My first IndoorSmoke ( of food )
Two TrBr's , and their backs :
this is one TB w thyme , granulated garlic and granulated onion. salts , as I want to use the bones in a 4 x iPot'ing for stock
i.e. , reuse the stock 4 times , thus no salt. I dont mind adding salt at the time I eat. 2 Tb's as above
the two backs , no seasonings . for the same reason. the seasoning was very light , and only on the skin.
ready to go
the controls seem to be straight forward , but are not as functionally clear as they might be. more about that later.
I decided on a standard ' low and slow ' pellet temp of 2125 F . I inserted the probe , and went for 140 f internal temp.
here is where things got a bit difficult , hopefully my fault : there is a time method and a temp method.
I thought id selected temp method, but after preheating , the temp indicator stopped toggling and set itself at 32 F
hope fully not a defective unit. So I checked @ 1 hour , cooking time , w the thermapen . top TB : 106 F.
I opened the door w/o using the ' clear smoke ' which takes 10 minutes the manual says. the unit did not automatically go back to
' smoking ' the dial turned red , and said it would shut down in 15 minutes . the manual says this would happen if the door was left open
for 10 minutes . opened an closed several times , went back to ' smoking '
@ 2 hr : top TB was 130 F. again , agita on getting it back to ' smoking ' but it did. @ 2. 5 hrs , top TB was 141 F.
decreased the temp of the oven to 17O f , again unclear fiddling to get it back to ' smoking '
@ 3 hrs , turned it off . for some reason , the ' clear smoke ' button did not work for me. it must be more complicated
than just pushing that button. I hope so .
the end result.
the top TB came off @ 155 F , after resting went to 161 f. temped the middle TB 142 f at the same time.
clearly , the temperature in the oven is not very even. Im guessing no fan to slowly move the air around.
this can be dealt with by moving the two TB's 1/2 way through the desired cooking time.
Im pleased I have the unit @ ~ 430 USD from Lowes w the contractor buying it.
I would be happier if cooking via the temp probe set up was more transparent .
Id like the unit to go back to ' smoking ' just by shutting the door , but Im assuming I have to do a few licking , twirling ect
that are not clear to me . and I don't know why the ' clear smoke ' button did not work.
Im hopeful @Elle Bee might be following this thread and chime in.
GE is a very very very large company. it took me almost 30 minutes to get to speak w someone, who then connected me to someone else
to solve the problem of a ' tight rack ' the top one.
they have a tiered system , they really want to force you to go on line to save customer service costs.
I do have an email for a specific person , so will email to see if I can get the temp probe cooking to work
( it toggled for a bit , then stopped w a reading of 32 F
as I read the manual , opening and closing the door w/o clearing the smoke should be straight forward.
Im not there quite yet. and Id like to know how to get the ' clear smoke ' button to work.
any way , If I can get the unit to work by just keeping track of the various time in my
***** Brand New RED notebook *******
Ill be happy. you have to be aware that the oven have very different temps : Top to bottom , and back to front.
@ $ 1,000 USD , over priced , unless you have a trust fund , and that Fund has not gone down more than 10 %
Amazon has it now for $ 619 w $ 76 delivery ( Im not on Prime , so I cant say if Prime covers free delivery )
that's a price , again , Trust-Fund-ish .
if you have no experience w pellet smoking , Id be cautious .
the issue here is the same one that came w the CSO : wouldn't it be nice , w the same foot print
to be a bit larger inside ? and the buttons or the instructions for the buttons to \be clearer ?
however , so far so good for me. Im looking forward to getting the kinks out.
P.S.: the taste test :
Ive done a fair amount of pellet work , and the smoke from the 1 lbs pellets provided
has a distinct cherry wood aroma and flavor.
Id say the level of smoke is past ' light ' and thinking about ' medium '
the Tb has a very nice flavor . Ill lower the cooking temp ( maybe ) next time, so it takes
longer to get to a finished temp , and Ill rotate the TB's
and pull them off @ 140 F , and hope to go no higher than 150 F.
that's just a personal plan. you may like your TB @ higher temps , because you have Gravy
and Mashed Potatoes @ hand.
Im very hoping I can get the few kinks out , for my method of cooking.
Im happy w the price I paid , and will get this working My Way soon enough.
after all , the Yoder (WHPS ) is 2 hours away .
and even if I had a Yoder here, going in and out , and carrying heavy food
i9s jnot in my current best interests.
but having a very keen interest in pellet smoking
Im pleased I have this unit. Out of the Box . and On the Counter.
cheers
