New Too

jammit · June 05, 2010, 07:26:41 AM

Hi all,
Just bought a DBS, seasoned it this morning and gonna do my 1st smoke. have been reading your post for about 3 wks and have learned a lot. I'm doing ribs, chicken drumsticks and turkey parts. I read one post that said when doing chicken you should put it on the bottom rack to avoid dripping on the other meat. Since my daughter and her boyfriend don't eat pork, I had to put it on top to prevent the pork dripping on the chicken. Hope the heat will kill any threat of contamination. What do you all think?

ArnieM · June 05, 2010, 08:03:29 AM

Not an easy combo. The ribs will probably go for 6 hours.

You can put a disposable foil pan under the ribs. That will keep the grease off the other stuff and can make for some good gravy.

Good luck.

ArnieM · June 05, 2010, 08:04:12 AM

Sorry that was very impolite of me. WELCOME to the forum!

jammit · June 05, 2010, 08:49:32 AM

Thanks ArnieM.
I'll have to try that the next time cause the DBS is full to the max. I'll let you know how it turns out.

ArnieM · June 05, 2010, 08:58:17 AM

Quote from: jammit on June 05, 2010, 08:49:32 AM
Thanks ArnieM.
I'll have to try that the next time cause the DBS is full to the max. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Please do. And, we like pics.

jammit · June 05, 2010, 10:12:20 AM

oh oh! Smoked meat for 3hrs and chicken, ribs and turkey are only slightly brown around edges. Some not at all. I added 3 more briquettes to smoke for another hr. Could the DBS be too packed? I have 3 slabs of ribs around 25 chicken drumsticks. 3 turkey legs and 3 turkey wings. ???

Quarlow · June 05, 2010, 10:19:36 AM

emmm I think I would refrain from 4 hrs of smoke till you get to know how you like it. The smoke from a bradley is pretty strong. Don't worry about the color, it will be plenty smokey enough. Make sure you have your vent open too. With that load of chicken I would have it wide open. Welcome to the forum.

jammit · June 05, 2010, 10:50:11 AM

Thanks Quarlow. Turned off smoker and opened vent all the way. Could the IT be off? It was fluctuating between 216 and 225.

FLBentRider · June 05, 2010, 10:51:29 AM

W E L C O M E to the Forum jammit!

classicrockgriller · June 05, 2010, 11:24:28 AM

Welcome to the Forum!

With Chicken, vent wide open and cabinet temp 240 to 250.

If you are monitoring the temp at the lower rib rack then your chicken is probably only getting 200* degree heat.

Quarlow · June 05, 2010, 11:27:27 AM

If you are using the door thermo to gauge the temps inside it is not very good really. You should have a probe type thermo, well you really should have 2 or on with 2 probes like the Maverick ET-73 so you can monitor cab temp and IT of the meat. I like to put 2 paperclips under the lowest rack of food and then slide the probe into the clips so you get a good rep as to what the food is getting for temps. Of course you need to move the probe around as you rotate the racks. As for the vent the rule of thum is "keep it 1/4 to 1/2 open at all times and wide open for poultry".

jammit · June 05, 2010, 11:33:59 AM

Thanks FLBentRider. glad 2 B here.

jammit · June 05, 2010, 12:27:46 PM

Thanks for the help guys.

Habanero Smoker · June 05, 2010, 01:11:13 PM

Hi jammit,

Welcome to the forum.

I have a similar situation and I load my Bradley like you do. If I am smoking/cooking chicken, beef and ribs at the same time that is the way I load. The only time you need to worry about cross contamination if the meats are raw, or if you believe the food below the chicken will finish first. Chicken parts cook fairly fast so there should be any issues.

jammit · June 05, 2010, 01:40:56 PM

Thanks for the input Habanero Smoker,
Do you have the same problem I had where the ribs took longer than 6 hrs to cook when loaded to the max? mine are on the 7th hr and still a little stiff. I left the chicken and turkey in the smoker (heat only) for about 4hrs than transferred to the oven for an hr .Haven't tasted them yet but they look great,