Newbie looking for advice

[terryrichards]

Hello everyone, looking for some advice. First after you smoke a turkey, do you leave the skin on or remove it. I used to buy these smoked turkeys from Sam's Club and they were real good but you had to remove the skin first because it was bitter and ruined the taste of the bird. Second on ribs everyone says to remove the membrane, is there an easy way of doing this?? I have tried a couple of times and finally said screw it after fighting it. Third Beef ribs, I used to boil mine for an hour or two to get the fat off of them then through them on the grill. any suggestions?? And last for now, has anyone had both the original and the digital BS?? I am planning on purchasing a BS in the next week or two but after reading all of the different posts my head is spinning on which is better. They both have their ups and downs but has anyone used both of them and is the digital worth the money??

Any info would greatly appreciated, I have spent hours sitting here reading posts getting ideas, getting hungry, wiping the drool off of the keyboard.

Thanks,

Terry Richards
Lincoln, NE

[Habanero Smoker]

I find that as long as you keep the smoke down around to 3 - 4 hours, the smoke flavor on turkey is excellent. Now you may find the texture of the skin is not crisp, but soft. At times, if you are not careful it can come out leathery. Some do not like the texture of the skin, so they will remove it after it is fully cooked. So far I have left the skin on all the turkeys I have smoked.

To remove the membrane on ribs, start at a corner. Use a knife the separate a large enough piece of the membrane away from the ribs, so that you can grip it. Using a paper towel, which will help your grip, grasp the membrane and pull it away from the ribs at an angle. If you are lucky, it will come off in one piece. If not, repeat the procedure.

I can't help you with the other two questions.

[Oldman]

I believe icerat4 has both.

[iceman]

Hi Terry;
icerat has had both smokers. IMO I like the original but your going to find each of us has an opinion as to which is more suitable to us.
Hab is right about keeping the smoke time down so you don't turn the skin into some bitter tasting tar paper. I like to keep it on and finish the bird off in a hot oven to crisp up the skin.
As far as the beef ribs go, PLEASE DO NOT BOIL THEM prior to smoking. If you ever tasted the water after you boil them you will realize you just made beef stock and sucked most of the flavor out of the ribs before you even smoked them. Cooking the ribs with the fat on lets it render through and makes them nice and juicy. Just my thoughts. :) Oh BTW welcome to the forum friend. ;)

[terryrichards]

Iceman,

Any reccomendations on the Beef ribs for temp, flavor, and smoke times and cook times?

I can't wait to do some beef ribs but I also don't want my wife to complain that there is to much fat on them.

Then again I can't wait to do anything in the smoker. I am leaning toward the BS original.

Also I have read in several posts about  FTC into a preheated cooler what is the best wat to pre-heat the cooler? Through some bricks on the grill, and put them in the cooler?

One other thing how do you keep from gaining 20 lbs from eating all of this good food?


Terry

[iceman]

Iceman,

Any reccomendations on the Beef ribs for temp, flavor, and smoke times and cook times?

I can't wait to do some beef ribs but I also don't want my wife to complain that there is to much fat on them.

Then again I can't wait to do anything in the smoker. I am leaning toward the BS original.

Also I have read in several posts about  FTC into a preheated cooler what is the best wat to pre-heat the cooler? Through some bricks on the grill, and put them in the cooler?

One other thing how do you keep from gaining 20 lbs from eating all of this good food?


Terry

Man Terry I don't know where to begin on the beef rib subject.
For starters I like to have the butcher keep alot of meat on my ribs. The stuff you get at most grocery stores is a rip off.
I like so many different spices it's hard to give suggestions. Stick with pepper, salt, garlic, etc. basics and don't over do it. You want the natural taste of the meat to come through. Oak, Hickory are good starters.
I smoke just about everything around 200F to 210F.
I put a drip pan under the ribs to catch the drippings. After smoking and getting close to my target temp I foil them up and FTC them.
The easiest way to heat the cooler up is with some hot water off the stove. Not to hot though. You'll deform the cooler if it's to hot.
Now save those fatty drippings for the next step that I do.
After an hour or two of FTC, just before serving I make sure I have a medium hot grill going.
I then take the ribs out of the cooler and toss them on the grill. Baste with some of the drippings while turning frequently to get some good crunchy bits on them.
You can then slather some sauce on if you want or serve some on the side.
I don't even use sauce on them but to each his own.
Some skip the grill part all together but I like the added step of flavor from it.
As far as keeping the weight off well that's a whole different baby! Metabolism of a jack rabbit sure helps. :D
Hope this is a start for you. I'm sure the rest of the folks will kick in some good ideas for you soon.

[terryrichards]

So ballpark how long on the ribs for time in the smoker? I'm with you as far as the regular grocery store being a rip off. They cut off almost all of the meat. I like your idea about throughing them back on the grill, I like mine with a bit of crunch also.

As far as Metabolism of a jack rabbit goes, that went south when I quit smoking 8 years ago.

Thanks,

TR

[iceman]

If memory serves correct (and amount of ribs also) it was it the smoker 4 to 6 hours at about 210F. Smoked for 2 1/2 to 3 hours then just cooked in the smoker. It's a starting point anyhow. ;)

[icerat4]

Sorry im late terry welcome here.Go orignial IMO.I dont like bling bling so .Old school smoking with 2 originals and na da problem.