Official Smoker Thread
- Thread starter MinorDamage
- Start date
I had a traeger and it turned out some really good food. Something about the food was always a bit underwhelming, however. I am a believer that you can never get authentic bbq if you are doing anything other than burning logs.
For me, smoking food is therapeutic. Knowing that at the end of 12-18 hours, that the food will be the absolute best I can do.
I think of it like painting a car. You can go to Maaco and get the ambassador special - yes, its painted, and likely most people will never know the difference- or you can spend hours upon hours using elbow grease. At the end, you'll have a paint job worthy of a show car.
For me, smoking food is therapeutic. Knowing that at the end of 12-18 hours, that the food will be the absolute best I can do.
I think of it like painting a car. You can go to Maaco and get the ambassador special - yes, its painted, and likely most people will never know the difference- or you can spend hours upon hours using elbow grease. At the end, you'll have a paint job worthy of a show car.
I farm and my local grain Coop sells them. The Coop is farmer owned so I imagine the board maybe passing them at cost as a perk for their customers/owners. IDK that, just speculating.
I was in a situation that I needed to replace both the smoker and the grill. I had great ambitions to build a smoker, however that will be someday when I retire. For the price and timing the pellet smoker/grill fit.
By the way......mine isn't wifi. That wasn't something I felt I needed. That may have something to do with price.
The reference is meant to illustrate that it's worth the work, not the convenience
Lol, I'm 37. I've always sucked at analogies. It made sense in my head but nowhere else.
Anyone smoking anything good this week?
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Cheap rump roast in an immersion cooker for 10 hours at 135° and then finished on the Traeger for 1 hour.
And then I did these St Louis style ribs on the Traeger a week ago.
And then I did these St Louis style ribs on the Traeger a week ago.
Pellet smokers: most guys I talk to love them because, it's easy. So, I call them "Easy Bake".
Some of us enjoy the fire, warmth, smell and a pile of friends having a good time outside while waiting on fine food. Stack wood, burn wood. Need different wood? Grab a saw and take a hike. Drag it back for your next cook. Work and reward. Men.
E
Some of us enjoy the fire, warmth, smell and a pile of friends having a good time outside while waiting on fine food. Stack wood, burn wood. Need different wood? Grab a saw and take a hike. Drag it back for your next cook. Work and reward. Men.
E
I love my EZ bake! Have a wood smoker but it only gets fired up a couple times a year. Rarely choose to spend the time babysitting when I can go for a float or run across the street and go shoot while its doing its thing.
I'm all fired up to smoke this last whole wild pig in the freezer. Mostly because I need to make room for more for after I head to AL next month to hunt.
Having the first annual "Wild Game Extravaganza" on the 4th. 28 people confirmed, 6 on the fence (slapdicks). There will be at least 10 species on the table, more like 14 if you count the different ducks .
The goose and elk pastrami will be going onto the smoker thursday and the pig will go in the brine, then onto the smoker on the 3rd. Smoked mac and cheese for one of the sides.
I'm all fired up to smoke this last whole wild pig in the freezer. Mostly because I need to make room for more for after I head to AL next month to hunt.
Having the first annual "Wild Game Extravaganza" on the 4th. 28 people confirmed, 6 on the fence (slapdicks). There will be at least 10 species on the table, more like 14 if you count the different ducks .
The goose and elk pastrami will be going onto the smoker thursday and the pig will go in the brine, then onto the smoker on the 3rd. Smoked mac and cheese for one of the sides.
35 is a perfect temp for outside cooking and a good fire.
What does that brisket weight?
As it stands now, would you buy another Green Mountain? Stopped by a local dealer a few days ago only to find them closed for the week.
I'm really impressed by what I see from the Yoder Smokers YS640. Yes, it's a pellet smoker, but I feel like I should have a stick burner, a pellet smoker, and my Kamado Joe. After all, you don't just own one rifle, right?
Haven't been able to look at the Green Mtn yet but happened to notice this one at Lowes this morning. May warrant a little further investigation.
www.oklahomajoes.com
rider dlx pellet grill | Oklahoma Joe's®
www.oklahomajoes.com
I'm going to be keeping an eye on this thread. I don't have a whole lot of experience smoking meat, and I don't have a fancy dedicated smoking setup. I have a charcoal Weber kettle grill that I've successfully used to smoke some items before, and I'm definitely interested in trying some of the stuff I'm seeing here.
At the risk of sounding like a hipster, I've found that smoked avocados can make for a unique and interesting guacamole. A simple and easy way to impress company if you already have the smoker fired up. I want to try putting some smoked avocados with my home made dry aged hamburgers.
Looking forward to trying more smoking in 2020.
At the risk of sounding like a hipster, I've found that smoked avocados can make for a unique and interesting guacamole. A simple and easy way to impress company if you already have the smoker fired up. I want to try putting some smoked avocados with my home made dry aged hamburgers.
Looking forward to trying more smoking in 2020.
My introduction to smoking food was on a weber 22.5. I still use it for general grilling because I can make a raging hot fire using lump.
I always use the minion method, also known as the snake method. You can keep an amazingly consistent temp using that technique. You'll find tons of videos on YouTube showing how its done.
Also, check out the Slow N Sear. It's another way to cook low and slow on a weber.
I'm still going to look at the GM. I'm not much of a smart phone fan so wifi may/may not be something I'd use. Didn't spend a lot of time looking at the OJ but it seemed heavily built. And I liked the height. Has some kind of sear setting which seems kinda weird.
I actually do have and use the slow n sear 2.0! It's a great addition, with the proper vent settings and a little bit of oversight it seems to maintain temperature very well.
11 pound brisket?
Was it veal?
Get a grown up brisket, more size / fat cap makes for more tender.
I find that the smaller briskets need to be pushed much slower @ 180 degrees or less
untill they stall and are wrapped. Then bring heat up. Less mass gets heat shoving the juices too fast and they (fat out) dry up on you even "by the numbers". The numbers are sounding correct for a "standard 12-14 lb" on the heat, not necessarily time.
The 21 lb brisket took me 18 + hours cooking because I didnt push it hard enough
after the stall. I had gotten used to 16 lb heat and time frame.
Try much lower heat to reach stall on smaller briskets, wrap and raise heat then.
On the big boys raise heat more than normal after wrapped.
Keep notes like you were doing load development so you dont get drunk and forget.
I own that T-shirt.
Was it veal?
Get a grown up brisket, more size / fat cap makes for more tender.
I find that the smaller briskets need to be pushed much slower @ 180 degrees or less
untill they stall and are wrapped. Then bring heat up. Less mass gets heat shoving the juices too fast and they (fat out) dry up on you even "by the numbers". The numbers are sounding correct for a "standard 12-14 lb" on the heat, not necessarily time.
The 21 lb brisket took me 18 + hours cooking because I didnt push it hard enough
after the stall. I had gotten used to 16 lb heat and time frame.
Try much lower heat to reach stall on smaller briskets, wrap and raise heat then.
On the big boys raise heat more than normal after wrapped.
Keep notes like you were doing load development so you dont get drunk and forget.
I own that T-shirt.
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Haven't been able to look at the Green Mtn yet but happened to notice this one at Lowes this morning. May warrant a little further investigation.
rider dlx pellet grill | Oklahoma Joe's®
Study your smoker purchase longer than you would your vehicle purchase. IMO and we know what those are like.
E
I have a notebook. It is a must. I'm dumb.
I work slow through the stall. I won't force it. Let it do it's thing. Adds time and more effort.
Years ago I would not wrap and just kept going lower and slower.
50% of my briskets were great the other half not so good.
I went to the Texas Crutch on brisket and pork butts and have been very happy since.
Not ashamed of my foil use, well just a little. Lol
50% of my briskets were great the other half not so good.
I went to the Texas Crutch on brisket and pork butts and have been very happy since.
Not ashamed of my foil use, well just a little. Lol
I'll buy a $50k+ vehicle on a whim but will study a small $ purchase to death. Caught my eye at Lowes because it was different and seemed heavily built. Little bit I've looked so far is not promising. Supposedly also works as a grill but general experience with do-all/multi-purpose things is they don't do any one thing well.
I have a green egg I bought used. Smoked a lot of things with it as well as grilling. I love this thing. I also have a Cyber Q I use for long smokes. Yes I like to do other stuff willst smoking. Most of the time working in my shop with smoker outside the open garage door to watch and smell. Wife’s favorite is chicken legs. Mine is a standing roast. Also still have a 22” Weber. Gotta pay attention to this posting.
I have 5 Webber's. 2 smokey Joe's and 3 kettles...22" or 22.5" whatever TF they are. I use them more than my stove. They work and I've learned what to do. Same with any rig you get I reckon.
The trout came out great.
Eat and be merry.
E
The trout came out great.
Eat and be merry.
E
I decided to modify my cooker. I have found a lot of people building smokers that have a collector at the chimney end. The logic is that it will encourage a draw across the width of the cook surface.
I'm going to extend my smoke stack as well to encourage more draw. Both changes should help limit hot spots and help even out coming from one end of the cooker to the other - at least that's the theory
Here is an idea of what I'm doing
I'm going to extend my smoke stack as well to encourage more draw. Both changes should help limit hot spots and help even out coming from one end of the cooker to the other - at least that's the theory
Here is an idea of what I'm doing
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When you’re feeling variety. Prefer the Weber 22”, but the RecTec is far more convenient when I can’t spend all day tending to the thin blue smoke.
@Skimafia
Yes pork butt and a tray of beans on for a while. Brown sugar and marshmallow yams in the oven.
The pork butt was in smoke 5-6 hours then wrapped in oven till 200 degrees.
For the new smokers doing the Texas Crutch, this is how you wrap butts and brisket, tightly, double up on the cheap foil if thats what you ended up with.
You do not tent it.
Pull with fingers, was soo tender.
Yes pork butt and a tray of beans on for a while. Brown sugar and marshmallow yams in the oven.
The pork butt was in smoke 5-6 hours then wrapped in oven till 200 degrees.
For the new smokers doing the Texas Crutch, this is how you wrap butts and brisket, tightly, double up on the cheap foil if thats what you ended up with.
You do not tent it.
Pull with fingers, was soo tender.
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You do pork like I do. I usually push it through the stall and then wrap in double foil. I generally will add a little braising liquid as I wrap it. I will remove mine at 199. Ill put it in a cooler for an hour or two to rest before pulling.
Took a look at the Green Mountain today. For the price, I'm sure it's good but hard to take it seriously sitting right next to a Yoder!
Very similar, I wrap at the stall point and don't add liquids.
The small amount of broth that escapes the foil is mixed in with BBQ sauce.
I kind of broke one of my BBQ rules.
I normally try to fill the smoker with more meats to not waste wood and time but found all other meats still frozen.
A trip out after starting fire was out of the question, wind started howling and took 3 tries to get fire going, forgot about my gas fire ring. lol
Tending and adjusting fire box with that kind of wind is a chore had to check ot every 20 minutes instead of every 45 to an hour.
Ask me again why I don't get a pellet smoker.
The small amount of broth that escapes the foil is mixed in with BBQ sauce.
I kind of broke one of my BBQ rules.
I normally try to fill the smoker with more meats to not waste wood and time but found all other meats still frozen.
A trip out after starting fire was out of the question, wind started howling and took 3 tries to get fire going, forgot about my gas fire ring. lol
Tending and adjusting fire box with that kind of wind is a chore had to check ot every 20 minutes instead of every 45 to an hour.
Ask me again why I don't get a pellet smoker.
I finally finished the project. I am going to season the smoker today. Go easy on the welding. I have never done it before. I got much better by the time I finished.
Here are some more pictures
Removing the wagon wheel and adding some heavy duty casters-
This is the main reason for the modification. The manifold will allow a more even airflow across the cooking grate.
I raised the cooking grate about an inch. I also made new rails.
I cut the original tray off and made a larger one out of expanded metal.
This T bar holds it in position when it's up
Here are some more pictures
Removing the wagon wheel and adding some heavy duty casters-
This is the main reason for the modification. The manifold will allow a more even airflow across the cooking grate.
I raised the cooking grate about an inch. I also made new rails.
I cut the original tray off and made a larger one out of expanded metal.
This T bar holds it in position when it's up
I wanted the smoke stack t be much longer than the original. The problem is with the length I wanted I wouldnt be able to fit it on my patio. So i had to build a flange and welded the stack to it. It now bolts in and is removable
Here is where I finally got more comfortable with welding-
Here is where I finally got more comfortable with welding-
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