General

[Murph]

I'm finally trying to work the barbecue smoker we have at my house by myself (I've been watching my dad do it, he KNOWS what he's doing.)

I think I started the thing with way too much charcoal, I want to be around 220 according to him, I can't keep it below 250 without periodically opening the lid (which is a no-no because you let out all the smoke you want in the meat.) I then tried scraping all the burning charcoal away from the cooking area and burnt off all the hair up to the third knuckles of my fingers. (I was using the ash bucket shovel, but that stuff was STILL burning hot.)

Hopefully I'll be able to bring a smoker to EMR so I can make some good stuff for Friday Evening when most of the Commando shows up. It's still a good skill to know regardless of what happens.

[Harbinger[TG]]

You got the water soaked woodchips?

[Murph]

Yep. We usually use hickory, but I'm trying mesquite tonight.

[Robertsr]

Sooo, how was it that you got all that hair on your hands in the first place???

[Murph]

It was the BACK of my hands. I'm of mixed Irish and French descent. I can't wander around outside without a shirt on or the neighbors call animal control thinking there's a black bear meandering about.

BTW: It's all finished. I did up some italian sausage and Bratwurst on the smoker.. I made the mistake of using mild sausages, the rub didn't put quite enough spice in it, and using the mesquite it came out tasting like breakfast sausage. The Bratwurst did a lot better with the sweetness out of the mesquite smoke though. I made up the whole packs I bought though. I think it's guaranteed that I will not be getting a second serving if I wait too long. The only thing I was missing was beer.

[Robertsr]

I've never worked a smoker myself. Love that flavor though. Had some applewood smoked ham some time back, and you could just lap it up with a spoon. How long does it take for your average hunk of meat?

[Murph]

HOURS. A good rack of ribs is generally smoked at just over 200 degrees for almost twelve hours. Sausages, being much smaller and ground up before being cased, are usually considerably faster. These took about an hour and a half at around 250 degrees. I would have preferred a little slower but they came out great. A lot of temperature management, I am starting to notice, stems from knowing how much fuel you need burning at a given time. As for applewood, there's an apple tree in the little strip of vacant property behind my house I've been tempted to put through a chipper :devil: The only thing stopping me is when it starts to bear fruit the neighbor's little kids run out and grab 'em.

[Goat]

I second apple wood, I have had a smoker for years, I keep my heat in the 220 area and have had pork tenderloins take as long as 5 hours
Of course that is after 24 hours of pre emptive marinading and Dry rub, I soak my pork for 12 hours in a super secret marinade that comes in a 2 liter bottle that says Dr. Pepper on the out side....Damn!..I just let the cat out of the bag...
But the real secret is my dry rub, that sits on the pork for 12 hours as well before it goes on the smoker.

One hint, let whatever you are smoking sit at room temp for an hour or so, you'll get a much more consistent "cook" on it.

Another great option is Cherry wood, hard to find but MMMmmmm Good. I find that Mequite and hickory are good on a BBQ but have such a strong flavor that they can be overpowering in a smoker.

I recently found some Tabasco wood chips and man let me tell you, soak those in some water...Add some chicken legs and smoke them up...ooowwweeee!
A word of caution on them though, dont stick your head over the smoker when you lift the lid...I felt like I had been Maced..coughing, sneezing, watery eyes. Great flavor though.

Take your time, you'll get it.

[Goat]

Forgot one thing,
Fire that bad boy up and put a slab of bacon on it......You'll never use a frying pan again!

[Sly1]

Originally Posted by Murph

It was the BACK of my hands. I'm of mixed Irish and French descent. I can't wander around outside without a shirt on or the neighbors call animal control thinking there's a black bear meandering about.

BTW: It's all finished. I did up some italian sausage and Bratwurst on the smoker.. I made the mistake of using mild sausages, the rub didn't put quite enough spice in it, and using the mesquite it came out tasting like breakfast sausage. The Bratwurst did a lot better with the sweetness out of the mesquite smoke though. I made up the whole packs I bought though. I think it's guaranteed that I will not be getting a second serving if I wait too long. The only thing I was missing was beer.

hate that.. I work at a pool and get the same reaction
and I have no hair up to a quarter up my forearm.. way to much fire