I have been doing nothing but grilling on a gas grill. Someone who works with my wife, knows my love for grilling, and is upgrading their smoker and is giving me their old one. I am super excited for this, because I have always wanted to smoke meats, fish, shrimp, cheese etc. I believe it is a wood smoker. What are some recipe, advice on meats/wood chips, tips etc I can get out of some of you? I'd really appreciate it!
Got a 7.5 pound pork. made my own carolina red sauce. Got it in the fridge now covered in rub. Going to throw it in the smoker around 9am tomorrow, cook it around 9-10 hours, hickory wood. Going to soak the wood for a couple of hours. Very excited!
Sick, First off, you can smoke meat on a cheap *** grill. It is all about indirect heat and maintaining a good amount of smoke. But with that being said, I prefer using a smoker, as it is easier to control. A few helpful things(hope they aren't too late): 1) I hope that you seasoned your smoker per the instructions. It really does help to run some smoke through before you use it on meat. 2) in my experience the rub is the key to a good smoked piece of meat. Let whatever cut you get sit in for a good day. The keys ingredients to a good rub for smoking are: Sugar: helps the other ingredients get into the meat Paprika: adds flavor Salt and Pepper: same as paprika Anything else you want to add is just a bonus. You can do almost anything you want with a good base. 3) with large cuts of meat, don't be afraid to cut them into smaller, more manageable portions. With a 7.5 pound cut of pork loin, I would cut it in half or thirds. 4) maintain a consistent 220 degrees. Find the right combination of venting, as that will help with smoke consistency. Soaking chips for hours IMHO does dick, and kind of pulls the flavors out of the wood too much. I usually soak for 20-30 minutes. As to the question of the size of the smoke ring, it is never too big, just depends on how much flavor you like. 5) keep your eyes on the water bowl, as you will dry out any cut of meat real quick. 6) while smoking for 8-10 hours sounds fun, it is a royal PITA. What I do is smoke for 4-5 hours, and then finish with another 4 hours in the oven while wrapped in foil at about 180 degrees, which keeps the meat super tender. I have had pork loins literally pull apart in my hands. Now as to good cuts of meat to use: Pork: Loin Shoulder(Boston Butt) Ribs Featherbones(requires little smoke to get great flavor) Beef: Brisket(flat), unless you are attempting to make pastrami Top loin Ribs Poultry(royal pain, NEEDS 10-12 hours to even penetrate the skin) Whole Chicken Turkey Breast Wood recommendations: While I am partial to Hickory, I don't mind Apple with pork. Mesquite is just too harsh for anything other than Poultry. One last thing, the key to good BBQ is not needing sauce, the flavor from the prep and the smoke should be what you are going for. Good Luck my man, and make sure to post pics of the finished product! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I thought at first that smokers were being sold as pets...To which I responded in my mind, finally a feckin' job
