First Time Smoker

Turkeyman · April 29, 2006, 02:56:30 AM

I live in wisconsin so I should proably leave it on. Well I just put the pork butt on I will post how it turns out thanks for everyones help.

Turkeyman · April 30, 2006, 05:08:06 AM

Well my pulled pork turned out AWESOME I could not believe how good the flavor was and how moist it was everyone just loved it. It took about 12 hours then I did the FTC for 1.5 Hrs man was that good. I just could not belive how good it was for my first time smoking. That would not have happened with out all the help from you guys. This smoker is really awesome the temp held pretty steady for the whole 12 Hrs between 210 & 215 just very easy to use. Now I am hooked lookout Baby Backs are next.

Thanks again for the help.
Scott

begolf25 · April 30, 2006, 05:22:27 AM

Glad everything came out good for you Scott. I just started smoking with my Bradley a few months ago and you are right, its easy to get hooked! This is the place to be for help, these guys all know what they are talking about.

Bryan

MallardWacker · May 01, 2006, 06:33:42 AM

Good job Turkey of Man...butts are a great thing to start off on...now just be a little patient with ribs. I think BigSmoker put it this way..."Ribs are an adventure"

icerat4 · May 01, 2006, 09:57:49 AM

I have to agree with mallard.But this weekend i sprayed apple juice in between hours.And man what a differnce.Very very very nice man that made a world of a differnce. ;D They were the best ones yet.So keep that in mined turkey.

iceman · May 01, 2006, 01:09:21 PM

I knew you'd like the juice thing once you tried it Rat. I was suprised way back when I first tried it with ribs.

Quote from: icerat4 on May 01, 2006, 09:57:49 AM
I have to agree with mallard.But this weekend i sprayed apple juice in between hours.And man what a differnce.Very very very nice man that made a world of a differnce. ;D They were the best ones yet.So keep that in mined turkey.

begolf25 · May 01, 2006, 03:47:10 PM

Quote from: iceman on May 01, 2006, 01:09:21 PM
I knew you'd like the juice thing once you tried it Rat. I was suprised way back when I first tried it with ribs

Iceman,

How often do you spray your ribs when smoking? Do you take them all the way out of the BS or just spray them down inside the smoker? Do you use 100% juice of some type of mixture?

Thanks,

Bryan

iceman · May 01, 2006, 04:52:39 PM

Hi begolf25;
I usually spritz the ribs twice during the last part of smoking then just before putting them in FTC. Make sure your ribs are about done smoking BEFORE spritzing with juice or they won't take smoke very good. I mix a bit of beer with my juice to give the taste buds a small suprise tingle. I smoke my ribs meat side up. It just seems that the fat and juices flow through the meat better that way. Just my opinion. I don't use a Bradley smoker, just the generators on my smokers. They are big enough and set up for leaving the racks in while spraying a light mist on them. If I was using a Bradley I think I would slide the racks out then spray and pop them back in to keep the mess down. This WILL mess with your cooking time though so keep that in mind. Ann likes hers pulled a little early then sauced up and grilled for a few minutes. I like mine right out of FTC with sauce on the side for dipping then over the lips and into my belly. Hope this helps out.

Louis · May 12, 2006, 04:39:23 PM

Excuse my ignorance, what does FTC mean?

gary_CO · May 12, 2006, 07:31:06 PM

FTC:

Foil - the item(s) when they reach your target internal temp.
Towel - wrapped around the item to help slow down heat loss, and more importantly to keep cooler interiors from cracking due to excessive heat.
Cooler - Place and leave item in a cheap/old cooler for awhile. The longer the better, up to 4 or so hours.

The maintaining of the heat does wonders. It sounds so simple, you'd think yea, whatever. But it does make a huge difference. Give it a try. I have an old Omaha Steaks shipping cooler I use. Things like brisket and butts really shine when you go thru this routine. And I think it helps in being able to start something ahead of schedule, and the 4+ hrs of FTC gives you some beer drinking time with friends instead of frantically scrambling around trying to synch finish time w/ with what the crowd is expecting :]

I guess the theory behind this is that connective tissue starts breaking down at the end of your target temps. When you go thru a very slooow cooling down process, you give the food a longer time to have the fatty chewy stuff rendered into a gelatin type material that's tasty and moistens the meat.

Damn, now I'm hungry...

IKnowWood · May 12, 2006, 08:59:50 PM

Dude!

I want ribs again. Guess that has to be next weekend. Still got some Goose Bay Company rub and sauce. Might need more sauce soon....

the Apple Sauce and Beer is a twist I have not tried yet. What kind of Beer Patrick. Amber Pale Ale, Stout, IPA? Does it make a diff.

Louis · May 13, 2006, 01:25:57 PM

Quote from: gary_CO on May 12, 2006, 07:31:06 PM
FTC:

Foil - the item(s) when they reach your target internal temp.
Towel - wrapped around the item to help slow down heat loss, and more importantly to keep cooler interiors from cracking due to excessive heat.
Cooler - Place and leave item in a cheap/old cooler for awhile. The longer the better, up to 4 or so hours.

The maintaining of the heat does wonders. It sounds so simple, you'd think yea, whatever. But it does make a huge difference. Give it a try. I have an old Omaha Steaks shipping cooler I use. Things like brisket and butts really shine when you go thru this routine. And I think it helps in being able to start something ahead of schedule, and the 4+ hrs of FTC gives you some beer drinking time with friends instead of frantically scrambling around trying to synch finish time w/ with what the crowd is expecting :]

I guess the theory behind this is that connective tissue starts breaking down at the end of your target temps. When you go thru a very slooow cooling down process, you give the food a longer time to have the fatty chewy stuff rendered into a gelatin type material that's tasty and moistens the meat.

Damn, now I'm hungry...

Thanks very much!

MallardWacker · May 14, 2006, 07:26:02 AM

Louis,

FTC...

Really it's a method to insure doness and enhancing the flavoring. Especially with butts, if you want them to be pull able, this will almost guarantee it, I also use this on my briskets with excellent results. Another thing is the ability to get your end product keep it's moisture.

This is how I FTC.

I pull my meat when it gets to my desired internal temp. Double wrap in foil and before I seal it up I put a splash or two of apple juice. I get a couple old beach towels and wrap again and then place in a room temp cooler. I normally do this for two hours, it will keep your butts blazing hot up to five hours with no problem. I do not do a butt with doing this...I just make sure to add this step to the total cooking time. IT DOES MAKE A BIG DIFFERANCE. When you serve this, you will, for a breif moment of time you will be king of butts and they will ask you how you made such a good piece of meat, I would tell them everything except this step...

begolf25 · May 15, 2006, 06:41:50 PM

Did some baby backs this weekend and sprayed with apple juice as iceman suggested and they were my best batch yet by far. I usually slather them with mustard before putting on my rub but this time I covered them in grape jelly before adding the rub and I think that added a little something also. Thanks for the help Pat!

Bryan