New to smoking..feeling very intimitaded

Started by degenerazn, July 13, 2009, 09:26:14 PM

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degenerazn

Hi all,

For years I've been perfecting the art of grilling.  Now I'm ready to take it a step further and start some smoking.  I tried smoking on my weber grill using the charcoal w/wood chip method but that required so much work and checking up on.  I'm just about to jump on the Bradley smoker but reading thru this forum makes me realize that I know almost nothing about smoking meat.  I don't even really have any special rub/bbq sauce recipes.  Heck, I can't even tell the difference between pork should and butt. 

Anybody got some tips for a newbie smoker?

Gizmo

Welcome Degenerazn
Interestingly enough, Pork Shoulder and Pork Butt are one and the same, so already you have a leg up by not being able to tell the difference.   ;D

Check out the recipe site, the link is just under my post here.  There is a great tutorial on getting started, seasoning the Bradley and other tips.  The smoking recipes there are written for the Bradley smoker as your actual smoke time is usually no more than 4 hours compared to other smokers where you roll wood the entire time.

Any further questions, you can ask away, or you can do a search on the site.  TIP:  select the home tab and then and select search and enter your key word.  If you don't select home first, then you will only search the thread you are in.  We have folks from all over the globe here with plenty of experience to help you out. 
Click here for our time proven and tested recipes - http://www.susanminor.org/

Smokin Soon

Just buy the thing, do a little reading here and on the recipe sight, and you will amaze yourself and your friends with your smoking skills. We are all here to help, so if you have the time to learn and read a bit, you will join a great family of cookers and friends.

Ka Honu

And now for the really good news...

Even your "mistakes" will often taste far better than whatever else you might have made without smoking.

Hopefull Romantic

Hi there Degenerazn

for knowing nothing about smoking you came to the right place. There are so many folks here who are; willing, able and most importantly, knowledgeable in the art of smoking. Being like you and having tried smoking on the grill, I have taken the plunge and ordered my first BDS after having read extensively in this forum and found out how many people I can count on to help me. So go ahead and buy it and smoke away, stay in touch and never be afraid to share your trials and errors.

Welcome to the forum and good luck.

HR
I am not as "think" as you "drunk" I am.

degenerazn

Thanks for all the welcomes.  I'm eager to test this thing out.  It comes in in about a week.  I'm curious, browsing thru all the pics I see that people don't usually smoke two types of meat at once.  Is it unwise to smoke pork ribs and brisket at the same time?  And can all the cooking be done inside the BDS?

Blue Legend

Anything is possible with a Bradley Deg ;D A chap here in NZ got his brand new Bradley last week and this is his first smoke 8) Go for it




Caneyscud

#7
Degen, - the only way to go is to just jump in and do it.  The only difference in smoking and grilling is time and temp - i.e. low and slow.  No exotic, "secret" sauces and rubs are needed to get great tasting smoked grub - salt and pepper will suffice.  Then you will probably wonder if you could do it better by doing or adding _______ (fill in the blank) and will want to experiment! - and that is when the most fun comes in - thinking up something and doing it and finding out whether it "works" or not!  I'd advise, pick a recipe that appeals to you and do it exactly.  Can't decide? --- the do the Little Jack Horner thing and stick your thumb into the recipes and see what comes out.  Just remember with smoking -  practice may not make you perfect, but who the he-- cares - practice tastes mighty good!

BTW smoking 2 or more meats at once - no problem, just more planning!
"A man that won't sleep with his meat don't care about his barbecue" Caneyscud



"If we're not supposed to eat animals, how come they're made out of meat?"

scotts87

Hey Degen, I am a lot like you in that I am a master of my backyard grill, I had always wanted to try smoking, but have been intimidated by all of the choices out there. I finally settled on the Bradley after much research, and have been extremely pleased so far. I had my first smoke this weekend. I made the typical newbie mistake of a bit too much smoke.

I agree that while its certainly possible to use a Weber or gas grill as a smoker, as you say.....its just WAY too much work!! And with those, I had a very difficult time controling the temperature. The beauty of the Bradley is its ease of use, quality construction, impressive temperature control, and an incredible forum (here!!) of so many people with so many tips, recipes, etc. that you just cannot go wrong.

Happy to see that you took the plunge, and have one on order. I am eager to see how your first experience goes.

Scott

beefmann

DEG, welcome to the forum , as you continue to read through the posts  you will soon learn on the suttlies of smoking and with some practice perfect your own way of smoking, A lot of good advice here so dont be afread it ask even if it seems silly, Remember we were just like you at one time.

Come and enjoy your smoking family

degenerazn

Thanks guys, I'm starting to feel confident after reading thru the forums a few times over.  I've decided to do brisket and pork ribs on my first run next Sunday.  Here's my plan

For my ribs, I'm gonna apply this rub I bought from a store, let it sit overnight.  Then smoke it for 4 hours.  Remove and place in a foil wrap with apple cider (not sure how much), smoke that for 1 hour.  Then remove the ribs from the foil and baste it with bbq sauce then smoke for another hour. 

For Brisket, I'm still looking for a rub, I'm not sure if I can make my own since I probably won't have all the ingredients.  Also, if someone could teach me how and what to trim off the brisket when I buy it from costco, that'd be great.  I plan on smoking the brisket for 5 hours.  Remove and place it in a foil pan with some apple cider, then leave it in my oven over night till it hits 190 degrees(?).  Remove, then do some form of FTC.  I don't have a cooler so I plan on just leaving it in the oven with the heat turned off.  Do I drain all the juices out when I FTC?

We'll see how this goes.  I'm really interested in making pull pork but don't know the first thing about it.  Is it pretty similar to briskets?

deb415611

degenerazn,

Here is a link to WTS's brisket.  He shows where to trim.   He also has a rub recipe that is fairly basic, you might have most of the ingredients.  Some people go very simple on brisket with just salt & pepper. 

HawkeyeSmokes

Quote from: degenerazn on July 14, 2009, 03:16:57 PM
Thanks guys, I'm starting to feel confident after reading thru the forums a few times over.  I've decided to do brisket and pork ribs on my first run next Sunday.  Here's my plan

For my ribs, I'm gonna apply this rub I bought from a store, let it sit overnight.  Then smoke it for 4 hours.  Remove and place in a foil wrap with apple cider (not sure how much), smoke that for 1 hour.  Then remove the ribs from the foil and baste it with bbq sauce then smoke for another hour. 

For Brisket, I'm still looking for a rub, I'm not sure if I can make my own since I probably won't have all the ingredients.  Also, if someone could teach me how and what to trim off the brisket when I buy it from costco, that'd be great.  I plan on smoking the brisket for 5 hours.  Remove and place it in a foil pan with some apple cider, then leave it in my oven over night till it hits 190 degrees(?).  Remove, then do some form of FTC.  I don't have a cooler so I plan on just leaving it in the oven with the heat turned off.  Do I drain all the juices out when I FTC?

We'll see how this goes.  I'm really interested in making pull pork but don't know the first thing about it.  Is it pretty similar to briskets?

Hi degenerazn, you plan sounds pretty good to me. But, with the ribs, once you foil them, don't keep smoking, just cook. You would be wasting your pucks from here on. For me a splash has been about 1/4 cup for a rack of ribs. Also, make sure to preheat the Bradley before loading and let the ribs come to room temp also before smoking and keep the top vent open so smoke doesn't backup. It helps a lot on heat recovery time. I've been finding about 6 hours total time for spare ribs. Baby backs might be a bit shorter. Just make sure the meat is starting to pull back from the end of the bones before saucing and you should be good.

Not much help on trimming the brisket. Bought mine trimmed at Sam's. for the rub, I used one WTS suggested that was pretty darned good.

3/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup coarse black pepper
1/4 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp chilli powder
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp onion powder
2 tsp cayenne

Pork butt is pretty close to doing brisket. I think even a bit easier. Covered mine with CYM and a rub, then cooked it about like a brisket. Smoked 4 hours, then boated with a splash of AJ overnight. In the morning it was at 203 which was a bit higher than my target of 195. But I FTC'ed for 2 hours and it was juicy and falling apart good.
HawkeyeSmokes

westexasmoker

Deg,  Welcome to the forum!

I think the other members have got ya set!

As far as rub goes you don't have to go with anything more than salt and pepper (the more pepper the better IMHO).  Don't to get to carried away trimming, its better to have too much of a fat cap than too little.  I don't add any juice to the pan for the cook anymore, keep the fat cap on top and you'll have plenty.  Drain the juice off before your FTC, even if its kept in the turned off oven or your microwave, this will let what juices remain to draw back into the meat!  Good luck, can't wait to hear the outcome!  Oh yeah.....use mesquite!   ;D  (I have to say that)!

C
Its amazing what one can accomplish when one doesn't know what one can't do!

oakville smoker

I have had my smoker 3 weeks now.
So far:

Pork loin
3 loads of ribs
Chicken drums
Whole chickens
Pork chops
Briskett

I have a butt ready to go this weekend for pulled pork.  I am going to cold smoke some steak for the weekend.  I make my own rubs. I call it them whatever falls out of the cupboard rub.

I love this thing.  I will be joining smokers anonymys.
Hi my name is Rick and I am a smoke a holic.....

Get the thing.  Season it.  Start smokin.  Keep smokin.
All I wanted to do was slow smoke some ribs.  Another addiction created thanks to the Bradley that requires regular servicing...  But what an addiction to have.  Even better to share here with some of the best people on the planet.

Would you like smoke with that sir ?