I hope all is well. I just purchased a new digital smoker last night and did the seasoning as directed. It was really easy! I am going to start my first smoke tomorrow afternoon. I am going to do some ribs and chicken.
The representative at the store told me not to use more than 5 wood pucks per smoke because the smoke flavor would taste like liquid smoke. I was under assumption that you use 1 wood puck for each 20 minutes you smoke. So if you smoke for 5 hours you would use 17 wood pucks. 15 for the smoke and then the extra two to use to push the pucks out. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Let me know how many pucks you all use for 4, 5, 6 hour smokes?
Thanks,
W E L C O M E to the Forum hitd3!
I would start with the chicken. There is a pictorial on the recipe site for ribs. I highly recommend reading that first.
On the pucks, Most of us use at most 4 hours of smoke. 3 pucks per hour. I would start with 2 hours on your chicken and see how you like it.
Make sure you don't run the smoker with the vent closed.
For Chicken I usually only smoke for 2 hours. For beef I smoke up to 4 depending on who is eating. My Mom does not like as strong a smoke as I do for instance.
I think the issue that is confusing is that rarely will you smoke for the entire cooking time. I generally put the meats in and let go for an hour to dry the surface a little so the smoke takes better. (Smoke does not like to stick to wet things). Then I turn the smoke on for the first 2-4 hours. The rest of the time your smoker is playing the part of a low slow oven. You can can take your meat out after the smoke and put in an oven if you like.
Hope that made sense.
I agree with the others, you probably will never smoke longer than 4 hours (12 pucks + 2 pucks to push).
Chicken I would go for no more than 2 hours, six pucks. The rest of the time is cooking.
And you might want to consider buying a few Bubba pucks. They are metal discs the size of a puck. You put them on top of your wood pucks and they finish of leaving no wood pucks on the burner to turn to ash or combust.
Thanks for all the help... I am doing 2 racks of ribs tomorrow.. I have them in a rub and in the fridge. If I want them done at 5 pm this is what I have put together. Pull them out of the fridge at noon, turn on the oven part of the smoker to 225. Cook for an hour, add smoke for 2 hours, pull them off and wrap the ribs in foil and put back in for the final hour of smoke. Any suggestions would be great, thanks again.
I am also using a mop with a spray bottle to keep the ribs moist throughout the process.
Ribs are going to take somewhere around 6 hrs.
If you spray and mop ...... add 30 minutes every time you open the door.
If you want to eat at 5:00, start at 9:00 and if you finish a little early , you can FTC them for the remaining time.
BTW, welcome to the Forum.
hitd3;
Welcome to the forum.
What type of ribs are you making? Spare ribs will take a few hours longer then baby backs.
I am smoking baby backs, 2 racks (4 pounds). As I mentioned earlier, they are in the fridge and ready to smoke. If you all were smoking 2 racks what would you do? What temp? How many pucks? What shelf? How long? When do you know the ribs are ready?
Sorry for all the questions, I am def a rookie in training on the Bradley.
Thanks
Check this thread, it answers questions on ribs:
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?581-How-To-Make-Ribs-in-a-Bradley&p=920#post920
They were some of the best ribs I have ever had! They were a big success at my house. I smoked for 3 hours, wrapped them in foil And then put them back on for an hour.. The meat fell off the bone! I greatly appreciate everyone's help!
Thanks
I have learned the hard way. Only the Smoke and the meat knows when it is done. Try to force it to a schedule and you will loose everytime :) I always start early and either reheat in the oven or FTC and hold if it comes off early.
Steven