I just got my new BS for Christmas, and not only new to the BS but this is a whole new venture for me as far as smoking. My wife and I, which got me the BS for Christmas, love smoked meats, actually it is probably my favorite. But anyways I have now seasoned it and ready to get started and have been looking on here for most of the day and kind of searched for a few things, but what I didnt find and I am confused about is the brining and curing, as far as can I just not stick some meat in there and eat it when its done if its not going to sit around after cooking[?]I hope this is not a stupid ? I an just overwelhemed with the info on here, thanks
To be quite honest, I am now after reading this forum all day more confused than I was before I wanted and/or got the BS. Sounds a lot harder than I thought.
first let me say welcome to the forum. dont be confused or think that your asking a dumb ? brining and curing will be level 3 for you lets work on level 1 , think of your smoker as a low (temp) and slow bbq, tell us what is the first thing you want to cook and we will walk you threw it step by step. and then we will work on the next thing you want to smoke ok.
Well I dont have a perfance what ever is easist. But I do have some wild turkey breast sliced thin 1/4" in the refer, that could be cooked now but so I here that is very hard so I am open to easy first time smoking sug. And thanks for the welcome it seems everybody is so nice and helpful on here and that is great.
ok the turkey breast that is sliced at 1/4 inch you could turn that into turkey jerky, get you some chicken breast throw on some salt and peper or if you have a favorit rub then wrap each one with bacon. turn on smoker and smoke gen.add water to bowl , slide the temp about 3/4 to the right . open the vent 1/4 open, wait about 1/2 an hour put chicken on the second shelf from botom, smoke for 2 hours that is 6 pucks but add 2 more , the last 2 wont burn , load up 8 pucks then hit the adavance button wait for one to drop then do that 2 more times, come back in about 3 hours and check the breast int temp of 150 wrap in foil for about 30 min and you are ready to eat your first meal.
Loyde
Rob suggested an easy first start. Some items to consider simply next is to get a probe internal tempurature tester, remote or not. The remote is easier to deal with.
Reduce the fear, each use will make things much easier and the exitment goes up. Let us know how it goes.
The Medina's in Maryland's Eastern Shore
I too received a BS as a Xmas gift from my wife.
I succeded in smoking my first 2 chickens today. These were
the best smoked chicken I've had yet. No bitter taste as
was usual with the old smoker.
Does anyone have any tips on how to reduce clean up time?
Especially with the vented drip pan. I've had to soak that
puppy for about 2 hours.
Luv that BS.[8D]
Ash welcome to the forum [:D] , the v-drip pan it can be a pain in the but, i will spray with pam just the top of it dont worry about the bottom. once i pull the meat i will hose off the v-drip pan with a hose , that helps , another option is oven off cleaner works well, DONT use it on the flat drip pan.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by cinchup</i>
<br />Well I dont have a perfance what ever is easist. But I do have some wild turkey breast sliced thin 1/4" in the refer, that could be cooked now but so I here that is very hard so I am open to easy first time smoking sug. And thanks for the welcome it seems everybody is so nice and helpful on here and that is great.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Welcome, Loyde! You'll be a pro in no time as long as you don't mind trusting your BS and asking us a lot of questions ahead of time.
Besides chicken breasts and whole chickens, smoking a Boston butt to make pulled pork is also really easy and tastes great. When you're ready, give a shout and one of us can walk you through it.
John
Newton MA
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ash</i>
<br />I too received a BS as a Xmas gift from my wife.
I succeded in smoking my first 2 chickens today. These were
the best smoked chicken I've had yet. No bitter taste as
was usual with the old smoker.
Does anyone have any tips on how to reduce clean up time?
Especially with the vented drip pan. I've had to soak that
puppy for about 2 hours.
Luv that BS.[8D]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Welcome, Ash . . . usually you get great advice from the folks on the Forum, but in your case I'm not sure what these other wise guys are talking about . . . why use liquid of any kind on the drip tray? [:D][:D][:D]
Seriously, I spray with Pam and just do a quick soak/rinse/scrape afterwards. As long as the slots are open to let smoke through I don't really care if it's not shiny or clean--it adds character to the next smoke . . .
John
Newton MA
Thanks for the advice. Oh so helpful. I'll try these today
while I'm smoking the Salmon the I've had dry curing for the
last day.
I think I'll try the boston butt & ribs for New Years.
Keep on smoking!
Ash
I have it down on the v-tray now. High-Temp Pam all over, top, bottom, sides. I do the bottom as the crustees go thru the slots and can fill them, as well as the center drip hole.
When I am done, I put it in the sink and rub it with a scrubbing pad - Brillo only if I think it needs it. Only spend a few minutes to focus on the black areas ONLY. The high-temp Pam allows those to mostly just wipe off. Then I Pop-it in the dishwasher with all the other items. The v-pan is the ONLY item I scrubb. After the wash cycle, I look at the v-pan. If it has some crustees still, like the sides. I just use a paper towel or the scrubb pad and wipe it off. Its as good as new.
The only other area that really needs attention are:
Bisquette slide and heat element. You need to scrubb the black crust off to prevent any hesitation in the advance slide operation. I use a light sanding pad when needed.
Then its the periodic magnetic seal wipe and under the vent cleaning.
On the Pulled Pork and ribs. carefull doing them at the same time. You want to limit opening the cabinet when doing pulled pork. Just because heat up after opening takes a real long time.
The Medina's in Maryland's Eastern Shore
Thanks for the help, it's good to keep the maintenance up at the beginning to minimize problems later.
I'll Probably do the ribs the day before, cuz I'll finish them up over a charcoal roast with sauce. I'm looking forward to the pulled pork. It sounds like the perfect weapon against my neighbors Argentine Asado I'm subjected to at every holiday BBQ.
Cheers
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><font size="2">Bisquette slide and heat element. You need to scrubb the black crust off to prevent any hesitation in the advance slide operation</font id="size2"><hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Before I got the Bubba pucks I used a fiber wheel on a drill. Since then I use 3 Bubba pucks and the plate will burn it self rather cleanly.
Olds
(http://www.susanminor.org/Rayeimages/gif/Launch47.gif)
Ash--while BB is really easy, ribs take some experience to get "just right", though they should be at least very good even the first time you try. Do a search for ribs so you can see what other folks have done--you'll save yourself time and trouble!
John
Newton MA
Ash... DRIP PAN CLEAN UP! Soak over night in wash tub ( or kitchen sink if your wife will let you) with 8oz of OXY CLEAN DETERGENT.Rinse with hot water. The rest of the CRUD will come off with no trouble!
Brother Bill
I like the idea of Oxy Clean. Anything to reduce the toxic chemical
factor makes me feel better.
Thanks for the advice on the ribs. I've been using my weber kettle
grill to smoke them for the last couple of years. These worked well,
but I had trouble keeping the temp low & cooking too fast.[:(!]
Speaking of temp. I've been smoking salmon all day and have realized the effects of ambient temp are more than I'd thought. Had trouble keeping the temp low ~120 F. Ambient high temp was ~75 F, but now temp is dropping ~ 5 deg hour and I'm having trouble raising temp to
170.
I had to resort to icing the bowl earlier in the day. Now I'm crankin up the tower. I'm suprised at how insensitive the slider control on the tower seems. Oh well still beats the old smoker method, its all part of the learning process.
Cheers
What the heck is in Oxy Clean? I'm sure into the organics and biodegradable stuff if it works. I'm not a tree hugger but if it helps Mom Nature I'll try it.
Big or small you can smoke'm all!!!
Two minutes with my ever handy electric pressure washer and the drip pan looks brand new without a toxic spill.[:)]
thanks guys for all the support sorry I havent replied sooner, just havent been on the pc. I am for sure going to try this weekend for the holiday, and easiest is better, but if its like rob said "its like a low temp bbq" and all I have to do is season the meat and cook then I can do that, or I think so. But any suggestions on a simple easy first cook is welcome.
Do the chicken breast thing that Rob mentions because its easy and relatively "quick". Then try a Boston Butt. There are lots of ways to enhance the recipe below, but this is about as simple as it gets:
1) buy a Boston Butt at your local butcher or market, preferably with a decent layer of fat on one side
2) rub generously with your favorite rub and put in fridge overnite in a plastic baggie or wrapped in plastic wrap; if you don't have time to do it overnite, do it for as long as you can; if you don't have any time (or even any rub) at all, don't worry--just go right to step 4 and it will still be excellent, just not as excellent as it could be.
3) if possible, let it sit at room temp for 1-2 hr before putting in BS; if not possible, no problem--it will simply take a bit longer to cook
4) put in BS on second shelf from bottom, open damper about 1/3, and move temp slide about 3/4 way to right and smoke with hickory (pecan, oak, maple also work) for 4 hr.; watch cabinet temp and adjust slider to achieve/maintain a temp of about 210 (give or take 10-15 degrees); you might want to check the accuracy of your BS thermometer with a reliable oven thermometer that you can hang in the cabinet through the damper.
OPTIONAL: add a rack of sliced bacon (cheaper the better) above the BB to let the flavors drip onto the meat and keep it moist--you also end up with delicious bacon!
VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT (REALLY!!!): do NOT open door of BS to peek inside except as directed below--heat loss is a killer . . .
5) after 4 hr, open door and quickly add hot water to refill bowl; do this every 4 hr until meat is done
6) when meat reaches 190F internal temp (could be 8-24hr depending on how much meat you have in the smoker, cabinet temp, etc), remove and wrap in aluminum foil, adding about 1/4-1/2 cup apple juice; wrap in a large towel and place in a cooler for 2-6 hr. This is referred to as FTC and is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL for tenderness and good taste.
DO NOT panic if meat temp appears to be stuck around 165-175F for several hours. This is normal and is due to the heat energy going into breaking down the connective tissues in the meat. Rest assured the temp will eventually rise to the intended mark!
7) after FTC, pull and eat, then post your delicious success on Forum!
John
Newton MA
thanks jjc and everbody else I will probably try this weekend. Im going tomorrow to buy meat.
Oh quick ? on maybe a smaller size bb what rack should I cook it on? thanks
second shelf from bottom,
thank you sir
Well had a little change of plans but still smoked. Friday I smoked a couple #'s of cheese, smells good but havent tried it. Today I smoked some chicken fajtis and finished on the grill and itwas very good. And tonight I smoked some more cheese. I ended up "building" a cold smoke box that is working very well. I will try to post some pics tomorrow.
The great advice on this forum is almost overwhelming. I have been spending more time "reading" than "posting" the last few days. I'm new to the BS, but have been smoking for years. I've only ever used a homemade charcoal/wood barrel smoker/bbq. I'm getting more and more requests from hunting buddies to make their venison sausage etc. I'm looking forward to getting used to the BS and seeing how things turn out. The weather has been pretty cooperative up here in Manitoba so far this winter, but January is just starting! It's only the coldest month or two that usually gives me any grief. Otherwise the weather only adds a beer or two to my smoking time. I sure wish all the info here was available when I started out!
Happy New Year to you all!
Hi Al,
Glad the info here is useful to you. With all of your smoking experience, I'm sure you will have lots to ofer to the BSers. best wishes for a smokin' 2006--please don't hesitate to share you experiences with us.
John
Newton MA
cinchup, how did you do those chicken for Fajita?
I have done some london broil for various items. I do it simply.
trimmed London Broil.
sprinked Cayenne all over
sprinkled Chipotle all over
sprinkled Cilantro Leaves all over
dash of salt
dash of Oregano
Rub.
Smoke for 3 hours to about 140 degrees. FTC for 2 hours. Slice thin.
Then use for watever. Its very red in the middle and intensly juicy. To a low end Medium Rare.
It could be tossed on a Grill for a short time, warmed in some Au Jus, or warmed in some Chili sauce like I do it.
The Medina's in Maryland's Eastern Shore
sounds delish, Johnny!
John
Newton MA
Well I've done the butt. The BB that is.
You guys were definitely right about the FTC treatment. I smoked
about 14 lbs of pork in about 20 hrs. Got the smaller one to 190 and larger one to 185. Seems like there is a slight texture difference, with the smaller one being more gooey (better). Did the FTC for 6 hours while I slept. That had an amazing effect on the texture.
The results were out of this world. Will definitely be doing this one again.
So in the last 10 days I've tried Salmon,pork & chicken.
I have one chicken and loads of pork, however, nearly all the 3lbs of salmon are nearly gone. The local fish market is out of alaskan salmon for the near term, has anyone tried atlantic salmon? and was it on par with alaskan??
I can tell my wife is going to be on me to make more salmon soon.
cheers,
Ash
Thanks for the welcome John. I'm glad to be here. Looking forward to dropping by regularly.
Al
Ash, nothing is on a par with Alaskan salmon. However, farm-raised Atlantic salmon or steelhead is a very good second choice. Those of us on the East Coast rarely get to see Alaskan salmon in our local markets, so we console ourselves with the farm-raised stuff. Don't worry, it's a small sacrifice to make . . . [;)][:p]
John
Newton MA