Suggest something simple

sparkplug · December 08, 2006, 02:54:20 AM

Hello to you all from a newbie!

Well I got my BS original yesterday and it's been duly seasoned.

Obviously I'm excited and impatient to try to cook something with it now. I'm thinking of something like ribs or a pork chop with a mustard and honey marinade which doesn't require days of brining or curing and probably only a couple of hours smoking.

I realised that I can't have been the first in this situation and so I thought I'd bow to the collective experience here and humbly ask you what has worked well for you.

I hungrily await your responses ;D

manxman · December 08, 2006, 04:25:18 AM

My suggestion would be ribs whilst other people often suggest chicken, have a look at the recipes here which include chicken, ribs and pork chops and I am sure you will find something quite simple to get you started.

http://susan.rminor.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180

Have fun. ;)

Wildcat · December 08, 2006, 04:46:42 AM

I have not had my smoker very long and my first 3 smokes were chicken wings and thighs, then a boneless leg of lamb, and then ribs. All were realively easy and turned out pretty good. The leg of lamb was the best of the first 3 smokes. The ribs would have been, but I had to take them out too soon so they were not as tender as they should have been. It was still better than most eateries. You will be amazed at how easy it is to use the Bradley. Keep in mind that you must have patience (beer helps) and let the Bradley do all the work. She cooks slow but turns out an excellent product if you do not rush her. Just give her the reins and enjoy.

sparkplug · December 08, 2006, 05:26:03 AM

Quote from: manxman on December 08, 2006, 04:25:18 AM
My suggestion would be ribs whilst other people often suggest chicken, have a look at the recipes here which include chicken, ribs and pork chops and I am sure you will find something quite simple to get you started.

http://susan.rminor.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180

Have fun. ;)

Oh! Thanks again manxman - I'm again ashamed to find a forum entitled "what to smoke the first time with your Bradley unit" more browsing and fewer questions in future I promise ::)

I've done chicken and ribs before in a hot smoker so perhaps I'll go for one or other of these just to get a feel for how to control temperature and smoke flow. I may just go to the butcher and see what looks the nicest...

manxman · December 08, 2006, 06:01:40 AM

Quotemore browsing and fewer questions in future I promise

Not a problem sparkplug, questions always welcome. The other point is that the search facility is not very good and it is often easier and quicker just to post the query even if it has been asked before. :)

LilSmoker · December 08, 2006, 09:48:09 AM

Probably one of the easiest things to smoke, just to get you off the mark has to be chickens, you can use a rub on them, and they will come out very moist and tasty. Chickens are even better if you brine them, but they'll still be great without the brine.
My first smoke was chicken and ribs, i put them in together, i took the chickens out at the 4 hour mark, i changed the water in the BS, and left the ribs in for another 90 minutes, then i FTC'd them for about 2 hours, they were awsome!.
icerat4 kindly gave me some pointers with the ribs, which i followed, so the credit for them goes to him ;)

manxman · December 08, 2006, 11:31:46 AM

A few of us have signed up for this course starting next year to be run through the UK Bradley smoker importer, might be of some use and a bit of fun.

http://www.foodsmoker.co.uk/workshop.htm

sparkplug · December 10, 2006, 12:04:51 AM

LilSmoker - forgive my ignorance but what is FTC ??? I can see there's lots of new terminology and abbreviations for me to get used to. I'm still sniggering like a schoolboy at the BS abbreviation. People have always said I was a BSer and now I can honestly say I am :D :o ;D - I'm sure that joke's been done to death here, sorry!

Manxman - thanks for the pointer. I actually ordered my BS from them and they mentioned the workshop to me which I duly signed up for. Can't fault them for service, very helpful on the phone (which was answered promptly) and the goods were delivered exactly when they said they would be.

I have to say my welcome to the world of BS has been very good from both retailers and users. I think I'm going to like it here.

Arcs_n_Sparks · December 10, 2006, 05:16:27 AM

sparkplug,

FTC is Foil, Towel, Cooler. Wrap the meat in foil, wrap that in a towel, then let it sit in a cooler for awhile.

I am still advocating that FTC stands for Follow The Chicks, or Fill The Cup, but don't seem to gain any tractions with those :D :D :D

Arcs_n_Sparks

sparkplug · December 12, 2006, 12:52:13 AM

Thanks to all for suggestions made.

The first attempt was made yesterday in the form of two racks of ribs.

I'll post my first impressions in the hope that any newbies or potential buyers will glean something from my experience.

So what did I do?

Simple salt and pepper rub on the meat - nothing too fancy to start with.

I was really impressed with how stable the temperature and how regular the smoke was. This truly is an easy unit to use with more control than I would have believed possible.

My observations were:

1) I've only ever hot smoked in a Meco charcoal smoker

and that's my benchmark.

2) The BS was infinitely easier and quicker to set up and use. No chopping and soaking wood the night before. No lighting fires and waiting for an hour for it to burn down...

3) The BS didn't penetrate the meat as much as the Meco. I presume this is something to do with the way the hot water in the Meco carries the smoke particles. That said, the smoke was much more controllable on the BS and it imparted a much more subtle flavour. I started with Alder and think that I may repeat the experiment with something stronger next time, although I am tempted to make a honey glaze and add that to the Alder smoked ribs (didn't manage to finish both racks in one sitting :) ) in a conventional oven.

4) I've always added some fresh herbs to the charcoal fire in the Meco (usually rosemary or bay from the garden) and I realised I missed this ritual on the BS. I'll have to figure out a way of doing this ;)

5) I've learned I need to keep an eye on the water level in the bowl as it was a lot lower than I would have expected for a 3 hour smoke.

So overall for a first smoke I'm quite pleased. I'm very happy with the way the BS performed and have a good starting point to improve on in terms of flavour.

The next thing I need to figure out is which beer to drink while the unit is smoking. It needs to have enough flavour that you can taste it, even after a faceful of smoke, but shouldn't be too strong in terms of alcohol or I might forget to take the food out after several hours smoking... :D

manxman · December 12, 2006, 01:00:54 AM

QuoteThe next thing I need to figure out is which beer to drink while the unit is smoking. It needs to have enough flavour that you can taste it, even after a faceful of smoke, but shouldn't be too strong in terms of alcohol or I might forget to take the food out after several hours smoking...

Sounds like your learning VERY fast sparkplug!! ;D ;D ;D

Looks like you have also set yourself a good baseline from which to work, my previous smoker was a Brinkman water smoker and the difference between that and the BS is like chalk and cheese. ;)

Habanero Smoker · December 12, 2006, 02:52:49 AM

Glad to hear about your success. I used to use a Meco. Mine was green, and at times I miss it. I may purchase another charcoal burning smoker in the future to use on special occasions.

I believe it is the lack of the charcoal flavor, not so much as the smoke flavor that you are missing. I've tried using herbs, different liquids in the water pan of the BS, but I have not been successful in infusing those flavors into the meat, but that is me. I may not be picking up the flavors.

iceman · December 12, 2006, 09:38:50 AM

Glad things worked out sparkplug. Plese do keep us posted on the flavor infusion quest. ;)

manxman · December 12, 2006, 02:18:03 PM

QuoteSimple salt and pepper rub on the meat - nothing too fancy to start with.

There are some great rubs out there but very often it is hard to beat salt and pepper and just let the meat do the talking IMHO! :)

iceman · December 12, 2006, 02:35:42 PM

Quote from: manxman on December 12, 2006, 02:18:03 PM
There are some great rubs out there but very often it is hard to beat salt and pepper and just let the meat do the talking IMHO! :)

I can't dispute that at all. Hmmm.... I smell a big ole rib eye coming my way tonight. Now if I could just get Old's to send me his turbo grill ::) ;D :D.