Smokers / Grills
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Ritley
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chaos
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It turned out ok, not amazing, but I think that's my fault.
I know how to grill, I have never really smoked anything before though, and I'm reading that brisket is actually pretty difficult to nail. I smoked it for about 10 hours and finished in the oven because it started raining, which no rain was called for so that sucked. The ThermPro remote thermometer I got from Amazon worked great. The smoker itself held temp pretty well. I didn't put the gasket on the door yet that everyone recommends, but it wasn't an issue. I decided to try mesquite, turns out that was probably a mistake. It gave the meat a very strong flavor, for sure, but I think maybe too much. The meat was tougher than I would have wanted. Reading up online it seems there are a few different things that could have caused this. I maintained temp pretty well, and at 10 hours I was still at 154 degrees when I transferred to the oven. I took it out of the oven at 197, and it hit that super quick after transferring to the oven. The meat was, again, not tough, but definitely not the tenderness I wanted.
So, I think 1. put the gasket in, 2. use hickory, 3. maybe an overnight smoke, but do it a bit slower and leave in the smoker rather than finishing in the oven. From what I've read, I should get a better result with this. As far as the smoker goes, I'm happy with it. I only smoked the brisket, I think this coming weekend I may do a pork butt and some jerky, there's a ton of room in there so I should be able to fit it no problem.
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Ritley
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nope, common myth but proven false- hit up amazingribs.com site is awesome for information. what happens is the outside gets dry thus smoke does not stick, spritzing the meat with apple juice or water will enhance smoke uptake.
brisket is about the HARDEST meat to get right. i have not tried it yet.(wife does not like it)
mesquite - is a VERY strong tasting flavor. only use 1 or 2 chunks total, and use other fruit woods for finish- apple cherry or pecan are the most used imo, only one or two chunks at a time you want light blue smoke kind of wispy, not heavy white smoke. remember too much smoke =BAD you can always ADD wood to make more, if there is not much, but too much you get ash tasting stuff.. i typically start with 2-3 chunks of wood, once they are about gone, add 2-3 more...repeat until finished.
What You Need to Know About Wood, Smoke, And Combustion
brisket is about the HARDEST meat to get right. i have not tried it yet.(wife does not like it)
mesquite - is a VERY strong tasting flavor. only use 1 or 2 chunks total, and use other fruit woods for finish- apple cherry or pecan are the most used imo, only one or two chunks at a time you want light blue smoke kind of wispy, not heavy white smoke. remember too much smoke =BAD you can always ADD wood to make more, if there is not much, but too much you get ash tasting stuff.. i typically start with 2-3 chunks of wood, once they are about gone, add 2-3 more...repeat until finished.
What You Need to Know About Wood, Smoke, And Combustion
chaos
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Thanks for that. That matches up with what I have been reading as well.
So my wood didn't really have visible smoke. I could definitely smell the smoke, and taste the smoke, and the wood definitely burned down, but the smoke wasn't really visible. I soaked the chips overnight, maybe a mistake? Different sites online give different advice about soaking/not soaking.
So my wood didn't really have visible smoke. I could definitely smell the smoke, and taste the smoke, and the wood definitely burned down, but the smoke wasn't really visible. I soaked the chips overnight, maybe a mistake? Different sites online give different advice about soaking/not soaking.
from the article i linked
Use dry wood. Wet wood makes bad smoke. It also cools the fire. Read my article on soaking wood. Some pitmasters will even put the wood on top of their smoker to drive off any remaining water.
blue light wispy smoke is fine.. all the wet wood does is, make steam until the wood dries- it also delays smoking until it reaches higher temp, soaked wood, will delay the actual SMOKE part you want by up to 30 minutes (from the article link posted in this reply. - again all articles are by meathead
Use dry wood. Wet wood makes bad smoke. It also cools the fire. Read my article on soaking wood. Some pitmasters will even put the wood on top of their smoker to drive off any remaining water.
blue light wispy smoke is fine.. all the wet wood does is, make steam until the wood dries- it also delays smoking until it reaches higher temp, soaked wood, will delay the actual SMOKE part you want by up to 30 minutes (from the article link posted in this reply. - again all articles are by meathead
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the visiongrills version or the pitboss version?
i own the visiongrills version and it is awesome. (i have a pellet grill/smoker too)
i own the visiongrills version and it is awesome. (i have a pellet grill/smoker too)
GOOD choice. one item you might want to get is some high temp gasket (food grade) caulking. i had an issue where the gasket for the electric lighter insert flap disconnected...
if you plan on smoking-a lot, i'd recommend getting the bbq guru setup - costs 155-325 depending on which version you get- (expensive one has wifi/cloud)
if you plan on smoking-a lot, i'd recommend getting the bbq guru setup - costs 155-325 depending on which version you get- (expensive one has wifi/cloud)
Oldbased
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I have a dyna glo large vertical one and love it. It is propane and I do have issues with getting 225+ when it is under 80 outside. Chicken is the only thing I smoke at that plus though. I had issues with chips burning to fast until I started buying large chunks instead and I split them up.
I Have the mastercraft? propane cabinet smoker (smaller one) and my only issue with it- it did work well- is maintaining 225...i have the opposite issue than olebass, i have to run the propane- no matter WHAT the temp is outside- at just about the lowest setting, with vents 100% open to keep it under 250...
which is why i got the pellet one- it's "better" at temp control...and a lot larger.
doing pulled pork on saturday for a party, going to start it at like 6am...
which is why i got the pellet one- it's "better" at temp control...and a lot larger.
doing pulled pork on saturday for a party, going to start it at like 6am...
I might just start it at like 2 am Then goto bed. Set smoker to 215 put meat on insert probes then check on it 6 hr later. That way will have 15 hr for the cook.