Smokers
- Thread starter CaptainRon
- Start date
Holy cow! Now that's a smoker! LOLThis is the rig I work with. Rotisserie style pit, it is gas fired but we use apple logs to smoke. It runs pretty much 24 hours a day.
Very cool man. Thanks for sharing that.
I apologize for being so rude lol. This gives an idea of the capabilities I have when working with this rig.
Im a big fan of these smokers... http://www.smokin-it.com Had mine about 2 years now IIRC, got it on recommendation of a few other BOTL and couldn't be happier with it. I just smoked a turkey and a ham for Thanksgiving which came out great and my ribs always turn out spot on. One of these days Im even going to cold smoke my own barley for a rauchbier. Just throwing the info out there for others looking at electric smokers.
Action shot! Smoking some chicken breasts and wings with pecan chips for dinner tonight. Having another couple an their kid over tonight. Should be a great time!
I am still catching up on the thread Ron but I had to respond to this. First I can tell you that smoking meat is something your going to love I've been doing it about 13 years an I am still learning with every cook. But one universal tip for you. 300 deg is grilling not smoking. Chicken and turkey does well at that temp, but pork shoulder should cook at about 225-250.I got my smoker put together the other night, and tonight it's seasoning time. Pan full of water, a couple handfulls of apple wood chips and steady burning away at about 300 degrees. I already put a rub on my pork shoulder so first thing in the morning, we smoke! The pork shoulder I have is 9 pounds. No idea how long it'll take. If it takes as long as I've read about, it may end up being a Sunday meal!
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Thanks brother. The 300 degree cook was for seasoning. That pork shoulder was cooked for 15.5 hours at anywhere between 225 and about 250. It was sooooooo dawn good too! I brought half of it into the office and it was gone very quickly and got rave reviews so that made me feel great.
I have 4 huge chicken breasts and a mess of wings on right now at 239. Can't wait for dinner!
I have to disagree with you Lee. A 9 lb pork butt should take about 1.5-2 hours per lbs. so 15 to 18 hours is what I would have planned for here.
Also Ron. You should always rear for at least 45 min to all the moisture to reabsorb back into the meat.
I bumped the temperature up towards the end of the cook for two reasons. I read that it can help crisp up the skin and two, it was in for close to four hours and it was getting late and we were getting hungry!
I didn't end up trying the chicken breast. Just had the wings because I got full. Everyone loved it! I thought it was a touch on the dry side though. It was good, I just thought a little moister would have been better. I brought the chicken up to 170 degrees, because that's what I read that chicken was supposed to be. We're going to slice up the chicken breast today for lunch and put it in a big salad.
I prepared this chicken by coating everything in oil and then putting on a dry rub. I used a jar of butt naked rub or something like that. It was some random stuff that my sister got for me primarily because she thought the label was funny! I liked it though. It had a good bit of heat to it that I do love. Counting this as another very successful smoking session!
I didn't end up trying the chicken breast. Just had the wings because I got full. Everyone loved it! I thought it was a touch on the dry side though. It was good, I just thought a little moister would have been better. I brought the chicken up to 170 degrees, because that's what I read that chicken was supposed to be. We're going to slice up the chicken breast today for lunch and put it in a big salad.
I prepared this chicken by coating everything in oil and then putting on a dry rub. I used a jar of butt naked rub or something like that. It was some random stuff that my sister got for me primarily because she thought the label was funny! I liked it though. It had a good bit of heat to it that I do love. Counting this as another very successful smoking session!
Chicken, especially white meat doesn't have enough internal fat in it, and can tend to dry out over a long smoke. That's why I generally just cook dark meat and smoke it between 250 and 270. Pork tenderloin is about the same in my opinion. You could also try brining them overnight.
Brined a turkey one time. Was fantastic.
I don't remember specific numbers, but I've read after x amount of time, the meat has taken in all the smoke it can. After that wrapping in foil to continue the cook, will help with moisture. The 321 rib method, (read it but never used it) cooks 3 hours in smoke, 2 in foil, and the last naked again to crisp. @CaptainRon, it looked freaking delicious.
I don't remember specific numbers, but I've read after x amount of time, the meat has taken in all the smoke it can. After that wrapping in foil to continue the cook, will help with moisture. The 321 rib method, (read it but never used it) cooks 3 hours in smoke, 2 in foil, and the last naked again to crisp. @CaptainRon, it looked freaking delicious.
Dang Ron that looks awesome!!!!I bumped the temperature up towards the end of the cook for two reasons. I read that it can help crisp up the skin and two, it was in for close to four hours and it was getting late and we were getting hungry!
I didn't end up trying the chicken breast. Just had the wings because I got full. Everyone loved it! I thought it was a touch on the dry side though. It was good, I just thought a little moister would have been better. I brought the chicken up to 170 degrees, because that's what I read that chicken was supposed to be. We're going to slice up the chicken breast today for lunch and put it in a big salad.
I prepared this chicken by coating everything in oil and then putting on a dry rub. I used a jar of butt naked rub or something like that. It was some random stuff that my sister got for me primarily because she thought the label was funny! I liked it though. It had a good bit of heat to it that I do love. Counting this as another very successful smoking session!
Bone in skin on is best. Also 165° internal temperature is good. Meat that has been cooking for long periods will also continue to rise in temperature while resting. So if it was at 170 it may have been at 175 or higher by the time you served. Another thing is becareful not poke and prod chicken too often. Even moving the chicken too rough can cause a geyser of hot chicken juice. Chicken loses its juices quickly. Beef is more forgiving in that respect.
Are you using liquid in your smoker? Moisture in inside the smoker is key as well.
I cook chicken in the smoker at 300-325. It makes for crisper skin an chicken takes on smoke very fast. For these reasons slow and low is not needed for chicken or turkey. Most the cook books are using old information on cooking talons for foul. Then modern time is 165. I read an article recently the had how long you chicken or turkey needs to be at what temp to be safe. It was a real eye opener. The bacteria in folk dies in like 20 seconds at 165 in both the whit and the dark meat. I am not sure if the cookbooks are misleading intentionally to account for bad temp gauges and improper temp checking it if they are just using dated numbers.
Most meats can only absorb smoke for 6 hours but their are other reasons than the smoke why you might want to avoid foiling large cuts. As the meat smokes low and slow the tissues that hold the meat along with the fat tender into sugar in the meat. This happens at low temps and does not happen at higher temps their is why smoking large cuts make for a more tender product the cooking at high heat. The reason you foil a large cut of meat is to get it cooking faster ( hotter) in a smoker. You could pull it from the smoker and cook in the oven at 300 and see the same result. The foul however ribs the meat of the magic that occurs during the stall. The stall it the symptom that the fat and connective tissues are rendering and as such should be celebrated rather than scorned. Foiling ribs on the other hand is more of a braising process.
Now I am not saying don't ever use the Texas crutch. (Foiling large cuts to speed the cooking process ). I recommend experimenting with it only after you learn the no foul process. This way you can truly understand the pros and cons of each method.
Smoqman
BoM Aug. 2014
Ribeye - 1.5" a 2.0"
I've been doing a reverse sear method on my oven ribeyes lately and holy crap has it worked out extremely well.
1 hour salt brine, pat dry, apply your rub and cook for 1 hour in a 275° oven (on a baking rack) We're going for an internal temperature of 125° before removing from the oven.
5 mins before taking it out of the oven, crank the stove top heat under a cast iron skillet. (She's gonna smoke!)
Add a few drops of canola oil to the skillet immediately before dropping it in - sear each side for one minute, as well as the sides.
Rest it for at least 10 mins under some loose tin foil before cutting.
The photos below are terrible, and the meat isn't as "rare" as it looks in the photo..
I've been doing a reverse sear method on my oven ribeyes lately and holy crap has it worked out extremely well.
1 hour salt brine, pat dry, apply your rub and cook for 1 hour in a 275° oven (on a baking rack) We're going for an internal temperature of 125° before removing from the oven.
5 mins before taking it out of the oven, crank the stove top heat under a cast iron skillet. (She's gonna smoke!)
Add a few drops of canola oil to the skillet immediately before dropping it in - sear each side for one minute, as well as the sides.
Rest it for at least 10 mins under some loose tin foil before cutting.
The photos below are terrible, and the meat isn't as "rare" as it looks in the photo..
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I agree with this. I always smoke my chicken and turkey at a higher temp. Around 300° +/- a few degrees is what I've found to work. Turns out juicy with a crispy skin everytime. Pull at 165° and let rest for 15 minutes under a foil tent.
I will say to do what you think is safe for you and your family.
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@teamrandr Yep, I am using water. I take note of the level each time I have to check on something inside which isn't too often because lookin' aint' cookin'! LOL
@Smoqman That looks awesome!
Next time I do chicken I'm going to try to plan ahead enough to brine it overnight. I did keep the temperature down to about 230-240 I believe. So I'll also try cooking at a little higher temp, say 275-325 and see how that goes. And I'll take it off once I hit 165 instead of 170.
I read an article at amazing ribs about foiling meat. They determined that the reason for the stall, and the reason why foiling reduces time, is that the stall happens because of evaporative cooling and foiling the meat limits the cooling effect if the foil is kept tight around the meat without much air. That's what I did with my pork shoulder - I'll never know if it really saved any time, but I'm glad it didn't go any later for that cook because it was past my bed time!
And thanks for the compliments everyone. I've had an absolute blast playing smoking chef. Feels great to see other people enjoy it.
@Smoqman That looks awesome!
Next time I do chicken I'm going to try to plan ahead enough to brine it overnight. I did keep the temperature down to about 230-240 I believe. So I'll also try cooking at a little higher temp, say 275-325 and see how that goes. And I'll take it off once I hit 165 instead of 170.
I read an article at amazing ribs about foiling meat. They determined that the reason for the stall, and the reason why foiling reduces time, is that the stall happens because of evaporative cooling and foiling the meat limits the cooling effect if the foil is kept tight around the meat without much air. That's what I did with my pork shoulder - I'll never know if it really saved any time, but I'm glad it didn't go any later for that cook because it was past my bed time!
And thanks for the compliments everyone. I've had an absolute blast playing smoking chef. Feels great to see other people enjoy it.