DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Smoking (bbq style)

I know some of you smoke meats, especially during football season.

I have been into it for a year now. I kind of want to upgrade my game. I bought a pit barrel last year and I love it, but I know I can get longer smokes with more flavor with an offset.

I love the community though. There are great reddit groups, youtube channels etc. I have learned a ton, and the community encourages people to share tips and tricks.

I got really into it during COVID. Have both an offset charcoal smoker and a Camp Chef 36" Woodwind pellet grill. If I have the time to devote and babysit, I go for the charcoal and use wood chunks. You just can't beat that authentic flavor.

Most of the time, though, I use my Camp Chef. I usually do a Texas-style rub on a brisket and put it on the smoker with oak/hickory or some combination therein around 11 PM or midnight, right before I go to bed. I wrap it in butcher paper the next morning when I get up and wait for it to reach around 200ish internal. Then I wrap it in saran wrap and cover it in a cooler with towels and let it rest for 2-3 hours, sometimes 4. It's still hot when we take it out around dinner time to cut it. Has a great bark on it, burnt ends are good, and the inside is broken down, real nice and juicy. It's probably my wife's favorite thing to eat.

I'm not much help. I use a Traeger. It's actually kind of cheating. You can buy the pellets in any type of wood variety you like. Different rubs also give you a nice variety but it's all quite basic.

My wife bought me a Weber last year for Father's Day and has been regretting it ever since. It's a great buy if you're on the fence about the whole thing. That said, now that I'm committed I'm looking to upgrade my equipment. The Weber gets the job done but has its limitations. Long story short, I think the single-layer metal wall allows a lot of heat to escape (especially when weather is involved), and contributes to my struggles in getting/holding higher temps and having to reload on charcoal multiple times over longer cooks. It is fairly portable for how much grill area it has, so that's cool.

Now that I am really getting the hang of it, I'm starting to come around on the vertical smoker. I could see myself upgrading to an Egg or other type of kamado style. I could also go for an offset, but I think that'll mean I'll have to use wood logs which might be harder to keep a nice spread of woods (I have a neighbor that likes to do woodwork and has been giving me his cutoffs to use in the smokers. He's given me some really interesting stuff and I've amassed a nice little treasure trove of wood chunks.

The channel that I love to use for recipes and how-to's is 'How to BBQ Right' on youtube. The dude that does those videos is super helpful and unintentionally hilarious in many of his videos.

I'm starting to get away from the 'traditional' smoker dishes (brisket, pulled pork, etc) and have been having more success with some alternative recipes that tend to call for shorter cook times, a little higher temps, and just a little bit of smoke. I've done a stuffed jalapeno wrapped in chicken and bacon thing that I've nailed both times. I just did smoked mac n cheese that turned out pretty alright (made a dumb mistake, though).

You're right about the community. I haven't met a single person that does it and won't stop what they're doing to talk about it for however long you have.

Yeah, my Camp Chef is pretty much cheating, too, but you can't argue with the convenience of a pellet grill.

Barrels are good for pork butts.

That sounds awesome. I actually saw an episode of Burgers, Brew and Que with Michael Symon, and there was one dude who made a smoked chocolate moose. I was intrigued so I did it in my offset and it turned out really good.

I need to take up trying to do mac and cheese. Also need to try my hand at some wings.

My go-to items are the typical trifecta: ribs, brisket and pork butt.

How to BBQ Right is definitely a great channel. I also check out Hey Grill Hey from time to time. I did a whole hog in my 36" pellet smoker and borrowed her strategies. Turned out pretty well. Ordered the hog through Jungle Jim's in Fairfield. It was not cheap...

Yeah, the meat is the other part. Up until now I've only bought stuff that was on sale at Kroeger. Helped with experimenting and not getting down about wasting a good cut. I'm finally ready to let myself go into JJ's or one of the boutique shops that are around us.

We don't go to JJ's all that often since it's a westward hike for us, but when I do, I check out various stuff there to see if there are any good deals. Last time I went, I got lucky and found really nice, big prime briskets for sale for $50ish or so.

The nice thing is it feeds our family of four for several days. Day 1 we have the actual smoked brisket. I got the propane pizza oven attachment for my pellet smoker, so on Day 2, we usually have BBQ brisket pizza. Day 3, my wife (1st Gen Italian) makes a mushroom and brisket risotto which I love.

Two hours until dinner and you're making me hungry.

Grills and smokers are a bit like golf clubs. Once you have the bug you want the newest.

The reality is if you are good, you don't need anything all that fancy.
If you are putting out good butts and ribs, stick with what you have.

If you aren't putting out good grub, new stuff isn't going to help much. Practice is what you need, not a new grill.

Yep. I have a simple offset that needs some babysitting, but I can manage the temp and smoke quite well. I start with a half chimney of charcoal and use all wood splits the rest of the way.

One of the first mistakes I made with my offset was using too much charcoal to get started. I think I used a full chimney at least. Next thing you know, the temp was way too high. The next mistake I made was panicking too drastically to try and get that temperature knocked down quickly.

I'd like to do more of a stick burn. I usually keep adding some level of charcoal into mine just for heat stability.

I’ve got a Weber Smokey Mountain and love it, granted in Florida I don’t have to deal with the temperature issues mentioned because it’s just always hot here.

The other day I tried something that I’ve been putting off for awhile now because I’ve heard you should use a separate one for red meat and fish…but I had a beautiful huge freshly caught red snapper so I couldn’t resist. By far the best snapper I’ve ever had. Just gutted, scaled it, and put the entire thing in. I will do it again.

Sounds good to me.

Fish can leave a residue, but you can deal with that. Just run a hot, dry smoke. By that I mean get it hot and smoke off several chunks of wood without smoking any food. That always did a good job of "cleaning" things up for me. Then I would spray everything with a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. Vinegar neutralizes darn near any kind of odor.

If the grate didn't get charcoaled off, you might want to remove it and clean it up in the sink with soap and water.

Snapper isn't a oily fish like a Salmon or Mackerel, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

jc

My wife bought me a Pit Boss smoker that uses the pellets. It really is easy to use and is big enough to put in a couple of racks of ribs at the same time. Pit Boss has a really good selection of recipes on line that even I can't mess up. I've done venison, pork loins, ribs, pork butts, whole chickens and briskets. The rub makes a big difference in my opinion. On the ribs don't forget to remove the membrane on back.

As for fish, I've done salmon and trout. I bought a stainless steel grill basket that I spray with cooking spray that works really good and crisps the skin. I've also used the cedar boards but the skin doesn't get crispy like I like. They say to remove the skin on the fish, but I don't.

I like skin on as well. Smoked trout is the bomb.

Fish baskets are a great tool. You still get drainage on to the grates and with fish, even the smoke picks up the fish and can permeate your entire smoker. That is why it is a good idea to do a dry run, high heat smoke for a few hours, then spray with a vinegar solution once cooled.

Do you ever use a cedar plank for salmon?

I love the PBC. The ability to use hooks and hang a brisket or a butt is awesome, and really helps flavor the meat. I cannot wait to try and smoke a turkey in this thing

The only thing its not great with is wings. You can do 'em, but I think other smokers would do better.

This thing is tailor made for ribs too. You can hang about 10-15 racks in one smoke

I read something interesting about cedar.

I use them on the grill for fish (soak the plank for ~1 hour, take it out and drip-dry for a sec and then throw it under the fish and on the grill). You soak the plank to make sure it DOESN'T burn. It's supposedly a big no-no for burning it for its smoke. Sappy woods like cedar releases stuff in the smoke that yucks up whatever you're cooking (paraphrasing is my own, obviously). So dropping chunks of cedar in with your coals is a big no-no.

I don't like adding charcoal because you get too much of that acrid thick puffy smoke. I preheat my splits on top of the firebox so they catch right away when I add them...it keeps the thick smoke to a minimum and the temp fairly stable.

That makes sense. Yeah, things like pine and cedar are huge no-nos when it comes to cooking. I thought about using the plank and putting the plank on the grill. Dipping it in water beforehand makes sense.

That's a really good idea. I never thought to set them on top of the firebox. I usually just let them sundry and make sure - obviously - that the wood was all seasoned beforehand. That added step makes sense.

Yeah, just dipping doesn't work. It has to be saturated unless you want to risk being me a couple years ago putting out a fire when the plank lit after drying out too quickly.

Haha, that sucks. Was it over direct heat?

I saw a video of some guy smoking pork belly on a stick. He called them meat pop-sickles. He had a different rub for each side then finished them off in a red wine glaze in a pan. Im going to try that on vacation next week. I think he was promoting spiceoligy rubs. He used Moss rub on one side, not sure about the other.

I don't consider it cheating, at all. It just isn't doing things the hard way.

I have a Louisiana Grills and a Camp Chef (that I've ranted about on Facebook.. I will NEVER buy one of their products again).


In the end, you're creating fire, which makes smoke and heat and cooks the meat. The fact you're letting it be a controlled, self-feeding action isn't cheating, it's evolution.

I was just brought up in life to use the KISS method of approaching things. (Keep It Simple Stupid). So when approaching smoking food rather than all of the trial and error, eating badly smoked food during that process, it seemed like the logical approach to me was to purchase the best reviewed pellet smoker option on the market at the time. I've also heard some horror stories where people have had to waste or throw away their food during that process. I didn't wish to travel down that road.

I certainly wasn't disappointed and it made it quite easy to smoke very good meats right away. I also like that it's very easy to purchase a wide variety of wood flavors. To a great extent that is the largest trial and error process to the entire experience. I mean well smoked meats are good no matter which wood you use to some extent. But learning your preference depending on what you're preparing makes it even better.

Same story, but in different words:

I like to eat good food, and I have enough side projects and side skills that require a learning curve. I didn't want to deal with the learning curve of smoking meats. Pellet smokers are a simple, no-brain-required way of getting started smoking things and getting good, consistent results. It isn't the artisan side of things for those whom smoking is a mercurial passion, it's the "I just want to eat some BBQ at home without thinking about it or having to spend all day babysitting it", and there's nothing wrong with either approach. It's about putting your time and energy where your passions are. If "true" smoking is your thing, pellet smokers probably don't get you where you want to go because they don't give you enough control over the details.... but, that's also what makes them appealing to those looking to just keep it simple. They don't have to sweat any details.

In all honesty, if we had the $$ to burn and knew that I would get into the smoking thing (keep in mind, I had already bought really nice gas grill), then I'd be on board with dropping cash on an something easier than mine.

I find the whole smoking thing to be more science vs art. It's all about tweaking the inputs (temp, time, wood, rubs/mops, wrapping). So the ability to more easily control some of those inputs is a no-brainer... just not what we were up to pay for.

For me the choice was easy. Down here in Tennessee we have a BBQ chain called Jim & Nicks BBQ. Man it's SO GOOD! After considering the cash I was dropping buying their food, the money paid for that smoker was a pretty good investment. When you combine the food cost savings with the time and ease of the smoking we haven't regretted the purchase for a minute.

I'm sure that will vary according to your family and each case is different. But for us it made perfect sense.

I decided to try a Slow ‘N Sear Kettle Grill just to see how I liked the whole smoking thing. I knew I would, really, but just wanted to make sure, without going all out. I know there are way better and more efficient equipment types, and I will most certainly buy others at some point. But, for now, this has been sweet. I have smoked a number of pork butt and ribs, and a couple of other things, and have had delicious results. Not a fail yet. Been able to keep a steady temp the vast majority of the time. Love it!

Yes.

No doubt you have to soak the plank. I even use them in the oven from time to time. You just want wisps of smoke. It doesn't take much smoke to do it's magic when it comes to fish.

I'll be honest, I never did much fish. I love it, but I might have been born in northern Ohio, but my Mom was from Alabama, thus I was raised as such when it came to eating. You smoked or roasted mammals. Fish and frogs you floured or breaded up and fried them in grease. Things with shells you boiled, steamed, or ate raw.

I have never cooked much fish at the house. I save that for when I go out, and yes, I love broiled fish, but it depends on the fish. Take Perch as an example. Who the heck broils that!? You fry those little suckers up. Stick 3 pieces on a hoagie roll with lettuce and tarter. Broil schmoil my ass.

They ignite the second they're put on the coals. Just keep an eye on them, they can catch fire on top of the firebox. Another good tip is to always leave the stack wide open and do all of your adjusting at the firebox damper. Most of the time, I leave the door to the box open and just adjust by how wide it's open. I've given up on super low and slow. I do almost all of my cooking between 250-300. My smoker's too finicky to try and keep at 225 without too much smoldering smoke.

Yeah, that's why I do my low and slow briskets on the pellet grill - so I can have that low and slow overnight cooking and lock in that 225.

Hitting 225 on an offset is so hard to maintain. I usually will do a pork butt on there and keep it around 275.