(12-20-2020, 04:33 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: any pics

(12-20-2020, 04:33 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: any pics

(12-22-2020, 07:33 PM)Wyche Wrote: I have always had stick burners. It's gonna stay that way until after Christmas. Then I'm going to buy myself a Masterbuilt Gravity Series charcoal/wood smoker so I can smoke while I'm at work.

For ribs, try the 2-2-1 method. No need for mops/sauces, etc.

The art of smoking is when you begin to develop your own rubs. I have a bottle of BBQ sauce that I set out every time
It hasn't been opened yet.

(12-22-2020, 07:45 PM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: Looking forward to hearing how that new smoker works out for you!  

(12-18-2020, 11:50 AM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: Nothing at all wrong with adding a little garlic powder to that brisket!  Putting a little celery seed on there with salt and pepper is favored by a few people I know.  For pork butts and ribs I'll expand the seasoning a bit more and like to use some yellow mustard as a base.  Anything beef I keep to pretty much SPG (brisket, beef ribs, chuck roast).  Poultry it just depends what I'm going for.  

What kind of wood are you using?  

If you got one of those big rolls of paper it'll last a long time.  And I'd recommend sticking with paper over foil on briskets at least.  For ribs, I like to use a 3-2-1 method often (3 on the smoker, 2 wrapped, 1 unwrapped again with some bbq sauce to caramelize on the meat).  The foil is airtight so it basically steams the meat inside, where the paper allows some moisture to escape so you don't ruin the bark by making it soggy.  The foil works for the pork ribs because they still get the time at the end with the sauce to get the outer texture I want.  But since it takes hours to develop the right bark on a brisket, it's harder to maintain if you wrap it in foil for hours.

(12-22-2020, 08:08 PM)Wyche Wrote: When I do 2-2-1, I lay pats of butter on the foil, then a little honey, the cover all of that liberally with one of the pork rubs I make..  lay the rack face down on the foil. They're almost like candy. 

(12-22-2020, 08:45 PM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: One of these days I'm going to try that.  I just love the ones I make so much I never want to experiment!  

I will say, there is something so amazing about taking a piece of meat, some fire and ending up with awesome food.  It's so simple, yet it's an art to get it juuuust right.  I love it.  And I also love swapping ideas with other people.  I've got a couple of guys here locally I enjoy smoking with, staying up all night drinking whisky and talking and sharing some great food.  

I just picked up a crap ton of oak and and a half crap ton of cherry so now there's nothing to do but decided what I'm going to smoke next week! 

I've never tried a gravity smoker, but they've always intrigued me.  It's funny all those bells and whistles always make me second-guess.  I brew beer, and I use gravity.  It's all manual, a lot of checking and moving.  There are fully electric systems where you can dial in the temps and pump from one vessel to another.  I've thought about it, but then I wonder if it will take some of the magic out of it when I just push a button and it does all the work for me.  But then I've been brewing for over a decade and it just takes so much time and I want to enjoy the end product more than the process.  So I clearly am indecisive and can't figure out what I want   

(01-15-2021, 12:18 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Does anyone do competition?  I have no desire even if I became proficient, and I doubt I ever will. But as a new person to smoking I watch a lot of videos, as you can imagine, and some of them are about how to cook for competition. And I hate them. They ruin my image of barbecue. They cut the ribs down to these perfect little McRib looking slabs, and they cut the brisket down to look like Spongebob dressing as a ghost. Ya’ll know what I’m talking about.)  I get trimming, but this cosmetic stuff is not what I picture when I think of southerners cooking barbecue. Play the lie you’re given. That to me is what takes talent.

(12-17-2020, 11:27 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Pit boss pro vertical pellet smoker back in October.  I chose it because I liked the way it looked. Had no idea how to smoke or even what it consisted of. Never heard of a pellet smoker until I read the manual.  In the end I’m glad I ended up with a pellet smoker as there is no way I’d want to learn how to smoke along with trying to learn how to use a stick burner. (How’s that for lingo?)

Anyway I used it first to smoke a turkey on Thanksgiving , then I did a whole brisket and then a pork shoulder. I watched between 20 and 30 videos before each smoke. Still have to do ribs.

My first smoke was really nice. Going to bed the night before was like going to bed Christmas Eve. Got up at 6:00 am on Thanksgiving. I prepped the turkey, fired up the smoker and put her in. With pellet smokers you don’t have to sit by the smoker. But I did. Drank a huge cup of coffee with a cigar  while sitting outside in a brisk and completely peaceful Thanksgiving morning. I was hooked.

(01-19-2021, 09:56 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: We've only used ours a handful of times since getting it in August, but Sunday we did some good stuff, everything was done with Hickory that day.

First, we made a smoked honey simple syrup, as well as smoking some keto friendly simple syrup that she had in the fridge.  These were both done 10 minutes each at 225°.

Next up I boosted the temp to 275°, and we smoked a half full mason jar of water for one hour.  Once it cooled, it was poured into an ice cube tray to make smoked ice.

Come this weekend, I will be able to report back on how the smoked cocktail thing is working out.

The final smoke of the day was the remainder of a family pack of chicken legs that Kroger gave us by accident.  I used the remainder of rub I had left from a Boston Butt I smoked a few weeks back.  They were freaking out of this world!

(01-19-2021, 08:01 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: My cousin has a Traeger pellet smoker and he had it over to my place a couple years ago and I was really impressed. He told me
not to buy the name though as there are lots of good smokers and Traeger's are some of the most expensive. Still planning on 
getting me a smoker once I can afford it. Can make some great jerky with these babies and all kinds of tasties as you know.

(01-20-2021, 01:16 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Just pulled the trigger on one today:

Went with a green mountain daniel boone prime plus wood pellet grill. Cant wait to try this thing out this weekend. Going to smoke a pork butt.

(01-20-2021, 01:21 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I can echo this...

I did a ton of research and asked a few friends who do competition stuff. They said Traeger has gone down in quality in recent years and its all about marketing with them. They all suggest green mountain grills. Built in the USA, more features than Traeger, and cheaper in price. 

(01-20-2021, 11:23 PM)Benton Wrote: I bought a gmg a couple years ago. The guy recommending it said it was designed by a former trager engineer, so it was like a traeger for much cheaper.

I dug it but a few months ago it started giving me issues and wouldn't heat up. I didn't feel like going through the hassle of getting it fixed, so I'm back to my Old Smokey electric smoker and a charcoal grill. I liked the pellet as it was a bridge between the two, but nothing beats am Old Smokey for doing small cooks.

(01-21-2021, 04:13 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: You should have reached out to their customer service...heard they are some the best in the biz. They prob would have just sent you a new grill. 

(01-20-2021, 01:21 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I can echo this...

I did a ton of research and asked a few friends who do competition stuff. They said Traeger has gone down in quality in recent years and its all about marketing with them. They all suggest green mountain grills. Built in the USA, more features than Traeger, and cheaper in price.