Smoking Tips of the Newbs, By a Newb, For the Newbs
- Thread starter Thad
- Start date
Jennifer K
TVWBB Super Fan
Very helpful reading for this newb, thanks all.
Mike Hartwell
TVWBB Pro
Bump...helpful post.
Randy Stevens
New member
thanks Thad!
doing my first butt this weekend, what you said has already put me at peace. Just smoke and enjoy the process and then the pork!
doing my first butt this weekend, what you said has already put me at peace. Just smoke and enjoy the process and then the pork!
Michael Dougherty
New member
drink beer
Couldnt have said it any better my self
How we doin' Newbs? Glad this thread has been of some use to folks. Haven't stopped smoking, just haven't posted in awhile. A follow-up installment of my findings over the first year of ownership:
1) As others have pointed out, it is amazing how easy it is to dial in the temps after say the first dozen or so times. Or maybe it's 7 times for you or 15 times for someone else. You get the point. After using it a bit, the temps don't flare up and it's a lot easier to catch the temps on the way up than it is out of the box.
2) You really have to work hard to screw up a pork butt. Of all the meats, I find that for a newb, a butt is the easiest route to go. Use the Renowned Mr. Brown recipe that Chris has on the main site (I don't even do the sop sometimes), rub it the night before then re-rub before you put it on and let it go. If your smoker is too hot out of the box, then it might be done a little early. If you dial it in right then it's gonna be somewhere between 1.5/2 hrs per pound.
3) Chicken's pretty easy too, but if you're nervous about internal cook temps and doneness, chicken can make a newb a little nervous. Plus chicken takes on smokiness easier than any other meat, so you can get real smokey, real quick with chicken. If want to have a full extended experience out of the box, I say go with a pork butt and preferrably a smaller 5 to 6 lb one so your first smoke isn't 17-18 hours. Brisket is a little harder, IMO, to get right. And for some reason, I still have the most trouble getting ribs the way I like them. That may be just a ME problem.
4) Don't mess with stokers or other temp regulators. At least not right away. With the bullet, they're just not necessary. It's an added complication that you don't need to worry about from the outset, unless you just want another toy to play with. My friend uses a stoker on his Big Green Egg (am I even allowed to say that on this site?), but I just have never found it to be necessary on the Bullet. At least not after the first several smokes. With a full bed of charcoal, protection from wind, it WILL hold a constant temp all night.
5) My favorite thing so far on the bullet has actually been the smoked turkey's I did last holiday season. With an herbed, butter compound rubbed all over it and up under the skin. I'm telling you, if you think you can shoulder the responsibility, volunteer to smoke turkeys for your upcoming family gatherings this fall. Test one out early in the season, so you know you can do it and research recipes on this site and elsewhere, but I promise you there won't be many leftovers to take home.
6) One last thing, when planning cook times relative to when to start smoking versus when to serve, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS, allow for a 3-5 hour buffer of resting time. Mainly for butts and brisket, and to a lesser extent chicken and ribs. Chicken is pretty easy to plan for more exact timing, but you can't rush ribs either. So give yourself some wiggle room on ribs too. The reason is that you just can't rush meat to doneness. The worst thing you can do is run out of time and your butt isn't falling off the bone. Yukk. It's just not worth it. I've had a butt off the smoker and wrapped in foil and towels in a cooler at noon and served it at 5pm for dinner. It will stay warm for several hours. You could even throw it back in the oven at 200 just before serving.
Take care and go rub a butt (preferably a pig's, not your own). Later.
1) As others have pointed out, it is amazing how easy it is to dial in the temps after say the first dozen or so times. Or maybe it's 7 times for you or 15 times for someone else. You get the point. After using it a bit, the temps don't flare up and it's a lot easier to catch the temps on the way up than it is out of the box.
2) You really have to work hard to screw up a pork butt. Of all the meats, I find that for a newb, a butt is the easiest route to go. Use the Renowned Mr. Brown recipe that Chris has on the main site (I don't even do the sop sometimes), rub it the night before then re-rub before you put it on and let it go. If your smoker is too hot out of the box, then it might be done a little early. If you dial it in right then it's gonna be somewhere between 1.5/2 hrs per pound.
3) Chicken's pretty easy too, but if you're nervous about internal cook temps and doneness, chicken can make a newb a little nervous. Plus chicken takes on smokiness easier than any other meat, so you can get real smokey, real quick with chicken. If want to have a full extended experience out of the box, I say go with a pork butt and preferrably a smaller 5 to 6 lb one so your first smoke isn't 17-18 hours. Brisket is a little harder, IMO, to get right. And for some reason, I still have the most trouble getting ribs the way I like them. That may be just a ME problem.
4) Don't mess with stokers or other temp regulators. At least not right away. With the bullet, they're just not necessary. It's an added complication that you don't need to worry about from the outset, unless you just want another toy to play with. My friend uses a stoker on his Big Green Egg (am I even allowed to say that on this site?), but I just have never found it to be necessary on the Bullet. At least not after the first several smokes. With a full bed of charcoal, protection from wind, it WILL hold a constant temp all night.
5) My favorite thing so far on the bullet has actually been the smoked turkey's I did last holiday season. With an herbed, butter compound rubbed all over it and up under the skin. I'm telling you, if you think you can shoulder the responsibility, volunteer to smoke turkeys for your upcoming family gatherings this fall. Test one out early in the season, so you know you can do it and research recipes on this site and elsewhere, but I promise you there won't be many leftovers to take home.
6) One last thing, when planning cook times relative to when to start smoking versus when to serve, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS, allow for a 3-5 hour buffer of resting time. Mainly for butts and brisket, and to a lesser extent chicken and ribs. Chicken is pretty easy to plan for more exact timing, but you can't rush ribs either. So give yourself some wiggle room on ribs too. The reason is that you just can't rush meat to doneness. The worst thing you can do is run out of time and your butt isn't falling off the bone. Yukk. It's just not worth it. I've had a butt off the smoker and wrapped in foil and towels in a cooler at noon and served it at 5pm for dinner. It will stay warm for several hours. You could even throw it back in the oven at 200 just before serving.
Take care and go rub a butt (preferably a pig's, not your own). Later.
I'll throw in a few suggestions here based on my first smoke for first time smokers:
1. When performing first smoke, make sure food is prepped *before* preparing the smoker. I found myself a bit overwhelmed preparing the charcoal bed, lighting the chimney, removing the silverskin/membrane from the ribs, trimming, applying rub, dumping the hot coals, and assembling the smoker. While vets may have the order of operations down, I ended up with a smoker with lit coals not assembled for 15 or so mins, losing valuable heat.
2. Listen to the people on this forum and don't use the top vent for temperature control. My ribs were tender but were also oversmoked or tasted of creosote (not sure which).
3. Use enough charcoal. On my 22.5" WSM, a 9 lb bag wasnt enough for my tastes. I'm going to try a bit more next time to see if that helps with initial temp.
4. If using smokewood, don't go overboard. In the 22.5, I used 3 chunks apple and 1 chunk hickory and it was too much at least for me.
1. When performing first smoke, make sure food is prepped *before* preparing the smoker. I found myself a bit overwhelmed preparing the charcoal bed, lighting the chimney, removing the silverskin/membrane from the ribs, trimming, applying rub, dumping the hot coals, and assembling the smoker. While vets may have the order of operations down, I ended up with a smoker with lit coals not assembled for 15 or so mins, losing valuable heat.
2. Listen to the people on this forum and don't use the top vent for temperature control. My ribs were tender but were also oversmoked or tasted of creosote (not sure which).
3. Use enough charcoal. On my 22.5" WSM, a 9 lb bag wasnt enough for my tastes. I'm going to try a bit more next time to see if that helps with initial temp.
4. If using smokewood, don't go overboard. In the 22.5, I used 3 chunks apple and 1 chunk hickory and it was too much at least for me.
Mike Hartwell
TVWBB Pro
bump
David Herzfeld
New member
As a newb, I would add:
Have a game plan ahead of time, and prepare everything before you start any of the smoking process. Yes its a long slow process, but a gameplan (or roadmap) will set you up for success. Plus the WSM is pre-programmed for success anyway.
Have a game plan ahead of time, and prepare everything before you start any of the smoking process. Yes its a long slow process, but a gameplan (or roadmap) will set you up for success. Plus the WSM is pre-programmed for success anyway.
Chris E
TVWBB Pro
A couple more tips for newbs and rookies.
Sun can have a big impact on temp especially at high altitude and can be a bad thing if your temps are on the high side when the sun hits your cooker.
Apply the same principles of keep it simple and prepare ahead on the kitchen side of things--make your rubs in advance and put them in a shaker, get out your trays and platters and tongs and things.
Last but maybe the most important, I find watching the smoker throughout the cook with a cool beverage, some nice tunes (and a friend if you can find one) keeps you from fiddling too much with the pit. (and it makes the BBQ come out better)
Sun can have a big impact on temp especially at high altitude and can be a bad thing if your temps are on the high side when the sun hits your cooker.
Apply the same principles of keep it simple and prepare ahead on the kitchen side of things--make your rubs in advance and put them in a shaker, get out your trays and platters and tongs and things.
Last but maybe the most important, I find watching the smoker throughout the cook with a cool beverage, some nice tunes (and a friend if you can find one) keeps you from fiddling too much with the pit. (and it makes the BBQ come out better)
Richard Hinton
TVWBB Fan
For a newbie whose 18.5 WSM is arriving Friday, this post is a fountain of great information. Thanks. I will see what happens when I fire the WSM up with the outside temperature pushing 100 degrees and the sun beating down on it.
PS -- I did order through this web site.
PS -- I did order through this web site.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Use WATER in the pan, like many of us still often do, and you'll be just fine if trying to bbq low-n-slow.
Matt Sanders
TVWBB Pro
Just thought I'd kick this thread back up top, for the new, new people.
Tony Tango
New member
First post on here:
Thanks for all of the info to-date. After 5+ years of apartment living, I finally got a grill again this past summer. Thanks to this site, I picked up a Performer. Now the WSM (and the fireplace) are headed my way in time for a very small family gathering this weekend (total of 4).
This thread and many others on here have been very valuable so far...
Because of this thread I'll be doing a chicken just for me and the wife to get it rolling during the week and then a butt this weekend for the family gathering. Im trying to keep it simple with the use of the WSM and then fancier with the sides (fresh fried hush puppies, red slaw, Carolina sauce).
I'll check back in next week with the results....
thanks again.
Tango
Thanks for all of the info to-date. After 5+ years of apartment living, I finally got a grill again this past summer. Thanks to this site, I picked up a Performer. Now the WSM (and the fireplace) are headed my way in time for a very small family gathering this weekend (total of 4).
This thread and many others on here have been very valuable so far...
Because of this thread I'll be doing a chicken just for me and the wife to get it rolling during the week and then a butt this weekend for the family gathering. Im trying to keep it simple with the use of the WSM and then fancier with the sides (fresh fried hush puppies, red slaw, Carolina sauce).
I'll check back in next week with the results....
thanks again.
Tango
Tony Tango
New member
I had it on for 12 hours and it reached 180 internal; cooker was at 252. I had to step out for 4 hours at that point. I came back and the meat went down to 160 and the cooker was at 150. It looked done, but I didnt trust it and just added 20 charcoals and got the cooker back to a steady 250. Waiting for the internal temp to cross 190. Have I made the right moves by adding the charcoals and waiting for a re-ascent through 180 to 190? Any advice appreciated!