smokers Finally, a Smoker I Can Call My Own

chunks > chips everytime.  do NOT soak - you're creating steam, which will hold creosote on the meat and steam instead of smoke.
 
if you're holding 230 reliably that smoker is a gem, especially for pork or brisket.  it will take a bit longer, but you'll be happy with the results for sure stetto.
 
if you're doing brisket you'll have your choice of flat or point.  whole packer briskets aren't widely available but if you can get one of those and trim it out yourself.  the point is what burnt ends are made of, the flat is what you're recognize as those perfect pencil sized slices from better bbq joints. 
 
smoking-meat forums (search it) is an excellent resource for all things smoked meat and may help you - they are the thp of smoking meat imo. 
 
good luck and keep dropping sweet bbq pics bro.  ;)
 
stettoman said:
I used almost a half bag of Cowboy brand Hardwood Lump coal, reloaded halfway through the cook.
Click to expand...
 
This brand is horrible! All small pieces. The Royal Oak is the best lump you can readily get.
 
And I agree, no soaking. I like the chunks as well. Shit, get logs if you can. ;)
 
It probably has a lot to do with shipping. Lowe's orders mass quantities stacked as palettes shrink wrapped. It gets tossed around and crushed. The Royal Oak I get at my bodega lol! They prob get is from a distributor that is smaller, these bags have almost logs in them. It's always been quality but the Cowboy is always dust.
 
Geez, bust my balls, will ya...The Cowboy was big lumps and 1-2 inch around sticks, yes, mixed with small stuff. My issue was that it burned faster than I had expected. Now my disclaimer: I am out in the sticks, the store I went to, which @ 12 miles away, had Kingsford briquettes or Cowboy.
 
I had a bag of OK Joe's Lump Applewood, and used it on the rib cook, but everything else is chips, hickory, mesquite, and cherry. I suppose those are for gas grillers who want a smoky component, it burnt up in nuthin flat on charcoal.
 
I promise I'll do better on the next cook...That loin, BTW, made even as good a cold sammich as it was hot off the grill!
 
Out of those two briquettes I'd get Cowboy over Kingsford, I like the 100% natural hardwood with vegetable binders. However Kingsford Competition if good is you see it.
 
If money was no object I would use the biggest lump I could find, and leave a hole out of the center and use weber briquttes to light it via the minion method. I might throw something on one of these Smokey mountains this morning
 
I'm down to the middle of the Red Oak bag and it's still chunks woop.

IMG_20190811_190242.jpg
 
SmokenFire said:
chunks > chips everytime.  do NOT soak - you're creating steam, which will hold creosote on the meat and steam instead of smoke.
 
if you're holding 230 reliably that smoker is a gem, especially for pork or brisket.  it will take a bit longer, but you'll be happy with the results for sure stetto.
 
if you're doing brisket you'll have your choice of flat or point.  whole packer briskets aren't widely available but if you can get one of those and trim it out yourself.  the point is what burnt ends are made of, the flat is what you're recognize as those perfect pencil sized slices from better bbq joints. 
 
smoking-meat forums (search it) is an excellent resource for all things smoked meat and may help you - they are the thp of smoking meat imo. 
 
good luck and keep dropping sweet bbq pics bro.  ;)
Click to expand...
 
Hey Dru, thanks for the meat forum headsup! I got so many ideas to try, from bacon & brisket to andouille & chipotle (and other peppers), wings and not the least of all Scoville DeVille's smoked mac&cheese. This summer hasn't given me much rope to hang myself with, so I may be smoking in the tamarac shed well into the below zeros...
 
We have a meat guy who can get me anything carne, but sometimes Costco pork & beef is a little more economical.
 
Chips is what the box store had and with that smoker box I can certainly use that in the gas grill, but even a simple search brings up HUNDREDS of brands and types of chunk wood. My dad owned 160 acres of nice deer hunting digs, maple, red & white oak, ironwood, ash, walnut...but no mesquite, apple, cherry, hickory or any of the other wonderful smokewoods...If the property passes to me maybe I'll plant a hardwood stand out there...
 
Oak is a great smoking wood. It's often overlooked but is actually the secret to Texas brisket, post oak is quite popular (from oak posts), but any oak works. It's awesome with beef. Steak, brisket, and all meats as well. 
 
Stetto, every Home Cheapo (and Lowe's) by me has the bags of chunks in their BBQ section, bud. Can't remember the exact volume, but I'd say it's close to a gallon, for $8-$9. They usually stock apple, pecan, hickory, mesquite, and cherry. They have bigger bags too (maybe 2-3 gallons?) for under $20, but never have that size of cherry (my personal favorite). I just noticed the other day that the Ace Hardware up the street just started stocking the gallon sized bags of "post oak" recently too. I'm gonna give them a shot sometime

:cheers:
 
2nd cook after the modifications is not what I had planned, talked myself out of prime cuts til I get my epicurean head wrapped around this unit.

20190818_131027.jpg


Boss, I'll never doubt you. This Cowboy coal, after coming out so large and ready, turned into flakes at halfway through the bag. I did initially get 400° out of her, now the 250° I seek. She's gonna porpoise on the temps for a bit, but I gotta find the Right Fuel first. I should have time to shop mañana...
 
You should use charcoal to get it dialed in then start experimenting, it's gonna be easier.
 
Did you cut the firebox to cooking chamber hole bigger yet? If not do that and run the pit like a drum smoker. Fill the charcoal basket and light just one chimney full of coals then dump it on the charcoal basket and let it run to see what temps you get. You might need to light more or less depending on your smoker.
 
This should work for you after you cut that hole bigger. I'm guessing the full charcoal basket should last at least 5 hours or longer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuqsk_pQTgQ
 
 
 
Rajun Gardener said:
You should use charcoal to get it dialed in then start experimenting, it's gonna be easier.
 
Did you cut the firebox to cooking chamber hole bigger yet? If not do that and run the pit like a drum smoker. Fill the charcoal basket and light just one chimney full of coals then dump it on the charcoal basket and let it run to see what temps you get. You might need to light more or less depending on your smoker.
 
This should work for you after you cut that hole bigger. I'm guessing the full charcoal basket should last at least 5 hours or longer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuqsk_pQTgQ
 
 
Click to expand...
 
OK Rob, you say "bigger", and I'm the last one to argue with you, but I have no idea what you might mean by "a little" bigger or even just "bigger". Know that my OCD doesn't allow for variable tolerances  ;) ...
 
Also, my version of bigger will be in drill bit diameters, not "square inches", so how many half-inch holes are you suggesting? I found that my jigsaw was less than spectacular in it's performance when cutting for the big smoke stack.
 
Todays cook entailed leaving the firebox door open and BOTH smokestacks wide open to achieve a constant 250 degrees, so there is an intake venting issue also. I plan to drill a series of holes in the firebox door as well, likely 1/2 to 3/4"....
 
Whaddaya think, maestro (a complimentary term, BELIEVE me)?
 
Don't mess with the door air vents till you make that firebox exhaust hole bigger, by bigger I mean take it apart and cut each side of the firebox outlet 1 inch wider. That's your choke point, once that's cut you'll see a big difference. 
 
Your exhaust vent is 4 3/16 X 3 1/4 now so make it 6 3/16" X 3 1/4".  Use a grinder with a cutoff wheel and it should take 10 minutes to do both.
 
Smoker.png
 
MikeUSMC said:
Stetto, every Home Cheapo (and Lowe's) by me has the bags of chunks in their BBQ section, bud. Can't remember the exact volume, but I'd say it's close to a gallon, for $8-$9. They usually stock apple, pecan, hickory, mesquite, and cherry. They have bigger bags too (maybe 2-3 gallons?) for under $20, but never have that size of cherry (my personal favorite). I just noticed the other day that the Ace Hardware up the street just started stocking the gallon sized bags of "post oak" recently too. I'm gonna give them a shot sometime

:cheers:
Click to expand...
 

Just got back from the lone box store in the area, a Menards. I also stopped at various hardware and groceries, even a CVS. In a small town of 10,000 ppl that blows up in the summer to +/- 100,000 lake people and other sundry tourists, this is what there was. Yes, there was Kingsford and Royal Oak "classic", but you'd figure a camping/fishing mecca like this would have more variety...This'll do, but egad...

20190819_105550.jpg



 
Rajun Gardener said:
Don't mess with the door air vents till you make that firebox exhaust hole bigger, by bigger I mean take it apart and cut each side of the firebox outlet 1 inch wider. That's your choke point, once that's cut you'll see a big difference. 
 
Your exhaust vent is 4 3/16 X 3 1/4 now so make it 6 3/16" X 3 1/4".  Use a grinder with a cutoff wheel and it should take 10 minutes to do both.
 
attachicon.gif
Smoker.png
Click to expand...
Yep, I was going to use my Dremel with the cutoff wheel, then realized what nonsense that would be...eighth inch steel would eat up those little 1 inch wheels in no time...

Thanks for the input, guys. No telling how long it'd take for me to figure this all out...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top