Hey, BT! How you doing with BBQ/smoking?

[QSis]

You promised us tales of your adventures on the learning curve of your smoker.

I know it's been cold as hell, and I'M definitely not one to go out there and freeze. You?

Lee

[buckytom]

lol, lee. you've read my mind. i bought a pork rib roast that i'd intended to make in a favored crock pot recipe sunday, but the butcher gave me a very lean cut, so i was thinking about firing up the smoker.

alas, dw really wants the apple and herb butter gravy that comes from the crock pot one, so i guess the smoker will have to wait. i have a week off on february, so hell or high snow, i'm gonna smoke my first smoked pork shoulder then.

in any case, so far i've used my smoker twice. the first time was with turkey parts (wings, thighs, and tenderloins), and the second was with baby back ribs. both times i used a 50/50 mixture of hickory and apple wood.

after 3 hours at (what i think was) 285 - 295, the turkey came out great, for the most part. on half of the parts i used 2 flavours of tasty licks brand dry rubs; on the other half i used my own rub of paprika, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.

the turkey tenderloins were done first, at about 2 hours, and were a little over cooked but good. well, the one with my rub was good. the tasty licks rub was nasty. so much for free stuff.

but i thought i was a genius with the legs and wings. we were shocked when we took our first bites at how juicy they were. it literally burst with each bite. ok, well, again, the tasty licks stuff was crap so i brought them into work for the animals/coworkers there. but my plain, rubbed parts were excellent, especially the legs. good smoke ring and flavour. very tender and juicy.


next, i ventured into baby back ribs. it was with these 2 racks that i learned that i need a couple of probe thermometers. i carefully kept the temperature at 225 for about 6 hours using the 3-2-1 method, finishing them with sweet baby rays bbq sauce. they were tough with very little smoke ring! i was so disappointed. i ended up bringing them in and finishing them in the crock pot to make them chewable.

i realized that the stock thermometer was probably more accurate around 300 degrees, but woefully flawed at lower temps. i tried very hard to keep the smoke wispy and not overwhelming, but i should have also noticed that it wasn't turning to ash enough, therefore the temp was probably too low. maybe 180 to 200 or so, hence, i had shoeleather ribs even after 6 hours.

i have a pork shoulder in the freezer, as well as some italian pork and chicken chorizo sausages on the itinerary for my february week. i'm hoping to add some salmon and rainbow trout soon, too. i'll try to get pictures when i finally do.

[QSis]

Excellent post, BT!

Turkey breast meat is done at about 155 internal temp. The probe thermometer will help you there, too.

The babybacks were cooked about 2 hours too long. If you are going with the wrap method, try 2-1-1 or even make that last 1 a .5 (half hour back on the smoker). Babies need far less cooking than spares or St. Louis style.

Fun, though, huh?

Thanks for the report!

Lee

[AllenOK]

Bucky, what kind of smoker did you get?

I don't know if you remember, but I ended up drilling holes and installing two extra thermometers into my smoker. Once I got all the mods installed, it was easy to tell if one end of the smoker was hotter than the other, and adjust the tuning plates accordingly. Also, I noticed that the stock thermometer (which is normally off by 50 degrees or more) was running even with the new thermometers once I got all my mods done.

Of course, I haven't tried smoking ANYTHING in 10 months. I ended up loosing my pecan, oak, and pear that I had when we moved. I do, however, know where I can score some more pecan for free. Just have to go get it

[buckytom]

sorry about leaving your trees. i'll miss my unlimited supply of apple someday. lol, you're gonna be a pecan poacher.

i have the perfect flame 36" vertical gas smoker.

[High Cheese]

Sounds good BT! I've been meaning to try turkey, espescially now since my market carries pieces (I guess leftovers from the holidays).

Once you get your cooking temps sorted, an easy way to check for the ribs to be done is grab them with some tongs and turn them upside down. Once the meat begins to seperate from the bones they're done. Once they meat seperated a teeny tiny bit is when I start applying my wet sauce (if I'm using one) and smoke for another 30 minutes. An over done rib they will just fall apart.

[GrillinFool]

Next time you do ribs, skip the 225 and the 3-2-1 method. Go with 275 to 300 for two hours. Perfect every time...