BBQ Smokers

[TBDonnelly]

Temp? Time? Weight?

Temp: 300 to 350 degrees. Time:3 to 3.5 hours Weight:14 -15 lbs. I've been part of the Weber Nation for 30+ years. Times and Temps are approximate. I do check the breast meat for doneness (160 to 165 degrees). Rotisserie gives an amazingly uniform cook. Crossspit allows for the fat to drain from the bird and the steam/seasonings from the water tray to rise and permeate the bird/cavity. I pass the spit thru a whole orange inside the cavity to help stabilize and truss the bird tightly. The spit has an adjustable weight on the end to help balance the load.

The pic shows 'twilight rotisserie ham'. Same set up as the bird. Tightly hog tie the ham to avoid any separation. Applewood smoked & added a couple quartered apples in the drip tray with water. 1.15 to 1.30 hours Super uniform cook. No dried out edges. Moist and delicious. :licking: This Ham was already fully cooked so this cook was for the smoky flavor and to heat the ham thru.

I've been to amazingribs.com many times. :thumbsup:

 

[TBDonnelly]

TBDonnelly - that last picture is making my stomach growl!!! That had to have been some great eating!

AKA: Drunken Turkey (Smoked with Jack Daniels oak barrel chunks) :drink:

 

[Gunny]

Many years ago, when I first started smoking turkey breasts and chickens (cold smoking), someone gave me one of those brinkmann smoke n grills. They're a pretty inexpensive way for someone to get started and I liked the idea of doing hot smoke, so I thought I'd give it a try.

This one even had recipes in the manual and one was for a smoked meatloaf. Hey, I love meatloaf and I love smoking, so this would have to be good, right? I looked for several days to find a mesh pan that would hold a suitable meatloaf, then I got started, knowing this was going to be the meatloaf of all meatloaves!

That night, the wife and I each took a bite, looked at each other for a second or so, then we proceeded to have a vegetarian supper! Worst tasting chunk of meat I've ever eaten in my life.

That thing was so bad my German Shepperd, who would eat anything and everything laid out for him, wouldn't even try the first bites. He'd just sniff it and walk away. After it sat on the back porch for three days, I threw it away.

Since then I've stuck with turkeys, chickens, hams, shoulders and ribs.

 

[mark02tj]

Live 'n learn, Gunny!!! LOL!!

GREAT story!! I'd probably crash the server if I started posting all of my cooking mishaps here!

 

[Jim Nelson]

I 've found that for a great smokey taste in meatloaf you smoke tomatoes ahead of time and put some of them in the meatloaf mix and it is great. I quarter tomatoes and spray them with olive or grape seed oil and smoke them with apple or hickory at about 250 them freeze for later. It doesn't take much as they really absorb the smoke,just a couple of pieces in a meat loaf.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Many years ago, when I first started smoking turkey breasts and chickens (cold smoking), someone gave me one of those brinkmann smoke n grills. They're a pretty inexpensive way for someone to get started and I liked the idea of doing hot smoke, so I thought I'd give it a try.

This one even had recipes in the manual and one was for a smoked meatloaf. Hey, I love meatloaf and I love smoking, so this would have to be good, right? I looked for several days to find a mesh pan that would hold a suitable meatloaf, then I got started, knowing this was going to be the meatloaf of all meatloaves!

That night, the wife and I each took a bite, looked at each other for a second or so, then we proceeded to have a vegetarian supper! Worst tasting chunk of meat I've ever eaten in my life.

That thing was so bad my German Shepperd, who would eat anything and everything laid out for him, wouldn't even try the first bites. He'd just sniff it and walk away. After it sat on the back porch for three days, I threw it away.

Since then I've stuck with turkeys, chickens, hams, shoulders and ribs.

In my experience, and as a general rule, a smoker works best on pork...and with a water pan, I can cook chicken that is out of this world. Beef, however, is another ball game. Smoked beef ribs turn out "OK", but nothing spectacular, although I have cooked some marinated short ribs on the grill (not the smoker) that are pretty good. I have done a beef roast or two on the smoker that turned out fair, but nothing like what Sharn Jean can cook in the oven. My biggest challenge has been brisket.

I have had some spectacular failures and some incredible triumphs with brisket. I have learned this about brisket: Buy the best grade of meat that you can...Prime if you can get it and can afford it, but at least Choice. Secondly, and as strange as it may seem, I prepare my briskets with sugar. I cover them with sugar and put them in a turkey bag in the frige over night. Do a quick rinse and pat dry in the morning; spray them with olive oil and give them a hefty coating of your favorite rubb. Smoke them at 225 -250 F until they reach an internal temp of 185 degrees. Remove, wrap in foil, then with a beach towel and put in your Coleman cooler for a couple hours.

One other thing: learn how to slice a brisket. They have muscle running different directions; I try to separate them and ALWAYS slice them cross grain. Oh, BTW there is enough stuff on the internet about how to smoke a brisket to keep you busy for a week.

FWIW...I do not like my meat to taste sweet, and I have always refused to use a sweet rubb or a sweet BBQ sauce. I have since learned that the sugar somehow is instrumental in forming the "crust" that keeps the juices in, and it's really not very noticeable when the meat is done.

 

[s219]

I see pork as a reliable home run for smoking. Never done a beef brisket I was 100% proud of.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Fish is also a good candidate for the smoker. My favorite salt water fish to smoke is yellowtail with tuna a close second. Lots of folks really like salmon and the only way I personally care for it is smoked. Trout is great smoked but a lot of people add way too much salt for some reason.

 

[/pine]

Fish is also a good candidate for the smoker. My favorite salt water fish to smoke is yellowtail with tuna a close second. Lots of folks really like salmon and the only way I personally care for it is smoked. Trout is great smoked but a lot of people add way too much salt for some reason.

Fish with a low oil content (like trout) are hard to smoke without drying out...a brine helps and and may explain the salt comment...I use olive oil and onion slices...

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Anyone ever smoke a boneless pork loin?