Smokin', Smokin', Smokin'

[Abra]

Ok, I've got my Smokin' Pro, with the side firebox. I've got a more or less useless instruction manual, written by someone whose native language is clearly not English. I know how to grill, and I've used a Brinkman, but this smoker is a new toy, not to mention a whole new world. I wanna smoke like a pro! What are the best resources to get started?

One key question is about the wood. The manual does manage to say to use either fruit or nut woods. Rats, all I have is madrona, alder, and oak. So, do I really need fruit/nut wood? They're kind of hard to come by around here, so I'll need to mount a search, if so.

Please, share your three best tips for the novice smoker. It's almost July, so I've got to speed-learn. Kick start, please!

[Luckylies]

go to the brisket thread and the butts thread. they know stuff there. sorry no link.

[Abra]

You are SO right! Maybe we'll just let this thread sink into oblivion, and I'll get with the program. Unless anyone has advice specific to the Smokin' Pro, that is.

[rooftop1000]

A clueless old friend of mine has/had one....he would start a huge charcoal fire then throw unsoaked wood chips in there and massacree some food....I dont go there anymore it was scarey...and sort of yucky

tracey

[aliwaks]

from what I understand via my barbecue gurus over at The Smoked Joint: A Barbecue Experience you want a hard some what green wood for heat...burns slower keeps the heat going longer and stronger (they use oak) and then a 'softer wood' (they use hickory) nut or fruit for flavor, you add that on top of the smoldering coals.

[snowangel]

Abra, I would love to help you, but I'm a Kettle woman.

Have you read over Klink's ECI course on Smokin' Meat at Home? He covers not only the Weber Bullets and Kettles, but also the Smoking Pros.

[Abra]

Ok, oak I've got plenty of. I also have hickory chips, not chunks (just did a turkey on the Weber with those last night), and I also have mesquite lump charcoal. Between those, I ought to be able to make something good. Oh yeah, and two bone-in pork butts that I'm about to brine so's I can smoke 'em tomorrow, if it's not raining all day.

Thanks, Susan - I'll hop over to the smoking class pronto. That was before my time on eG and I didn't realize that it was there. I know he's the master - too bad he had to leave Seattle before I got to taste his wares!

[snowangel]

Thanks, Susan - I'll hop over to the smoking class pronto.  That was before my time on eG and I didn't realize that it was there.  I know he's the master - too bad he had to leave Seattle before I got to taste his wares!

←

I've had his brisket and my brisket. Some time and experience, and I did just fine!

[fifi]

I had something similar to your set-up before I got the Weber Smoky Mountain. One thing I would suggest is that you get some of those big disposable aluminum pans and fill them with water and put them under the meat you are smoking. They make for a heat sink to keep the temperature constant. You are aiming for about 225F at the meat. The wood is not that big a deal. Work more on getting to and maintaining temperature. Get thermometers. The alder is great. I have friends near you that use it for salmon.

[Abra]

I always use those disposable aluminum pans when I do turkeys in the Weber, and I love them. Last night I did a turkey with beer in the pan instead of water. Yeah, I know, the beer should have been in me instead, but I got confused. The turkey is utterly delectable, although I'm not sure how much of that is attributable to the beer.

That's a formidable course Col Klink put together. I'm hoping he'll come along and tell me if I really need to season the grill for hours before I get started. I'd go check it out for gunkiness right now, but it's thundering and pouring. I am really hoping to smoke tomorrow, but seasoning would mean that I have to put it off a day. I have a self-cleaning oven, but I'm pretty sure the grill grate is too big for my crummy Jenn Air to handle.

[snowangel]

I'm kind of an "instant gratification" person (yes, and I do smoke meat, which certainly isn't instant gratification).

I'm also a supreme justifier.

So, I'd go ahead and just smoke something, figuring that you are seasoning it while smoking.

[NulloModo]

I agree, one of the best ways to learn about smoking is to play around with it. I ended up with a Cookshack smoker this past january, and I have yet to make something that isn't tasty with it. Some things have come out better than others, but play around and see what happens.

Chicken thighs with some garlic pressed in, wrapped in bacon, then topped with some cheddar can be tossed into it in a disposable aluminum pan. They cook quickly, even the cheese gets a great smokey flavor, and clean up is a cinch.

I use either hickory or cherry chunks for wood, because that is what I bought when I picked it up, and I haven't run out yet. There are lots of internet sites that will sell you all manner of BBQ wood, and generally for a pretty good price considering how long it lasts.

Tonight I decided to try to make my own pastrami. Started with a corned beef brisket, rubbed it down with my kitchen sink blend (crushed red pepper, bay leaf, clove, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, old bay, fennel seed, cumin, fenugreek, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt) and tossed it in. Developed a great looking crust, and it is cooling on the counter now, I will see how it tastes after it has a chance to chill and I can slice it tomorrow.

[Abra]

Oh wow, homemade pastrami. If it's excellent, please post the recipe/method!

Fortunately I decided to season the smoker. The smells of the various cruds burning off all the insides were appalling - I'm so glad those won't be on our food.

Edited June 22, 2005 by Abra (log)

[NulloModo]

Pastrami Update -

Pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself... Although it is really hard to slice thin enough from the loaf of meat with just a carving knife.

The one thing that troubles me is that I meant to smoke it a week and a half ago, so it sat in my fridge defrosted but uncooked for that long... I convinced myself that since it was corned beef it was pretty much preserved, and though I thought I could smell faintly off scents when scrutinizing it, I pretty much chalked that up to psychological junk. Oh well, it still tasted fine... we'll see if I'm dead in the morning.

Far be it from me to let a piece of meat go to waste (heh, even if I did buy the whole thing for like $3 on super-special at the grocery store)...