My wife got me a Weber smoker for Father's Day. It's really nice, and one of those 'gifts that keeps on giving' type deals.

Problem is, I've never used a dedicated smoker ("low and slow") before. I'm more of a gas grill kinda guy (I don't even futz with propane tanks), and I'd say I'm a mediocre cook even with that simple setup.

That said, I'm going to take an honest shot at it and see how I do. I'm just a little worried that the "correct" move here is to return the smoker and purchase a tool I can actually operate. :-p


So I got various accessories for the smoker (basically a temperature probe and a couple things to help handle hot coals). I have a super simple recipe for a dry rub that's supposedly decent on just about anything, and I got a huge pork butt (I just found out that this is probably the hardest meat to do in that it will take a looooong time, so I'm going to pick up a chicken or something on the way home from work so that the family doesn't go hungry when I do this tomorrow).


Got any tips for the nooby?

I do not have any tips. However, if columbusdawg reads this, he would. He's a master smoker.

I've got a Big Green Egg that I smoke on all the time. It's a great hobby in a way.

I highly recommend Steve Raichlen's 'How To Grill' cookbook. Outstanding tips, recipes and guides.

Weber's 'Way To Grill' is another great cookbook on smoking.

Have fun with it!

Probably one of the easiest smoked chicken recipes you can do....

https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/basic-beer-can-chicken/

You might want to check with Cheech & Chong They are both master smokers.

I'm assuming you've got a Smoky Mountain smoker. There are message boards and a Facebook page dedicated to that particular model. You'll be putting out good grub with that thing. Get yourself a good thermometer to monitor the meat and grate temps....the one that's mounted on the side isn't very helpful. For your pork butt....rub it the night before, smoke it to an internal temp of 203, then wrap it in foil and a towel and put it in a cooler for another hour or 2.

I forgot you were a master as well..sorry.

Monitor the temperature closely. 225-250.
Open it only to baste the meat or move it’s position.
I love smoking meat. It’s a delicious reason to be outdoors all day.

I'm a Traeger guy. As Milk said it kind of becomes a hobby/lifestyle. I'm smoking pizza tonight and meatloaf tomorrow. It will be the first time I've tried the meatloaf.

I would just start with various recipes and give it a try. You're going to learn a lot as you go. But I suggest finding a recipe you like, following it, learning as you go, and you'll start figuring out what you might want to tweak. You'll also start getting excited about doing other things.

Three weeks ago I did a smoked chili verde with pork butt. Yowsers was that good.

A mop sauce while the pork butt is smoking is a must, imo.

Easy mop sauce:

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 small onion thinly sliced
1 jalepeno thinly sliced
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Rish, you'll love the way smoked meatloaf turns out.

Made them a few years back and the family loved them.

Pizzas on the grill are the best.

I got a better one than that I'll post later.

And I don't add my mop sauce until after I pull it. I kind of mix it in with the meat. Unbelievably good.

Make sure to score your pork butt on it’s fatty side.

I'm reading all these responses with a separate Chrome tab looking up what all these new words mean. This is fun.

One big issue is the weather forecast that I just pulled up. Looks like it'll either be a beautiful weekend or it'll be raining the whole time. Not sure which.

A coworker sent me a link on how a method to speed up smoking pork butt.
https://www.smoking-meat.com/march-30-2019-five-hour-smoked-pork-butt

I think I might punt on the pork butt idea until 4th of July weekend. Better weather is expected then.

Don't cheat the process, trust the process!

Yeah, I'm really struggling with the cheating...

Thing is, 18-20 hours of having a smoker going is something I think I need to work myself up to, not attempt right out of the gate.

I've never had a pork butt take that long. 7-8 hrs depending on size smoked at 225F - 250F

Internal temp for a pork butt should be 195F.

Briskets finished temps are usually recommended to pull of at 205F. Briskets take much longer if you're doing the whole brisket.

One thing with smoking and BBQing....it's ok to screw up and have a learning curve.

Like others have said, being outdoors and smoking the meat is a big part of the enjoyment!

Happy smoking.

8.15 lbs.

Here's what I was looking at...

https://heygrillhey.com/simple-smoked-pulled-pork/

Skip to the bottom of the page.

Snap!

I'm usually smoking 5-6 lbs.

Here's one I've used a number of times.

https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/carolina-pulled-pork-shoulder-with-mustard-sauce/

Let everyone know how it turns out when you make it.

Sometimes I like the process better than the eating. Love being outside smelling the smoke.

So's Swish, just not sure what kind of cook he is.

Update: the rain did come, and it came early. Probability of smoking today or tomorrow just went way down.

It's super simple, but I'm a fan of the GFS-brand Jamaican Jerk seasoning on boneless, skinless chicken breasts smoked for about 90-100 minutes at 225F (107C).

It's kinda my go-to thing. I can grab a 10# bag of chicken breasts and then have meat to go into burritos, on salads, into sauce dishes over rice, etc... I just cook it all off, then cube it up once it has rested and cooled.

The key is learning how to maintain a lower temp. It just takes some time.

If you open your vents and flue too far, it burns too hot. Close them too much, you burn out. After a while you will find the sweet spot and not have to fiddle with it all that much, but it is a labor of love. You do have to add more coals from time to time.


I'll be honest, I don't like vertical smokers. Your meat is sitting directly over the heat source. I like horizontal because you can cook indirectly, but I know a lot of people who love stand-up smokers. I just like cooking indirect. Just put the meat under the chimney side, fire up the other side, it pulls heat and smoke towards the meat, and you are really never going to get very hot. Just turn the meat every now and then to keep one side from getting overcooked.

I did have a stand up....I had mixed results with a prime rib, but I will say I could smoke up a heck of a Thanksgiving turkey in that thing. Plop that turkey on around 10 PM and get a full hickory smoke going. Go back around midnight, add a little more lump charcoal, add another few cups of white wine to the water bath, then go to bed. I wake early, so around 4:30 go out adjust the temp to get it back up to around 200 or so, it held around 140 that late, which is good....dinner at 2PM. Pie and Champagne at 4. Pie and ice cream for the kids. I might have snuck a little ice cream for myself, but we won't mention that.

That is the way to do it....smoke it all up, eat what you want that day, freeze the cubes or strips in zip lock freezer bags and they are good for 3-4 months. Portion out, if you need more, thaw out 2 bags or more.

My theory was if you are going to go to the trouble, fill the grate with something. Freezers are a wonderful thing. If I had all the meat I needed, I'd smoke cheese and almonds as well. Cheese doesn't freeze all that well, it changes the texture, but almonds, all day long.

Is jerky hard to do? Had some venison and beef jerky that I thought was great. I have had a horizontal recommended. Some friends put all kinds of meat in it. Sounds easy if you get the prep and set up right.

smoked a turkey breast last week.

hardest part was finding the right sized papers. had to go all the way to Ann Arbor.

To be honest, I never really tried on the smoker, though a few times what I tried was kind of like jerky when it came off....lol

Like I said, smoking is a labor of love, or kind of like sex. You get better with practice. Low and slow takes some experience. Just keep after it.

Lots of great advice on here so far. I'm a Traeger and Big Green Egg guy, I have both. For small items, like a single brisket or a pork butt I prefer the Egg. If I'm doing food for a bunch of people, like 3 or 4 briskets, 10 racks of ribs, etc I'll use the Traeger as there is a whole lot more cooking area.

I second the "How to Grill" book. Great advice and solid recipes. I also recommend Paul Kirk's Championship Barbeque.

As has been said, don't try to cheat the process. You'll be tempted, especially on Brisket, but just don't do it. I keep the temp at 225, there are tools to help do this if you want to be more hands-off. I've got a BBQ Guru for my BGE and can keep 225 for about 14 hours without adding more coals. It's basically a small fan that is controlled by the pit temperature - it'll puff a small amount of air into the smoker when it needs to increase the temp and do nothing when it is where you want it. It also has a probe to put in the meat so you can keep an eye on that temp without opening the pit. The Traeger of course can go forever as long as you keep adding pellets to the hopper.

I'd start with a pork butt - they are hard to screw up as they are almost impossible to overcook. Just let it get up to 195-200 and you'll be good - I usually stick a fork in it and twist when it is at temp to make sure it is going to pull easily as well. If it is still a little tough I'll leave it on a bit longer.

Brisket is a bit harder. Be ready for the "stall" at about 160 - it could sit there for hours and hours. Don't panic and don't do anything about it - the temp will eventually start to increase. I usually cook briskets to 205-210 internal temp. Patience is key.

Someone else mentioned GFS - I get all of my briskets and pork butts there. The prices are unbeatable.

If you plan to do ribs, get a rib rack as you'll be able to get more slabs on that type of smoker. Baby back ribs are nice because they don't take long, about 4-5 hours normally.

Some pics...

Beer can chicken on BGE


Smoked candied bacon on Traeger


Pork butts from the BGE


Kobe Waygu beef brisket from the BGE. My friend got it for his b-day from his brother, it was amazing, but also absurdly expensive.


Bunch of butts on the Traeger


Some ribs and turkey pastrami on the Traeger


Traeger


I couldn't find any pics of my Egg setup for smoking, I know I have some. I'll post if I find them.

Y'all are the best. Thanks for the all the replies.

I ended up just grabbing a chicken, tossed it in some brine and started smoking LATE Saturday night after little dude went to bed. It was a success... in that it was a failure. The chicken ended up tasting alright. Nothing to write home about.

The issue(s) I ran into were really just my not having cooked with charcoal in FOREVER. I added way too much and didn't give it long enough to settle down before I put the chicken on there. Internal temp was well over 350 degrees for a while, so I was cooking with it open for a little while (kinda defeating the purpose of smoking). Once I got my heat under control things went much smoother. I also had purchased the wrong type of wood. That was the first thing I bought, and I thought I was supposed to buy the stuff you use in your grill instead of charcoal instead of the larger chunks. This resulted in me having to frequently replenish small amounts of wood chips to actually have smoke going to the meat. I don't want to waste it, so I'll do another trial run on some small pieces of chicken in order to use it up before I go for the gold (giant piece of pork butt for the 4th).


Again, much thanks and appreciation for all of the responses (including the jokes). I'm digging the smoker, even with the headaches. It'll be a good complement to the gas grill (for when we want to go all out on the food front).

You could have just bought that Cheech & Chong albumn that came with the gigantic rolling paper inside the jacket cover. Was it 'Up in Smoke'?

I've done it more than a few times on my pellet smoker. The biggest thing is keeping the temps low enough, especially if you're trying to do some teriyaki or other marinade. Plain jerky is super quick and easy... I can turn 5# to 10# of thinly sliced (1/9") meat into jerky in about 90 minutes. I like to use top round or eye of round.

If your smoker has a cold smoke box, then jerky and cheeses become very simple to do.

Regarding your first point... yes. :-p
That's what I struggled with bigtime this weekend. My heat was waaay out of control. Once I finally got it back down, things were good. I need to reacquant myself with charcoal.

Honestly, (since my wife and son would never read this) a Traeger would probably be more my speed.... that said, the more manual setup (I think) will be fun. Having gotten through the first session, I'm looking forward to trying again and learning.

Failure is the best teacher, and like you alluded to, as long as you learn from it, every failure is a success!



"I didn't fail 1,000 times, I successfully found 1,000 ways that don't work."

-Thomas Edison

Do you have a chimney starter for your coals? If not, get one. Also, use lump charcoal, not briquettes. Never, ever, ever, never, ever use lighter fluid to start the coals.

Do a google search on different methods to build and maintain the fire. There are tons of ways to do it, find which one works best for your configuration.

If you ever get to the point of switching to an electronically controlled pellet smoker, give Louisiana Grills a look before you buy. I have one of theirs and absolutely love it. I think that for the amount of space you get, they are a much more affordable option.

Conversely, if you're handy and like to build things, build your own smoke barrel and just buy the electronic parts and bolt them on and save a bunch of money

Agreed, there are lots of options that are less than Traeger since their patent expired a few years ago. I’ve had mine for about 10 years, my friend was a dealer for a time and I got mine for cost, which was about 1/2 off.

I do not, and a coworker said the same thing (about the chimney). I see a return trip to Home Depot in my future (tomorrow).

I don't use lighter fluid. I bought the little straw firestarters and lit a couple of those to get going. Worked well (aside from my own mistakes).

Besides maintaining your smoker's temp level, you will need to maintain your own fluid intake. I recommend a garage fridge to keep your, uhh, fluids in for easy and quick access. A comfortable lawn chair is also essential for the proper monitoring and maintenance of a smoker's temp level.

Thank you for reminding me of another mistake I should point out (and hold myself accountable for) as well as a humorous part of the experience.

1. I ran out of beer about halfway through. I have no excuse.

2. My wife and I recently purchased a recliner, and it was still sitting in the garage after I had done a little surface cleaning on it prior to bringing it into the house. So I used that to recline while the smoker did its thing. Pretty sure I hit next-level hillbilly status having the recliner set up in the garage like that.

Being a non drinker I have a different mindset... I try to out-smoke my smoker.

These things happen. That would be when you say to your wife "Honey, could you go pick up a 12 for me? I would go myself but its critical that I monitor and maintain the smoker's temp.".

jc -

Instead of beer can chicken, buy a chicken throne. Fill it with chicken broth/stock, garlic, and black pepper. Smoke at 350 until internal temp of 160. Perfect and juicy every time.

Also, did the meatloaf yesterday. Lights out good. We will be adding it to the rotation.

If anyone is interested google "traeger not your mama's meatloaf". I followed the recipe exactly except added some minced garlic. Super easy, super good.

There's just not enough redneck in that method.

I’ve been doing Steve Raichlens root beer can recipe from his “beer can chicken” cookbook using cornish game hens. It is outstanding - if you can find the small 8oz cans of root beer that works best, but you can wedge one into a 12 ounce can. The marinade is amazing.

I like beer can chicken.


A note on a fire starter. I agree, don't use lighter fluid.

I do make my own to get things going. 50% grain alcohol....a grain based product, and olive oil, a veggie based product.


It will help you start the fire easily and doesn't leave a after taste. You cook with alcohol at times and you cook with olive oil at times. Combine the two and you have a good fire starter. The alcohol fires up quickly, the oil burns, but burns slower to get the lump fired up.


Try it. You can pay me later. A couple of beers work. I have learned a few tricks over the years.


By the time the coals are ready the oil is long gone.

Thanks! I definitely didn't have any trouble getting it started. The straw firestarters worked great. I just didn't sit and wait long enough for the heat to settle. I'm trying a mini-smoke session again this week in order to burn through the rest of the (wrong) wood I bought before I switch over to the correct stuff. When I get through this bag of briquettes, I'll switch over to lump and see if I need any extra help to get that going.

That's a good learning point. You want the smoker up to temp and the smoke to appear "thin and blue" before you put any meat on. If you have white puffy smoke, it's not ready. This can take around 30-60 minutes depending on the weather conditions. Another tip to avoid stale smoke is to keep the upper vent wide open and control the temp from the bottom. Good airflow is key.

Yeah, I was curious that the smoker manual said that both the top AND bottom vents would increase temps when open. I would think the top vents would vent more than they would get oxygen to the fire below.

That oxygen really sucks in that small vent. Acts like a blow torch. That top vent is going to suck air. Restricting the bottom is still going to suck in the air. It's just going to concentrate it and make it burn hotter to fire the coals.

I may not be explaining it properly, but if you open the bottom vents wide open, you just aren't going to create that blow torch effect.


Open you mouth and breath in a normal amount of air. It comes in slow. Now pucker your lips like you are going to whistle and suck in the same amount of air. It come in much faster. That creates the burn.

Once you have a good fire, open the bottom vets a bit to lower the heat and preserve your coals longer.

I smoked some pork butt, and it came out pretty decent.

I'll tell you what, though. It was a struggle. I think a lot of that stemmed from the amount of meat I had on there. 8 lbs. I cut it in 2-pieces and put 1 on the bottom grate and one on the top, but it didn't seem to help. So next time I'll get a smaller cut. Also, I think I added too much water to the pan. I don't fill that thing all the way up, but it's pretty close. I say that because I struggled to maintain high enough temp pretty much the whole time. It also took FOREVER. I started at 9am and didn't finish up until 2am. Luckily we had burger meat as backup to throw on the grill.

LOL....it shouldn't take that long. Remember, you can always add more water or wine if it boils offs...also, when smoking something fairly large, you have to start at a early hour....maybe late the night before or around 4am

I usually figure 1.5 hours per pound, so an 8lb pork butt is about 12 hours at 225. 2am isn’t too far off in terms of smoking. Are you sure your thermometer you are measuring pit temp is right? I’d not trust the one built into the smoker, get a descent external one (Wi-Fi ones are nice) that shows food and pit temp. I’m also not a fan of breaking the cut into smaller pieces, there is a lot more likelihood of drying out the meat.

I went in knowing that I had too much meat on the smoker... but I was hoping by cutting the portion in half and putting it on like that (in two pieces instead of 1 giant one) I could cut down on cooking time. The fact it still took that long isn't really the troublesome part.

It's that I struggled bigtime to keep my internal smoker temp up. There was a good long while that I was struggling to keep it up over 200. I read that having a lot of meat cooking "sucks up the heat" which can drop your smoker's temp. I also read that a lot of people don't put water in the water pan, but instead put lava rocks. I'm wondering why that is, and if it would've helped me with my temperature issues.

I had the same thought regarding the thermometer on the top of the smoker. I had both of my probes in food, so I couldn't check the weber one, but I will next time.