sand chick Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I just got a smoker, been wanting one of these for years! I know there's alot of you guys out there who have mastered the art of meat smoking. Any tips you can offer up would be awesome! I have some really good rubs, that I already use for bbqing, but I am always up for suggestions. I cured her last night according to the instructions, but after that I think I would rather get tips from others on what works or doesn't work, rather then some manual. I have a small 3lb pork butt and a 3.5 tri tip to practice on today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydew Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 we like using the hickory wood chips; we find the mesquite chips to be a bit too much. Also, we like the flavor that we get when we substitute water with soda. Gives it a sweet sticky glazed effect. We buy the store brand 2 liters for that...orange is what works for us on our baby backs :hungry: The fun thing is to just experiment...see what worksfor ya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas FX400 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Sometimes i will pour some Jack or Jim Beam in with the water. I like to use applewood chips when doing pork. I have got some pointers from Smokin Al. I did a tri-tip before, had it at like 185-200, did that for about 3 hrs..(last hr in foil) but i think it would have been great for 2.5 hrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hmmm... I bet Cherry Cola on ribs would be good as well. Jack or Jim in the water.. another thing I will have to try. I think I did pretty good, I had some taste testing guinea pigs over, and everyone who ate it thought it was delish. I tried a slow and low.. planning 4 hours, but screwed up and let the coals get too low with two hours to go, both meats were stuck at 150 and it took me forever, ok it felt like forever, to get it going again. And my last hour I had to get it up from 150 to 170. So lesson learned for me, make sure to add a coal or two when adding chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydew Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 glad it turned out I have an electric unit, which is alot more consistent on the temp, but keeping up with the wood chips makes a diff. for me too. That last 10 degrees always seem to take a while. Several years now, I've done the smoked turkey for turkey day. 14 lbs. or so, and man does it take a while. Usually get up at 4 am. and let it go for around 12 hours...SOOO worth it though :hungry: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxysandchick Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Jim said that Mike had asked him a few questions on Sunday and Jim replied with pics, later he realized the texts never went through..sorry!! We have a Char Griller brand and bought the 'fire side box' for smoking. We tried with just the grill last time and found it was hard for us to keep a good temp and we had to open the grill too often. This weekend was our first time with the side box and it was a lot easier. Pauly is using this same set-up. Last time we used wood chips and this time we used the big chunks, we like the chunks better. If you use the chunks, it helps a lot to soak them in water a little while or they flame up and raise the temp quickly. Last time we didn't have a way to start the extra charcoal and that caused a problem with keeping it the proper temp, so we picked up a charcoal chimney and that thing works great. This weekend we did a 3.5lb pork butt and some beef back ribs...cooked them at 175-200 degrees for 5 hours. We also just picked up a meat thermometer that stays in the meat and has a wireless, digital readout gadget, so you can monitor the temp of the meat while cooking, I love it. We cooked the pork butt to 190 degrees in the center. Definately going to be doing a pork butt again and ribs...and tri tip, brisket...hmmm what else to try? We could use some suggestions for marinades, rubs and sauces....still working on those! We are going to try some of the tips about adding things to the water, those sound yummy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE14SAND Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 wife wants to do this 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 (edited) wife wants to do this I have been wanting one for a long long time. Best birthday present yet, except for my steering stablizer last year. We were talking turkey last night. So thats worth it. Do you inject it or dry rub it? Kristin, the dry rub I used this time was: (guessing on the measurements, I don't really measure) 1 tbsp black pepper 2 tsp cayenne pepper 2 tbsp garlic 1 tblsp chipotle pepper 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp habanero powder 1/2 cup of brown sugar If it was just going to be me and Mike I would have added 1/4 tsp of ghost pepper powder, but we like the extra kick. I used mesquite chips, so I didn't add my smokey mesquite seasoning on top of that. Edited July 27, 2011 by sand chick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydew Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 In my experience, the butterball turkeys don't need injections, but some of the off brands end up a little dry without them. I think butterball adds a percentage of brine. So usually, I just do a dry rub. You can do that, and experiment with your favorite bbq sauce 10 minutes before it's finished...we like sweet baby ray's. This thread's making me fatter just thinkin about food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxysandchick Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the rub info Jodi...will have to try that out, but Jim doesn't do hot at all lol. We used mesquite chunks, wanted to do apple but they didn't have any. We just picked up a bunch of pork ribs to smoke next time, my favorite! Edited July 27, 2011 by Foxysandchick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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