Newie questions

[Bradjun1]

I am new to the BS and also to this forum. I have a few questions. Can anything other than bisquettes be use in the BS? Does the water pan add moisture to the meat? How hot should it get in my smoker with the slide all the way up? 70degrees outside.Any help is appreciated

BNJ

[Chez Bubba]

Brad,

1. For the most part no and although some have tried, realized it was not worth the effort.

2. Very little, not like a Brinkman.

3. It depends a lot on how much meat you have in it. When I do 4 butts at a time, it never gets above 220. If I smoke-dry some romas I have to turn it down as it will go up to 250. When I seasoned it the first time with nothing in it, I shut it down at 285.

Some of this will vary smoker-to-smoker, but has a lot to do with the amount & density of the food you're cooking. Exterior conditions will also affect it.

What I've learned over the past 20 years of smoking is that <b>smoker</b> temperature is not nearly as important as <b>internal</b> temperature. You can't take that rule to the extremes, but don't panic if the box temp varies your plan by 20 degrees. Watch the IT.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[Bradjun1]

Kirk Thanks for the reply. I haven't smoked anything but tomorrow I'm going to try some ribs and maybe a chicken. <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Chez Bubba</i>
<br />Brad,

1. For the most part no and although some have tried, realized it was not worth the effort.

2. Very little, not like a Brinkman.

3. It depends a lot on how much meat you have in it. When I do 4 butts at a time, it never gets above 220. If I smoke-dry some romas I have to turn it down as it will go up to 250. When I seasoned it the first time with nothing in it, I shut it down at 285.

Some of this will vary smoker-to-smoker, but has a lot to do with the amount & density of the food you're cooking. Exterior conditions will also affect it.

What I've learned over the past 20 years of smoking is that <b>smoker</b> temperature is not nearly as important as <b>internal</b> temperature. You can't take that rule to the extremes, but don't panic if the box temp varies your plan by 20 degrees. Watch the IT.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

BNJ

[JJC]

Hi Brad,

Welcome to the Forum!  Chez is spot-on with his advice.  As for trying ribs and chicken first, I would suggest the chicken as the very first thing you try.  Ribs are not necessarily the easiest thing to do in any smoker.  Other easy things are pulled pork and sausage.  Make sure you keep the damper open 1/4 -1/3 of the way, if not more.  Good luck!

John
Newton MA

[IKnowWood]

Brad

As is stated on this board all over, also know the cuts and quality of your meats and foods.  

And watch cooking different foods together.  For intance I prefer to use Misquite for Ribs (baby-backs especiallly) for the entire cook period but Chicken I prefer Hickory or Apple depending on what type of chicken cut (breast would be apple slant).  Short version is cook them seperate.  Also watch one food dripping on another, do it intentionally only.

And cook times variy based on internal temperature. Baby-backs are done in three to four hours and a whole chicken may be more or less. And remember that smoke times are different than cook times in many cases. You CAN add to much smoke, its very easy to make that mistake.

Trust us, its not that complicated.


The Medina's in Maryland's Eastern Shore