Smoking Tips of the Newbs, By a Newb, For the Newbs


 
Originally posted by Tony Tango:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tony Tango:
then a butt this weekend for the family gathering.

I'll check back in next week with the results....

thanks again.
Tango
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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! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

no one spoke up here so I stuck with the plan above and i pulled it when I hit 190. It total, it was 18 hours and 45 minutes on...and it was dynamite. The fat was perfectly integrated. No sauce needed at all; plenty juicy to the bite. Amazing.

hush puppy recipe here was as good as any I have had in NC. Fried in a deep fryer with veggie oil at 375. hush puppie receipe: http://viewfromthemountain.typ...sobotta_family_.html
 
Bump, lots of new folks that can benefit from this!

P.S.
Thad, sure wish you posted more often as you are a good writer!

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Still a newb myself but have an easy one to add I finally realized last week.

When it comes to getting temps to the ready stage and regulation

**Don't underestimate the power of the Minion method **

Ten red hot coals on the top of my pile is all I needed with temps in the teens a couple weeks ago. I used to dump more than double that and the temp would just shoot right up burn up alot of fuel and take forever to get back down.
 
Originally posted by Brian D:
Noob question here!
What are the "bear claws" pictured used for?
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Pulling pork... I sometimes use them. Last two butts I did, I just used my hands. In very clean BBQ gloves.
 
First I want to thank you Tadd for starting this thread for all of us new guys. Great pictures too.

I suppose I am going to have to call myself a newb at this time. I have had some good grills where I am grilling some hamburgers on the grill with direct heat. I just tossed a few hickory chunks on the kingsford and go from there. Burgers always came out tasting great. A couple of times I have also had good results with Salmon and using the side box smoker.
But I hate to admit to the number of times I have had a tart taste or no real taste of hickory at all. I feel like an alien trying to smoke for the first time and doing everything wrong.

Now have a WSM to replace the old side box smoker / grill. It had to many cracks in the fire box. Ok first thing I did on the WSM was some burgers that came out fine. Little light on the hickory flavor, but it was good all the same. So, tried a bisket tip and now some chicken halves. And just today an attempt to re-smoke the chicken. I just cant get the oh so wonderful sweet hickory smell that lifts you off of your feet and draws you in for miles away. Well I did get it for a bit the other day after cooking the chicken. I still had a fair amount of lump coals in the fire ring. So I threw on a split of hickory (debarked) and about 30 or 40 minutes later while cutting the grass I smelled that wonderful sweet smell. So, tried to cr-create that sweet smoke while I had the chicken back on for a 2nd time. But it did not work.

I keep the top vent wide open. Tried to run with the 3 lower vents wide open, but got over 300 degrees and the smoke was just like a wood fire. Cut the 3 lower vents down to 50% and temp dropped to about 220 but still just smells like wood smoke but you can just barely see it. And the water pan is full of water.

Going nutz trying to figure out what is different between the smokes. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Paul
 
How many chunks of hickory are you using? You don't need to see smoke billowing out of the cooker to get good smoke flavour.
 
Bob,
That sir might be the factor. I had been trying to do the minion style of filling the fire ring on a 22". Then fill a coffee can with hot coals and pulling the coffee can out. I would put in about 6 to 10 chunks at different levels and distance from the center. But feel that all of the fuel lighting at once. then did just about half of fire ring with lump coal (all of this is royal oak lump coal) and over time a couple small splits of hickory minus the bark. I am trying to get to the point that I can barely see any smoke, and more like smell it. I have been able to get some of that sweet hickory smoke. So, I know what I am shooting for. Just having problems getting it more often and consistently.

thanks for taking interest in helping me Bob.

Paul
 
What's up Newbs? After nearly two years of smoking, I guess I'm an old pro by now. There's so much good info in this thread that others have posted, I thought I'd bump it up again.

My latest adventure has me smoking 12 racks of ribs on an 18.5. I'm prepping for an onsite smoke at the upcoming Razorback home game in Little Rock. Just to prove that the WSM can do virtually anything, I actually pulled it off last week WITHOUT rib racks! I literally stacked 6 racks on top of each other on both grates. 12 racks in all. Was it perfect? No. And I didn't think it would be, but it worked and most of all of the 12 racks came out tasty. I had to move them around quite a bit and re-rub some here and there. But other than a few charred ends, it worked. For the tailgate I will use rib racks that I recently bought and feel confident I can squeeze 12 racks on there and get better circulation and more even cook times.

One final thing, after two years of cooking, I REALLY wish I had bought the 22.5. It's not that I need it every time I cook, but it WOULD be nice to have it when I want it....like next week. I can pull off 12 racks with the 18.5, but it'd be nice to have the 22.5. Hell, it'd be nice to have the extra room doing just 3 racks. Again, not necessary, but it would be nice and it's only an extra $100. Fuel costs aside, I'd say if you're waffling between the two, go with the bigger one. You will end up smoking more meat than you think at a time and sharing with friends and family. Now I'm stuck with a $400 decision to get an EXTRA smoker versus a $100 decision to just get the bigger one on the front end.

Have fun. Go rub a butt (preferably a pig's) and get SMOKING!
 
Gutsy move, stacking the racks to double the output. Would have loved to see a pic of that. Nice.

Could also go the beer can route to expand the space--4 empty tall boys on the "original" metal rack and put a spare "second" metal rack held up by those tall boys. Do the same on the top "original" metal rack, only limited there by the rounded dome.
 
Great thread! My shiny new 22.5 will be here this Thursday. I'm starting with the 22.5 to avoid buyers remorse later. Go big or go home!
 
How we doin' Newbs? Still smokin my butt off just haven't posted in awhile. Finally got ribs right after many tries over the years.

--I use a salt/sugar brine for about 45 min to an hour before cooking and they come out great (method suggested in Cook's Illustrated).

-- I put three racks in a cooler or big bag with one gallon of water and a cup each of sugar and non-iodized table salt.

-- I mix the water and sugar/salt to dissolve before adding the ribs.

-- Take out after an hour, dry off, then rub with your favorite rub and smoke about 3 hours.

-- I pull them when they are mostly done and wrap individually in heavy duty aluminum foil and put in towel lined cooler for an hour or two depending on when I need them.

-- When ready to serve, I remove foil and throw them on a hot grill for 10-15 min to char the outside.

-- If you like them dry don't use any sauce but I usually baste them while grilling with my favorite sauce to get a nice glaze.

I've done them many times like this and they come out great. If doing for competition I have to be careful not to get them too done to where they are falling off the bone. We like them that way at home but judges like some more texture and a slight pull versus falling off the bone.

Have fun and keep smoking! Doing a high heat brisket today for friends and family. Can't wait!
 
Thad said:
How we doin' Newbs? Still smokin my butt off just haven't posted in awhile. Finally got ribs right after many tries over the years.

--I use a salt/sugar brine for about 45 min to an hour before cooking and they come out great (method suggested in Cook's Illustrated).

-- I put three racks in a cooler or big bag with one gallon of water and a cup each of sugar and non-iodized table salt.

-- I mix the water and sugar/salt to dissolve before adding the ribs.

-- Take out after an hour, dry off, then rub with your favorite rub and smoke about 3 hours.

-- I pull them when they are mostly done and wrap individually in heavy duty aluminum foil and put in towel lined cooler for an hour or two depending on when I need them.

-- When ready to serve, I remove foil and throw them on a hot grill for 10-15 min to char the outside.

-- If you like them dry don't use any sauce but I usually baste them while grilling with my favorite sauce to get a nice glaze.

I've done them many times like this and they come out great. If doing for competition I have to be careful not to get them too done to where they are falling off the bone. We like them that way at home but judges like some more texture and a slight pull versus falling off the bone.

Have fun and keep smoking! Doing a high heat brisket today for friends and family. Can't wait!
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Post your cook and some pics if you can..
 
Thanks for the post... I been staring at my WSM for a week!



Thad said:
I'm a newb and I'm three smokes in and can't get enough. So far, chicken, butt, ABT's, butt, more ABT's. Brisket next. I read a lot on the site and learned alot. Thanks for all the previous experience and lessons. A couple things as a newb that I wanted to pass along to other newbs:

1) Relax. You're not cooking meat in a 700 degree pizza oven or under a broiler. It's a long slow process and very forgiving within a pretty wide range of cook temps.

2) Get to know your smoker. At the outset, I say don't mess with external thermometers or other temp controlling gadgets. Just smoke. Rub a butt (preferably a pig's), refrigerate, and let it fly. Follow the lid gauge and some basic instructions provided on this site and see what happens. Keep it simple at first and get a feel for your smoker. Add the complexity later.

3) Don't obsess over cook temps. There's a reason that the lid temp gauge has a 75 degree range for smoking. It's not an exact science. It's a forgiving cooking method. It's hard to completely screw it up. Keep it somewhere in the ballpark and you'll be fine.

4) Start with one or two meats at a time. Early on, I say one piece per smoke myself. Again, keep it simple. Don't try to cook four butts for a party of 50 on your first smoke. Do one split/cut chicken first. Fire it up, open all vents and let er rip for an hour. Then, move to a single butt and get a feel for temp regulation with the water pan and the vents.

5) Allow some time for temp regulation. Don't panic if your temp regulation moves don't take effect immediately. Again, this a slow moving process, like steering an oceanliner versus a Cobalt skiboat. It takes a little time for temps to regulate. Take a breath.

6) Internal temp and feel are the most important things. Nothing matters more than whether the meat is done or not. Get a thermapen from thermoworks and make sure the meat is done. Whether you smoked your butt at 280 or 220, make sure it's tender and done before you pull it.

I'll stop there. Just wanted to share some of my experiences. This thing produces wonderful finished products. You just gotta let it do its thing.
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