Hello from Pefferlaw,On.

[papajohn]

I have been the proud owner of a digital electric smoker for just over a year now. (I'm embarrased to say that it's not a Bradley) So far, last winter I managed to destroy 2 perfectly good whitefish ( a whole fish as well as 2 fillets) I don't think I cooked the whole fish long enough but yet it seemed to dry out even though I used a tray of water between the woodchips and the lower rack. The fillets seemed okay until we tried to eat them and the taste was disgusting. I soaked the fish in salted water overnight according to directions from a friend, then smoked the fish with hickory wood chips, but don't recall the timing in the smoker. I know that making mistakes is part of the learning experience, but the problem I am faced with now is, my wife advised me that we are having guests from out of town for dinner tomorrow evening and wants me to start the ribs in the smoker. Please, can anyone give me any pointers so we don't end up ordering from KFC ?
I am looking forward to learning a great deal fro this board, meeting new friends and sharing my success's as well as failures with everyone.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

[mikecorn.1]

Welcome aboard.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lumpy]

Welcome to the forum.
While you are ordering the KFC, order yourself a Bradley smoker. Not saying that they are the best (IMHO, I think they are) but we have no idea what kind of a smoker/process you have.
Could have been a moisture,temp,brine,smoke...etc. issue.

If you could post more info, that might help.........EH!

Lump

[ghost9mm]

Hello and welcome to a really great forum, here are a couple of links that may be of some help on this forum...

http://www.susanminor.org/

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?488-Answers-To-Bradley-Smoker-FAQ-s&p=766#post766

[ArnieM]

Hi Pefferlaw and welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear about the fish.  You didn't mention the temp in the smoker, certainly a factor.

You didn't say what you're doing with the ribs, if anything.  For "smoke only" with a finish elsewhere, I'd go for a few hours of hickory.  Then finish the cooking, sauce 'em if you like it.

Give us more info on your setup.

Beware:  I constantly experiment on company.   :-\

[papajohn]

Thanks for everyone's responses.

Lumpy, the reason I don't have a Bradley is that a very good hunting buddy gave me this smoker as a gift. It is a Masterbuilt
30" electric smoker (same as they have at BPS) At a neighbours suggestion, I doublechecked the units digital temperature using
my wife's temp probe and found it to be out by approx 3 degrees at 250. (The unit is cooler than the probe reading).
ArnieM,  My wife was hoping to finish the ribs in a tomato sauce in the oven (For tenderness and juiciness) but wanted the smokey flavour, so, I though about smoking them at a low temp for an hour or so, but she has enough ribs to fill the smoker. (Our dinner guests are the people who gave me the smoker as a gift) I think this qualifies my not ruining these ribs as an emergency. I could look at smoking recipes but I guess my past experience with the whitefish is haunting me.
The smoker is electric and the thermostat adjusts up to 275 deg. It is insulated with 4 racks, a side loading wood chip holder and a
drip pan that sits bewteen the lower rack and the woodchips. I have Hickory and Mequite wood chips. I guess I am looking for the best temp to use, how long in the smoker, and what type of chips to use. (I plan to do a lot more smoking of fresh caught fish this winter using info I find on this awesome site). I will appreciate any help you can give me and I promise to not hold anyone on this message board responsible for any mistakes I make.

[lumpy]

Or mistakes that we might make ;)

Again, welcome fellow Canuk!

[La Quinta]

I want one of those pizzas you are giving away every 46 seconds PapaJohn ;D

[Quarlow]

Welcome to the forum.

[beefmann]

welcome aboard

[FLBentRider]

Welcome!

Read this for some rib direction:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=10182.0

[slowpoke]

Email me for the best ribs you'll ever eat.221 recipe.