Hi all,
Recently picked up a 4 rack digital smoker, and i have a few questions being i'm new at this, and have little/no idea what i'm doing
1. Should i be filling the briquette stack up? (seems the briquettes don't advance unless they've got weight on them)
2. Are there any issues with smoking a chicken on it's back and not standing up? (I plan to smoke 4 chickens soon, and i don't think there's enough space to stand them up)
3. Should anything be touching the sidewalls when smoking or is that something i should make sure never happens?
Welcome.
1 -- Weight has nothing to do with it. Put in the number of pucks you need plus 2. (Or, instead of 2 extra, get some blanks like 'bubba pucks'.)
2 -- The only issues I can think of with not standing up the chickens are possible sticking to racks and liquid (fat) accumulating in the cavity and spilling on you when you take it out. Consider cutting the birds open (spatchcocking) for more even cooking.
3 -- Meat should never touch the back wall due to risk of fat running onto the element and igniting. I avoid contact with all walls, though, because they get kinda gross.
welcome aboard.
1) use the number of pucks desired .. no more then 12 to smoke + 2 to get all onto the burner,,, bubba pucks are a good investment ( aluminium puck saver )
2) I believe standing up would be the preferred method using a beer can type of stand, just because of the juices that would seep into the cavity of the bird during the smoke , between the juices and smoke create a horrible tasting bird.
3) no food should ever touch the walls, this will lead to fires if the grease gets onto the element ot contamination of foods from the creosote or other issues that are on the inter walls of the smoker.
4) also keep your top vent wide open at all times,,
5) enjoy