Smoking Ribs or Briskets??
 

Do any of you use a Home smoker, for Ribs or Briskets??
Do you use your Smoker, frequently? Is it worth the time, involved,
to you, to smoke a big Pork-butt, a slab of ribs, a Turkey, or a Beef Brisket?
Do you smoke whole tenderloins or baby-back beef ribs?

DSW & I love smoked barbecued ribs. Much better than just grilled.

Well, see, it started with my younger DS. He built himself a Smoker, out of
2 fifty-five gallon drums. He has been smoking ribs & Briskets, for a couple of years. He started with a little Brinkman Smoker, which he has passed on, as a gift, to his older DB, my other DS. So both DS's have been Smoking their
barbecue, for awhile.

We got a chance to try some of their smoked ribs.
And...........ooooOOOH they taste good.
And, the first time, I went to fire up our old grill, for burgers & Brats,
it almost fell apart, rusted out.

So, DSW & I decided we prob'ly wanted a Smoker.
We looked at them, at Lowes, where she works.
You can get a nice one for about $170.
We decide which one, but they were out of that model.
They got them in the other day. So, last night she brought "IT" home.
Now, all I have to do is assemble "IT".
It's one that's like a round drum, with a little chimney on top.
The fire-box is a separate purchase, that you bolt on the side..
It all looks cool, in the pictures.

I've been reading up on building fires, making dry-rubs, best kinds of Wood,
(We have hillsides full.)
And, of course, cooking times, asf.

I'd appreciate Any Hints you can give me.
Tell me your All-Night Smoking Stories.......Please.
Thanks.
It seems like a lot to pick up.
I know, it all comes with experience........& time on the job.
Life's a "learning experience".
Ain't it great.

We smoke ribs for 3 1/2 hours at 230 degrees and use mesquite wood.

Whole chickens for the same amount of time.

Butts took 12 hours at the same temp.

We have a cookshack that can smoke about 500 pounds at a time. :)

I smoke pork butt @ around 300-350 for about 7-8 hrs. I use chips that I buy that are made from used oak whiskey barrels from the Jack Daniels distillery. I add liquid to my smoker, combo of apple cider, water, and brandy, and rub the meat with a dry rub the night before.

It's a little trouble but my family LOVES it!

Best of luck
Brandon

That rig of yours is a little different from the usual smoker. The small end is where you create the smoke and the big one is the cooker. Brinkman is the brand. I have used one about a year. The first thing you want to do is get some 8-10" wheels, Harbor Fright, along with any thing for an axle and use pipe clamps to attach these to the opposite legs the wheels are on now. Throw those away. The rig does a good job smoking or just BBQing. bcs

Try using Pecan wood. Mesquite was my favorite until I tried Pecan.
It's a very smooth and mellow smoke that just tastes great!

I smoke everything, we probably use ours 3 times a week, sometimes quite a bit more. I'm smoking salmon tonight. I salt it while it's thawing, then rinse the salt off (rock salt). 1 1/2 hours at 120 degrees, 1 1/2 hours at 150 degrees, 1 1/2 hours at 180 degrees. You need thick salmon slabs for this. It's to die for!

Baby ribs I smoke at 225 for 3 hours, wrap in foil and cook another hour.

Pork roasts, I buy around 5lb size and smoke at 225 for 10 hours.

Whole chickens, 225 an hour per lb.

Macaroni and cheese, topped with bacon, is fabulous smoked.

I soak ears of corn, husks and silk left intact, then smoke them at 225 for a couple of hours.

Baked beans are awesome on the smoker.

Can you tell I love our smoker? :p

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

Explain, please.

Lunch is late today and I am drooling. We have the smoker the OP describes. Use it for a grill mostly and a smoker other times. We got a rotisserie for it, too. It makes a nice outfit.

We have a bunch of "Big Green Eggs". They are ceramic smokers that we have fitted with electronic thermometer / firebox controllers. You put the meat on, and put on probe in the meat, the other probe is on the grill. Set the temperature you want to cook at and it regulates the air flow to the firebox to keep it within a couple degrees of that temperature. When the meat hits the temperature setpoint, the fire banks off to a warm and an audible alarms notifies you it's time to eat.

We often do Boston butts for 18 - 24 hours, and asides from starting the fire and putting the meat on the grill, and taking it back off when done, there's no extra work.

Big Green Egg - http://www.biggreenegg.com/
BBQ Guru - http://www.thebbqguru.com/

All of that gadgetry makes it nice, almost like having an oven that smokes (in a good way). But we have also used other store-bought and home-made smokers in the past with equally good results, just required a small amount more of attention.

And yes, Briskets are great smoked. We do ours around 230 - 250 degrees I believe, and we cook them until they hit 210 degrees internally. They plateau around 180, and hang for a while, then they rise again and all the fatty stuff dissolves. Wonderful meat.

Just whip up a batch of homeade macaroni and cheese.. lots of cheese! I like various cheeses in mine, cheddar, a bit of bleu, and some mild white (provolone, mixed, whatever) but mostly cheddar. Top with raw bacon to keep it from drying out. I put it on the top rack of our smoker for a couple of hours. Awesome stuff!

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

Some really good hints here --- Thanks!
There are some skilled smokers on HT!

A few links that will be helpful:

http://www.butcher-packer.com/

http://www.himtnjerky.com/

http://www.eldonsausage.com/

http://www.thechileman.org/about.php :flame:

WELCOME to the "smoker''s addiction!!!!!

Best Regards, :)
Bruce

Ahhhhh, theres nothing like getting out of bed at 2am on a 30degree night to stoke the coals back up under a huge piece of pig. :baby04:

No idea of how many pounds my tenderloins are but i like the smaller ones best. 2 to 3 lbs maybe. Because the smoke can permeate the meat to the core.

I also like the smaller cheap chickens. I try the crisp the skin over hot coals first. (300ish degrees) My fire/coals are about two ft below the food so it takes 30 mins to an hr. Then i close her up and cook for up to 6hrs. (200 ish) Makes them fall off the bone.
(The trick to chickens is to be careful and not break the skin after its crisp. It seals in the juices.)

17lbs of shoulder takes 20 hrs to cook.
I often cheat and switch to charcoal when I'm ready for bed. Cause it burns longer. And it usually burns down to below 100 before a awake and take it off.

Ive even started cooking steaks and burgers slower lately. Cooked for an hr and still just a touch pink in the middle will melt in your mouth!

I burn red oak/white oak/or hickory down to coals and then shovel them in. Never had any luck at using wood chips over coals or charcoal. It always taste a little bitter or green to me. :shrug:

Still prefer my ribs with BBQ sauce cooked onto them, rather than smoked though. Notice i said i like the sauce cooked!!!!

Thinking I'm going to try some of the dry rubs this year. Sure makes stuff look tasty!

Funny I just noticed this post!

I am smokin some ribs now!! just finnished a belly bacon slab earlier, and some homemade links. mmmmmm good

Daughters B-day and gettin prepared.

I use mine less often than I would like, mine is a fifty gallon drum also and a fire box off a medium size walmart smoker, threw a temp gauge in cut a door works wonders, and cheap!!!!


we do pretty much whole hog round here without the whole carcass, if ya catch me.

I like makin smoked burgers too, OMG melt in your mouth!!!!!!!!! :1pig:

BUMP.

(I'm bumping this thread so I don't lose it.) :)

For those that use their smokers, do you use only wood for a fire or do you use cahrcoal and then add wood chips?

Those look fascinating but yow, what a price! I knew I was in trouble when the closest dealer was in Sun Valley, home of the Hollywood types.

We use "lump charcoal." That is wood that has gone through the kiln, uncompressed. We once did a 32 hour cook, never having to add to the original amount of lump charcoal that we started with (although it wouldn't have made it more than another hour). The charcoal briquets are compressed and contain lots of non-combustibles (for some reason I'm thinking they are made up of 60% clay). Wood is great, but lump lasts longs and burns better IMO.

LOL, they are expensive... and you have to be careful moving them, since they are ceramic and can shatter if knocked over. But I will admit they have been the best cooker so far. My dad is a nut for grilling and smoking. When he retired, he bought a BGE, he liked it so much he ended up buying one of each size they make (5 total). Last summer we used the Giant BGE to smoke 5 Boston butts with room to spare. That ceramic sure holds the heat, with a BBQ Guru attached, it might be one of the most efficient cookers around.

What about brineing before smoking? There is a lot written about that also. Salmonella?? bcs

This thread got me thinking, so I went out and searched homemade smokers. A co-worker who LOVES to BBQ. Here is the conversation:
Him: Hey man, whatcha lookin at?
Me: Oh, just thinking about making a smoker.
Him: You need a nice size barrel or drum.
Me: Yeah, I have some old tanks at the farm.
Him: Then you need a trailer to put it on.
Me: Yep, got a few.
Him: You have a welder, torches, power sprayer?
Me: Yep, got it all.
Him: Man, I have to be a part of this…you have to let me do this!

Looks like I’ll be in the smoking business!!!

I don't think I've ever seen lump charcoal for sale around here. One of the reasons I asked was the insane price of using charcoal briquettes. I have used briquettes for the fire base for smoking and also for baking in dutch ovens, it's just gotten too expensive to use.

Do you make your charcoal or buy it?

Oklahoma Smokin'
 

We have a smokemaster here at work; He just cooked up 3 briskets, 4 or 6 slabs of ribs, and 2 large pork roasts for lunch Friday, along with some kielbasa & hotlinks. He got the meat Tuesday, seasoned it Wednesday(dry rub, Oklahoma Joe brand), started the Brisket & Pork Thursday @ 11:00am in the smokers (Pecan wood, over a charcoal bricquet fire, in 2 New Braunfels smoker's), & the Ribs Friday@ 6:00 AM, and delivered it all to the office @ 1:30pm (woulda been earlier, but the wind was dragging the temp down on the ribs, so they cooked slower). The Brisket smoked for 10 hours, and cooked overnight in the oven @ 225 for the last 12 hours, resulting in just incredibly moist, tender, flavorful meat. Didn't need sauce - that's how good it was.

In fact, seeing as I'm at work, and feeling peckish, I'm going to the kitchen and heating some up.



j

Thanks Y'all!!
 

I appreciate all the Good Information you've posted for me.
It seems that everyone has a Favorite Way of using a Smoker.
And, everyones' Way is the Best Way.
And there are thousands of different kinds of Smokers.
Many Thousands of Recipes to try.

Well, I got what I got. It was an early Fathers' Day gift.
It's a "Char-Griller". I'm really happy with it.

Saturday I did a little fire in the Smoker side & the Firebox side,
just to "season it".
And after it Seasoned for awhile, i got thinking............
Hey I have several packs o Brats in the freezer.
And, that fire is just going to waste.
So I grilled a couple packs of Brats. They are great.

I'd got a big pack of chicken leg-quarters and another of breast-
quarters, half dozen of each & a big package of pork steaks.
I didn't get around to Smoking them until yesterday, though.
I'd soaked the chicken overnight in salt water.

Then Yesterday, I went out on the hill, where I had a big Cherry log.
It'd been laying about a year & a half, well seasoned wood.
I cut off 4 big pieces, 12 inches long, 18-20 inches in diameter.
They split easily. I split one into 4" pieces of wood.

I started some charcoal in the Charcoal chimney.
I put that in the Firebox & closed 'er up.
I went & got out the Chicken & pork out of the fridge.
I laid them out on plates. I hadn't made a rub, so.....
I sprinkled both sides of each piece with Garlic powder, Curry powder,
and Season salt.
I let 'em sit about 30 minutes.

About that time the Heat in the Smoker box was up to about
225 degrees. I laid about 3 of those Cerry wood pieces in the Firebox,
on top of the charcoal fire.
Then, I laid out the Chicken pieces & pork on the grill in the Smoker.
I kept that heat about 225, except when I opened it up a couple times
to spray the meat, with apple juice.

The Pork was well-done & ready to eat in about 1 1/2 hours.
It was closest to the Firebox.
The Chicken took about 2 1/2 hours,(Temp internal was 180).
We gorged on Pork & Salad. We just kind sampled a little piece
of Chicken.
Great Lesson Learned, for my first Smoke.
Many More to Come.

Thanks again, for your Help & Suggestions........

Anybody have any luck smoking a goat leg?

Old John.....

Ya gotta "smoke" a turkey! :)
1. Perforate aluminum foil with a kitchen knife
2. Loosely wrap the turkey with the foil.
3. Put in smoker....I figure 1/2 hour per pound of turkey
4. for "basting", I sometimes use a mixture of 1/3 wine, 1/3 molasses, 1/3 butter.
5. When a turkey leg is EASILY rotated "out-of-joint", the turkey is ready!
6. Let it cool a bit on a wire rack, then carve as usual.
7. AWESOME :dance: :dance: :dance:

Here's my home made smoker :)
http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...ooker-copy.jpg


Junkmanme, Your basting sauce sounds interesting....I'm going to give it a try. :)

Maybe I missed it....but try soaking that cherry wood in water for awhile before you use it. It'll put off a ton more smoke.

Sounds like great eats!!!

Cowgirlone,

LOVE your smoker! I've seen a picture of it before. It is VERY SIMILAR to what I've had in mind to build to replace the one I've got now.

Don't put your address on the Internet....you might just save me some welding rod!
Ha-Ha!..(just kidding! I'm NOT a thief!)

I think you'll like the taste of the Turkey with that basting sauce.
Bruce

We've smoked both leg of lamb and goat leg, but the goat leg only when the kid is young. We marinated the leg in Yoshida's for a couple of hours, then smoked it at 225 for about 3 hours, excellent!

Last night I made chicken enchilada's, then tossed them in the smoker on 250 for 2 hours. The smoke flavor in the cheddar cheese is totally awesome!

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

We usually buy it at Walmart, but they don't always have it, and we seek out other stores that carry it at higher prices. Big Green Egg sells the natural lump charcoal as well, but it's a few dollars more per bag and no different than what we get at Wally World.

Wow,I'm glad you made this thread!! I'm wanting to buy my Dad a smoker for Father's Day. I've been looking online at Wal-Mart and Lowes. I've found three that look pretty good. But I have no idea which is best(other than price lol). I have never smoked anything,so I'm clueless. What do you all think about these?

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=3342509

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=1972388

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...0-E&lpage=none

The first one doesn't say anything about being able to use wood. I would like to buy one that can use both wood and charcoal.
What else do I need to buy? I have a bag of mesquite wood chunks,and I can get some charcoal. I just have no idea,since this is totally new to me. I want to have everything on hand,because he'll probably want to fire it up right away! :)