Dug the Smoker Out of the Garage; Should Have Done That Long Ago...

[HighFlyingA380]

Let's revive this thread for a minute.

I did a 12-hour pulled pork shoulder last week. The bark was divine. With a tangy Carolina vinegar sauce with just a bit of heat; served on buns with slaw and pickle slices.

Yum. Can't say I've ever done pulled pork with shoulder; I always use a butt. Pros/cons between the two? I'm wanting to do some pulled pork with my original Smoked Maple recipe in a couple days.

With regards to the Weber kettle smoker, I've done it a couple times recently, unfortunately without a thermometer... About a month ago I did a 5-pound tenderloin with the "snake" method of charcoal (previous pictures) with hickory on top. It was good flavor, but clearly too hot. I had it on about 3 hours, and in retrospect it must have been around 300-350 degrees. Quite dry and needed to be covered in a thin sauce.

The other day I smoked my fresh catch of trout. Just liked up charcoal in a thin line and put apple wood on top. Squeezed lemons and limes over the fillets with apple slices laid on top, and kept it in about an hour. Quite a nice little snack for lunch.

Lastly, a couple weeks ago I did another 5-pund tenderloin in the electric smoker. Not bad, but needs some work:
-I turned it off at 150 degrees internal, and let it rest for 2 hours. During that time, it spiked to 160 internal. I need to stop it at about 145 and only rest for 20-30 minutes...
-I trimmed the exterior fat off. Bad idea. It was definitely needed for moisture retention.
-I only put the rub on a few hours before smoking it, instead of overnight...

 

[asechrest]

Well damn, guys. Looks like I'll have to join the fun next weekend. I'm thinking pulled pork, as well. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the flavor of mine last time.

 

[DJTorrente]

Nice, DJ. Love it. I may have to try that approach to see how it works.

I use the Smokenator in my 22" Weber. It is, frankly, a bit expensive for what it is. But if you combine it with a wireless thermometer to monitor the temperature at the cooking grate, It turns the classic kettle into a fantastic smoker. The only downside is that it does require attention every hour or two.

Thanks. I've seen good things about that unit, but also, like you said, a bit pricey for what it is. My smoker guru recommended the Weber Smokey Mountain, pricier still. I like the idea of a separate unit if I am going to be doing this more often.

I want to try a beef brisket. As much as I liked the pork bark, some burnt ends off the tip piece has me drooling. And some ribs -- which has me thinking I'd want the grill real estate of my kettle without the Smokenator, or the largest of the WSMs (which is surprisingly pricey in its own right -- I mean a 22" Weber kettle can be had for $100-150).

 

[DJTorrente]

Yum. Can't say I've ever done pulled pork with shoulder; I always use a butt. Pros/cons between the two? I'm wanting to do some pulled pork with my original Smoked Maple recipe in a couple days.

The "butt" is what they call the shoulder. The rear leg cut is recognizable as a ham.

I can keep the kettle down around 225-250 by choking off the fire good. I've read some negative comments about doing so, arguing for the benefits of an offset fire box. An oven thermometer on the grate has been invaluable to help me with temp control. I used a probe thermometer for the first time on the pork. It turns out the kettle is cool enough that my kitchen probe thermo can sit comfortably on the lid, wire snaking through the top vent. A thermostat-controlled offset unit would obviously be even better.

I'd love to smoke some salmon, but I really don't think I can generate a cold smoke on the kettle.

 

[txflyer]

I've got baby back ribs, a pork loin, a brisket, and other things to smoke this week for our trip to Galveston.

Smoking is an art and like snowflakes. No two are alike.

I'm using an offset firebox smoker. I like to use pecan wood because hickory and mesquite can over smoke the food pretty easy compared to pecan. I also like to seal wrap my stuff in foil and cook it for a couple hours during the last phase. That makes ribs fall off the bone. To firm them back up, I spread BBQ (homemade) sauce on them and then finish them on a got grill for maybe five or ten minutes. The high heat carmalizes the sugar in the BBQ sauce and that is what makes yo ribs sticky!

 

[Matthew]

Just got done with a contest this weekend:

Cooked up 2 pork loins, 15 lb chicken, one turkey, 3 lb sausage, 4 butts. 2 briskets, 6 slabs ribs, and something else that I'm forgetting. Some was for dinner Friday night, the rest was for Saturday judging.

This contest has a separate chicken-wing contest. One of the main sponsors puts that one on. Same BBQ judges, but not part of the main judging categories. They have three brackets, hot, BBQ, open. We got 2nd in BBQ.

There is also a "People's Choice" contest. Teams donate a butt that gets put out with a tip jar next to it. The public buys tickets that gets them unlimited samples. They drop their ticket stub into the tip jar of the BBQ they like best. At the end, the team with the most tickets wins. We got 4th.

As far as the rest of the contest - not so good. We've all been doing these things for long enough we generally know what's good, and we had a lot of entries that really should have gotten higher scores. I don't have the scoring detailed breakdown yet, so I don't know where we went wrong.

But - we had fun, no injuries, and we'll do it again.

Here's our main smoker - ABS (American BBQ Systems), built just around the corner from where I live. The company owner had plenty of our beer Friday night - we were one of his first customers, so he's used a lot of feedback from us on his later models. His website has some pictures of it, too.

(and one t-shirt I saw at the team captain's meeting)

 

[DJTorrente]

Just got done with a contest this weekend:

[SNIP]

(Finally found a use for that particular smiley)

I could probably pull that rig behind my mini-SUV, but for the life of me I can't figure how I'd get it onto my 1-story raised back deck where I like to do my smoking.

 

[Matthew]

(Finally found a use for that particular smiley)

I could probably pull that rig behind my mini-SUV, but for the life of me I can't figure how I'd get it onto my 1-story raised back deck where I like to do my smoking.

No, you fire up the smoker in your driveway so the neighbors stop by and bring beer.

 

[txflyer]

We need to have a smokin' fly in!

Problem is dragging the smoker behind the skywagon ...

 

[asechrest]

I've just finished 4 sauces: East Carolina vinegar, Lexington vinegar, South Carolina mustard, Kansas City sweet. I'm planning pulled pork on Sunday if the weekend schedule permits.

 

[Old Fart]

Dug the old Luhr-Jensen Little Chief out last weekend to clean it - smoke pan was rusted through

Can't believe they still sell parts. Looks like jerky WILL be happening soon. And like Matthew said above - it attracts neighbors

 

[Sac Arrow]

So I used this technique this afternoon to smoke 1/2 a 20 lb turkey. This was basically a dry run for some guests coming Saturday (who get to sample the other half of the bird).

Combining this and other techniques, I carved up the bird into manageable quarters, leaving the dark quarters on the bone, and the light quarters I "airlined" (boneless except the first bone [drumette] of the wing). I brined overnight in just salt and brown sugar, then trussed the breast and thighs.

The grill/smoker is a standard 22" Weber kettle. I lined up my briquettes three deep on edge along 3/4 the circumference of the charcoal grate, and lit about a dozen briquettes in my chimney starter. I had some applewood chunks soaking about 2 hrs prior for my smoke medium. Last, I used a disposable square aluminum cake pan on the charcoal grate in the center of the snake filled with about a quart of water (actually, the water from soaking the wood chunks) to help with temperature control. The water pan also did double duty catching much of the fat drippings.

Temperature control was easier to manage than I thought it would be. I was able to keep the grill temp at 225-250 for the better part of four hours. Incidentally, four hours burned almost exactly 1/2 the briquettes -- i plan to use that reference for future smoking. Temps were trending higher by the end of that time, but I temped the bird and it was done so I pulled it and didn't worry about continued futzing with the airflow. I no longer cook by time, I cook by temperature, and the target was 160 internal on the bird.

There was plenty of smoke produced; the applewood chunks gave of a slightly sweet smoke. The finished bird had a deep mahogany color on the exterior and a nice pink bark under the surface of the breast meat when I tested it.

Looking forward to doing it again Saturday.

What kind of charcoal are you using? I can't seem to get my charcoal to light unless it's resting on top or in between coals. I have a smaller Weber (18") and I'm using coal holders to divide a charge of lit coals from the chimney. I can keep it burning about 5-6 hours without having to add coals. I do ribs mostly, sometimes whole chickens. I couldn't get brisket to turn out quite right.

 

[Matthew]

What kind of charcoal are you using? I can't seem to get my charcoal to light unless it's resting on top or in between coals. I have a smaller Weber (18") and I'm using coal holders to divide a charge of lit coals from the chimney. I can keep it burning about 5-6 hours without having to add coals. I do ribs mostly, sometimes whole chickens. I couldn't get brisket to turn out quite right.

For the good stuff, Royal Oak Lump is pretty easy to find around here in hardware stores. I have some of that (I think) laying around, and I also have some larger bags of lump of another brand that I got from a food service place.

For general purpose, anything labeled "100% hardwood" in briquette form works for me. My problem with Kingsford is that it seems designed for grilling vs smoking. It tends to get hot, quickly, but then gets a heavy ash layer that chokes it out and causes it to lose heat faster than some of the store brands. This is one advantage the "snake method", or other similar methods have - as the older coals ash over, the newer ones light and a constant temp is maintained. With Kingsford, at clean-up time, I generally find a lot of unburned briquette nuggets buried in the ash.

That big smoker in my pictures above: it's about 10 years old, but was just refurbished, that's why it looks new. One of the improvements the company made to them was an insert for the firebox. The firebox extends the entire width of the smoker. There is now an insert that is almost the full width and almost the full height. You put the insert in the box, centered from front to back, and pushed over to one side. That leaves a U-shaped channel around it. You put charcoal and wood in that channel, then start the fire at one end. As it burns, the fire follows along the channel. When it reaches the opposite end, you can refill and it will reverse course. This gets us about 5-6 hrs for each fill.

 

[Sac Arrow]

For the good stuff, Royal Oak Lump is pretty easy to find around here in hardware stores. I have some of that (I think) laying around, and I also have some larger bags of lump of another brand that I got from a food service place.

For general purpose, anything labeled "100% hardwood" in briquette form works for me. My problem with Kingsford is that it seems designed for grilling vs smoking. It tends to get hot, quickly, but then gets a heavy ash layer that chokes it out and causes it to lose heat faster than some of the store brands. This is one advantage the "snake method", or other similar methods have - as the older coals ash over, the newer ones light and a constant temp is maintained. With Kingsford, at clean-up time, I generally find a lot of unburned briquette nuggets buried in the ash.

That big smoker in my pictures above: it's about 10 years old, but was just refurbished, that's why it looks new. One of the improvements the company made to them was an insert for the firebox. The firebox extends the entire width of the smoker. There is now an insert that is almost the full width and almost the full height. You put the insert in the box, centered from front to back, and pushed over to one side. That leaves a U-shaped channel around it. You put charcoal and wood in that channel, then start the fire at one end. As it burns, the fire follows along the channel. When it reaches the opposite end, you can refill and it will reverse course. This gets us about 5-6 hrs for each fill.

I think I will give that a shot. Better quality charcoal.

 

[Matthew]

Dang. Now I'm hungry for BBQ again. And that's all I've been eating since Friday, with a break for salad and pizza to let my system recover for a day.

Feast or famine...

 

[Sac Arrow]

Dang. Now I'm hungry for BBQ again. And that's all I've been eating since Friday, with a break for salad and pizza to let my system recover for a day.

Feast or famine...

At least it's close to lunch time for you. I'm still a couple hours away.

 

[DJTorrente]

What kind of charcoal are you using? I can't seem to get my charcoal to light unless it's resting on top or in between coals. I have a smaller Weber (18") and I'm using coal holders to divide a charge of lit coals from the chimney. I can keep it burning about 5-6 hours without having to add coals. I do ribs mostly, sometimes whole chickens. I couldn't get brisket to turn out quite right.

I'm using Kingsford competition briquettes (Costco 2-pack). Its what I had been using for day-to-day grilling before ever thiking about using the kettle as a smoker. Thinking about it, however, I think the briquettes have an advantage over lump for slower and more even burning, esp. considering how low the fire is kept.

Take a look at the full res version of this picture for my setup. I lined them up around the perimeter, three-deep with the flat sides against the kettle and facing inward, kind of offset to fill in the gaps. Then I laid an additional row of briquettes on top of those three, before capping it with the wood chunks. To start it, I lit about a dozen briquettes in a chimney, just enough to cover the bottom of the chimney, and more or less dumped them at one end of the snake. That pic is right at the beginning, with the gray lit coals in, but before the meat went on.

Keeping the fire going has not been a problem for me, except when I got a little over-zealous with a palmful of water to put out a flare up of one of the wood blocks. Even then, the fire responded well, heating back up once I temporarily increased airflow. I use an oven thermometer sitting on the grate opposite the point of the fire to gauge temps. Bottom vents were at least half closed (which is far more than half of the lever travel) and top vent is 2/3-3/4 closed.

 

[Sac Arrow]

I'm using Kingsford competition briquettes (Costco 2-pack). Its what I had been using for day-to-day grilling before ever thiking about using the kettle as a smoker. Thinking about it, however, I think the briquettes have an advantage over lump for slower and more even burning, esp. considering how low the fire is kept.

Take a look at the full res version of this picture for my setup. I lined them up around the perimeter, three-deep with the flat sides against the kettle and facing inward, kind of offset to fill in the gaps. Then I laid an additional row of briquettes on top of those three, before capping it with the wood chunks. To start it, I lit about a dozen briquettes in a chimney, just enough to cover the bottom of the chimney, and more or less dumped them at one end of the snake. That pic is right at the beginning, with the gray lit coals in, but before the meat went on.

Keeping the fire going has not been a problem for me, except when I got a little over-zealous with a palmful of water to put out a flare up of one of the wood blocks. Even then, the fire responded well, heating back up once I temporarily increased airflow. I use an oven thermometer sitting on the grate opposite the point of the fire to gauge temps. Bottom vents were at least half closed (which is far more than half of the lever travel) and top vent is 2/3-3/4 closed.

I've tried those before (I didn't buy them) but it seemed to me that the briquettes had some sort of paraffin like admixture to them and smelled a bit like burning candles. I'm just using the standard Kingsford stuff right now. But I guess the competition briquettes would probably work better in your setup.

 

[Matthew]

I forgot about the Kingsford competition. I haven't used them in my small smoker, just the big one, so I have no experience with them in a setup like you are trying to use.

As far as the paraffin smell - it wasn't the match-light briquettes, was it?

 

[Sac Arrow]

I forgot about the Kingsford competition. I haven't used them in my small smoker, just the big one, so I have no experience with them in a setup like you are trying to use.

As far as the paraffin smell - it wasn't the match-light briquettes, was it?

No, not the match light. That stuff smells like lighter fluid.

 

[txflyer]

Talking about charcoal, you need 100% natural lump charcoal if you will be ADDING charcoal to your fire, like a smoker.

If you use the briquettes, they have accelerant fumes that will ruin your meat. Briquettes are meant to have meat cooked over them AFTER they've burnt down into hot coals.

Same goes for stripping the bark off wood if you're going to ADD it to your firebox. In all reality, the anal retentive proper way to add heat to a firebox is you should have two fires going and only add hot coals to the firebox. But I'm not that anal. Natural lump charcoal works.

 

[denverpilot]

Your smokers all need VW logos on them. Just sayin'. Gotta have some fun in life.

 

[Matthew]

Your smokers all need VW logos on them. Just sayin'. Gotta have some fun in life.

Too soon.


No, really, too soon. Last weekend's contest came too quickly for me to do that.

 

[DJTorrente]

I've tried those before (I didn't buy them) but it seemed to me that the briquettes had some sort of paraffin like admixture to them and smelled a bit like burning candles. I'm just using the standard Kingsford stuff right now. But I guess the competition briquettes would probably work better in your setup.

Talking about charcoal, you need 100% natural lump charcoal if you will be ADDING charcoal to your fire, like a smoker.

If you use the briquettes, they have accelerant fumes that will ruin your meat. Briquettes are meant to have meat cooked over them AFTER they've burnt down into hot coals.

Same goes for stripping the bark off wood if you're going to ADD it to your firebox. In all reality, the anal retentive proper way to add heat to a firebox is you should have two fires going and only add hot coals to the firebox. But I'm not that anal. Natural lump charcoal works.

I definitely see the benefits of natural lump, esp. higher heat potential for direct grilling. Kingsford doesn't list ingredients, though it does say the competition briquettes are "100% Natural". I've read one review which puts the contents as pressed charcoal with a starch binder and borax mold release agent. I'm still new to smoking [meats], so I'm willing to give lump a whirl.

eta: Just came across The Tao of Charcoal. If the guy who wrote that would turn his attention to airplanes he could give 6PC a run for his money. See The Book of Lump and Briquettes.

 

[Sac Arrow]

Okay.

I got a bag of hardwood lump charcoal, and I am going to do the acid test tonight. Grill a 4 lb half salmon cut in to steaks. I'm thinking to use a bit less than I would need for briquettes, and I will need to do covered choking down the O2 a bit. These are thick pieces.

I know, I know, why didn't I just filet them. Big fling fish and I don't feel confident filleting the thing without wasting half of it. It's all right, I'm marinating the steaks in olive oil and balsamic with Italian spices.

 

[DJTorrente]

Latest adventures in smoked meats (no pictures this time)

The local supermarket put picnic roasts (the shank half of the front leg, below the "butt" cut; looks like a small 'ham') on sale this week, so I'm at it again.

I was almost out of charcoal, so I bought a bag of Royal Oak natural lump. A couple of observations.

The picnic cut is not as good for pulled pork as the shoulder/butt. It came skin on, which had to be removed. I was not prepared to fry cracklins, so that was just a chore. The meat itself was stringier, and did not have the same texture as the butt, even when cooked to the same temps.

Mostly, I was disappointed with the lump charcoal. Based on my reading and looking at what came out of the bag, the source wood was mostly reclaimed pallets. I piled the chunks into a snake of roughly the same volume and length as I did with the briquettes. And was able to establish the kettle between 200-225 deg for the first two hours. Then I found the fire put itself out. I'm guessing inconsistency in the lump sized meant that the fire couldn't consistently jump from one piece to the next. I got the fire back up, but it cooled itself off again 90 min later. Opened the air, it came around again, only to put itself out. Finally, I relit with fresh coals, but that only took it another 2 hours before it fizzled again.

After 9 hours on the smoke, internal probe only at 170 (looking for 195) I pulled it off and finished it in a 275 oven. I'm told that it not unheard of, but next time I have to do that I will add a water source to the oven. I thought the finished product, though not dry, was direr than my last attempt.

Takeaway from this was definitely, absolutely going back to briquettes, at least as long as I continue to use the snake method in a Weber kettle. I also finished my applewood chunks, so I can reload -- likely with hickory for the next challenge: Beef Brisket. Flat cut and tip cut for some burnt ends.

 

[Sac Arrow]

In my brief encounter with mesquite lump, I thought it was pretty good. Tonight will definitely be an experiment, we will just have to see how it goes.

 

[Matthew]

Takeaway from this was definitely, absolutely going back to briquettes, at least as long as I continue to use the snake method in a Weber kettle.

Sorry to hear about you experience with the lump. I use it for grilling and smoking, but I don't use the snake method. I use a Weber smoker, rather than kettle, for smoking. One full chimney to start, dump that in when hot, add another chimney worth, let that start, then start the meat. Every few hours, grab some tongs to pull out a few hot coals to use for starting another chimney. In our big contest smoker, we generally dump in a whole bag or so every 4-5 hrs.

 

[Sac Arrow]

The lump charcoal was great!

 

[Sac Arrow]

Well I'll tell you what, the ash residue is a whole lot less objectionable. I don't think I'm going back.

 

[Sac Arrow]

So I'm going to do beef back ribs today, lump charcoal indirect, maybe a can of water down there to maintain moisture, any tips?

 

[txflyer]

So I'm going to do beef back ribs today, lump charcoal indirect, maybe a can of water down there to maintain moisture, any tips?

I do the 3-2-1 method on ribs.

3 hours on the smoker
2 hours sealed in foil on the smoker
1 hour unsealed in the smoker

Then to finish them off I slather BBQ sauce all over them and finish them on a hot grill for about five maybe ten minutes. You want the sugar in the BBQ sauce to caramelize. That's what makes ribs sticky and gooey and good.

 

[Sac Arrow]

I do the 3-2-1 method on ribs.

3 hours on the smoker
2 hours sealed in foil on the smoker
1 hour unsealed in the smoker

Then to finish them off I slather BBQ sauce all over them and finish them on a hot grill for about five maybe ten minutes. You want the sugar in the BBQ sauce to caramelize. That's what makes ribs sticky and gooey and good.

Hmm. Sounds interesting. Well good, I was planning for a 5 hour cook time. Might try that.

 

[asechrest]

The water is less for moisture and more for temperature stability.

Here is my pork butt and setup a couple weekends ago. I failed to get a pic post-cook, though.

 

[Sac Arrow]

The water is less for moisture and more for temperature stability.

Here is my pork butt and setup a couple weekends ago. I failed to get a pic post-cook, though.

View attachment 42059View attachment 42060
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Interesting. Well anyway it's been cooking for a little over an hour and so far so good. This is my first time slow cooking with the lump charcoal. I might have had it a tad hot so I throttled back a bit.

It's raining now. I have the Weber under the covered part of the patio (under the house roof). I never even would have attempted that with Kingsford. The lack of obnoxious smoke is refreshing.

That is an interesting setup. What is the functionality of that white thing on top of the grill cover? Where is the temperature sensor?

 

[BigBadLou]

So I'm going to do beef back ribs today, lump charcoal indirect, maybe a can of water down there to maintain moisture, any tips?

Yes, I have a tip for you. If you would like me to analyze your grilling outcome, send 1-lb sample of each meat to my mailing address (I will PM you) and I will email you a detailed taste analysis once I wake up from the protein-induced taste-overload coma a week later.

 

[Sac Arrow]

Yes, I have a tip for you. If you would like me to analyze your grilling outcome, send 1-lb sample of each meat to my mailing address (I will PM you) and I will email you a detailed taste analysis once I wake up from the protein-induced taste-overload coma a week later.

Hah! Gotta tell you, it didn't turn out perfect. It turned out okay, but the fire died out a little sooner than I expected (was in a hurry to get the coals placed because of the rain.) learning here.

 

[asechrest]

Interesting. Well anyway it's been cooking for a little over an hour and so far so good. This is my first time slow cooking with the lump charcoal. I might have had it a tad hot so I throttled back a bit.

It's raining now. I have the Weber under the covered part of the patio (under the house roof). I never even would have attempted that with Kingsford. The lack of obnoxious smoke is refreshing.

That is an interesting setup. What is the functionality of that white thing on top of the grill cover? Where is the temperature sensor?

My lid doesn't fit quite right so that white thing is just a chunk of concrete paver to keep it weighed down. I have a dual probe wireless thermometer, so I've got one probe in the meat and one on the grill grate, with the probe wires running down through the bottom air vents to the temp sender which is hung over the bottom ash catcher.

 

[Matthew]

So I'm going to do beef back ribs today, lump charcoal indirect, maybe a can of water down there to maintain moisture, any tips?

If the beef ribs look like these, you did good:

 

[DJTorrente]

Just to completely derail this thread (but oddly enough on-topic); there's this from the Royals/Toronto ALCS game: