one 42 coals in the smokenator and I lit 12 for the start up. I rarely have to make vent adjustments. Throw my 12 lit coals in and when I hit close to 200 I set the top vent to 5/16 of an inch opened andbottom half way closed.

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Laura,

Ribs fit your window of time, but are very unforgiving for most people.

"Country style ribs" taken from the shoulder are the same meat as the Boston butt (for pulled pork) but cut into strips that sort of resemble ribs (hence the name). They will be much more forgiving than actual ribs.

Also, I agree on leaving the water pan out, it does take up a lot of charcoal space. I disagree on flipping the meat around. At least, I haven't felt the need with what I've cooked with the smokenator.
 
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