Smokers / Grills

L

Lenardo

Vyemm Raider
3,722
2,664
i tend to use pit boss. since it is good, and cheap. the 40lb competition bags are 17 bucks at lowes the 20lb fruitwoods are 12

recently tried bear mountain and those were good, though i was not crazy about the smoke ring, it was thin 13 for 20lbs

i have tried
weber- good but expensive 20lbs for 19
traeger- good about same price as webber
green mountain- good about same price as weber
bbqr's delite- Very good expensive 50 bucks for 40 lbs
cookin pellets ~38 bucks for 40 lbs
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
15,236
-829
Traeger are the only ones I see around here. They go on sale at Ace Hardware 3 bags for $45 pretty often. If you have storage space or you're using it a lot I've seen places where you can buy a pallet for a very good price but being in the sticks the shipping costs killed it for me.
 
Lanx

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
70,082
163,349
i recently saw vid from mad scientist testing this out

7e8385f03fb25f56705a5e21856e4868.png



looking at the scores it's so varied, i'm just gonna think it barely matters and i'll just keep on using pitboss from lowes
e2742ae83e718ce2e88cdd60c99bee99.png
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
Kiroy

Kiroy

Marine Biologist
<Bronze Donator>
36,066
105,827
Lanx said:
i recently saw vid from mad scientist testing this out

7e8385f03fb25f56705a5e21856e4868.png



looking at the scores it's so varied, i'm just gonna think it barely matters and i'll just keep on using pitboss from lowes
e2742ae83e718ce2e88cdd60c99bee99.png
Click to expand...


i like pit specifically because of this (and the price). I like light/medium smoke flav.
 
Kiki

Kiki

Log Wizard
2,352
1,973
For smoking, I really only use 200-250. And a thermometer for time, after the first time you have an idea.
 
K

Kinner

Clear eyes. Full Hearts. Can't lose.
277
114
There are certain temps your food has to be cooked to, mainly poultry but I always say it is done when its done. A lot depends if you are a low and slow or hot and fast cook.

Brisket - when it probs like a knife through warm butter.
Ribs - the bend test.
Pork butt - when you can twist the bone and it comes out cleanly.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
slippery

slippery

<Bronze Donator>
7,932
7,747
I understand temp > time, I'm more just looking for time as a measure of how long is it really going to take to get to temp based on the temp it's cooking at and weight of what's cooking. Should I plan on ribs taking 2 hours or 6 hours, etc.
 
Cutlery

Cutlery

Kill All the White People
<Gold Donor>
7,480
22,683
slippery said:
I understand temp > time, I'm more just looking for time as a measure of how long is it really going to take to get to temp based on the temp it's cooking at and weight of what's cooking. Should I plan on ribs taking 2 hours or 6 hours, etc.
Click to expand...

I have a pitboss VP51. Basically it's about 4-6 hours to smoke everything. The lower you smoke it, the more smoke flavor you'll get, but it only takes smoke for the low end temp anyway. After the meat kinda "seals," you can turn up the heat to finish it and it's irrelevant, near as I can tell
 
K

Kinner

Clear eyes. Full Hearts. Can't lose.
277
114
slippery said:
I understand temp > time, I'm more just looking for time as a measure of how long is it really going to take to get to temp based on the temp it's cooking at and weight of what's cooking. Should I plan on ribs taking 2 hours or 6 hours, etc.
Click to expand...
Smoke them at 225 its taking 4-6 hours. Smoke them at 375 and they will taste like shit but done in an hour and a half.

Meat only takes smoke up to 145 150 then no more smoke flavor after that is a good rule of thumb.

Also its different if you are doing beef ribs, spare ribs, st louis style spare ribs, or baby back.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
15,236
-829
amazingribs.com

Cooking BBQ Hot And Fast, Low And Slow, And The Reverse Sear Method

What is the right cooking temperature for barbecue? It depends. Not all food should be cooked low and slow or hot and fast.
amazingribs.com

That's a pretty good explanation on different cooking temps. The thicker the piece of meat the less accurate the cooking times are going to be. Ribs are fairly predictable but brisket and pork but it may vary by 2 or 3 hours. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I started was cooking big pieces of meat to try to get it to be done when it was time to eat. Had multiple parties where there were 20 people waiting to eat while I sat by the smoker trying to will the temperature to go up. Finding out about what Meathead calls a "faux-cambro" was a game changer for me.

amazingribs.com

A Faux Cambro Can Save Your Butt, Turkey, And Save Face

How do caterers hold cooked meats safely for so long? It's called a hotbox or Cambro and you can make a faux one with a simple beer cooler.
amazingribs.com

Now I shoot for the big hunks of meat to be done 2-3 hours before I plan to serve them. Really brisket is better if it rests for at least an hour after you take it off the smoker. Once I totally overestimated how long a small brisket I made for a superbowl party was going to take and it was done at 6am. Stuck it in the cooler with a thermometer probe in it and served it at 6:30 PM during the halftime show. It dropped to about 130 degrees which is lower than they recommend for food safety but it tasted delicious and nobody got food poisoning. Definitely wouldn't do that intentionally, but it worked. 3-6 hours is a piece of cake. This year for the superbowl I took my ribs off a bit before kickoff and put them in the cooler and at halftime they were still way to fucking hot to slice without wrecking my fingers.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users
slippery

slippery

<Bronze Donator>
7,932
7,747
BrutulTM said:
amazingribs.com

Cooking BBQ Hot And Fast, Low And Slow, And The Reverse Sear Method

What is the right cooking temperature for barbecue? It depends. Not all food should be cooked low and slow or hot and fast.
amazingribs.com

That's a pretty good explanation on different cooking temps. The thicker the piece of meat the less accurate the cooking times are going to be. Ribs are fairly predictable but brisket and pork but it may vary by 2 or 3 hours. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I started was cooking big pieces of meat to try to get it to be done when it was time to eat. Had multiple parties where there were 20 people waiting to eat while I sat by the smoker trying to will the temperature to go up. Finding out about what Meathead calls a "faux-cambro" was a game changer for me.

amazingribs.com

A Faux Cambro Can Save Your Butt, Turkey, And Save Face

How do caterers hold cooked meats safely for so long? It's called a hotbox or Cambro and you can make a faux one with a simple beer cooler.
amazingribs.com

Now I shoot for the big hunks of meat to be done 2-3 hours before I plan to serve them. Really brisket is better if it rests for at least an hour after you take it off the smoker. Once I totally overestimated how long a small brisket I made for a superbowl party was going to take and it was done at 6am. Stuck it in the cooler with a thermometer probe in it and served it at 6:30 PM during the halftime show. It dropped to about 130 degrees which is lower than they recommend for food safety but it tasted delicious and nobody got food poisoning. Definitely wouldn't do that intentionally, but it worked. 3-6 hours is a piece of cake. This year for the superbowl I took my ribs off a bit before kickoff and put them in the cooler and at halftime they were still way to fucking hot to slice without wrecking my fingers.
Click to expand...
Good reads
 
Breakdown

Breakdown

Gunnar Durden
6,122
8,627
Man, I have been making Smoked BBQ Beans, took the recipe from Oklahoma Joes website, made a few tweaks to add chorizo and jalapenos....Amazing. Made 4 trays yesterday best food ive ever eaten, freeze them up into meal prep lunches. Tons of pepper and meats.
 
Tholan

Tholan

Blackwing Lair Raider
970
1,927
BrutulTM said:
It dropped to about 130 degrees which is lower than they recommend for food safety but it tasted delicious and nobody got food poisoning.
Click to expand...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you reached the correct temperature then let it cool even to room temperature, as long as you eat it in a reasonable time, you have no risk. However, if you never passed over 130F then you might get in trouble.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
15,236
-829
Tholan said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you reached the correct temperature then let it cool even to room temperature, as long as you eat it in a reasonable time, you have no risk. However, if you never passed over 130F then you might get in trouble.
Click to expand...

The rules for public health for restaurants and such say don't let anything drop below 135. That said, I think the risk is very low.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
You must log in or register to reply here.