Any smokers here?

[Turner]

And I don't mean inhaling burning substances, but rather using a grill or smoker to cook food.

I'm in the just-getting-started phase myself. So share your recipes and/or experiences here. Looking for some ideas, nothing really specific.

This weekend I'm might smoke some pork butt steaks. Not too fond of this cut of pork. Too much fat for me. But I'm hoping smoking it will cause a lot of the fat to melt away, like slow cooking a pot roast does.

 

[Leatherneck]

Pit, grill, stack, slow, cold, hot, what kind of smoker? I've only been smoking meat since I was old enough to walk ... what you want to know?

How will you smoke, what will you smoke (Pork Butt ... which is actual the lower shoulder) and the type of smoker you will use. I need info ...

This is close to the smoker I use and I have a number of smaller ones.
(To lazy to upload a pic of mine ...)

 

[Turner]

Don't have a smoker, I have a PoS Grill that I've learned how to smoke on. Well, still learning. I'm not going to spend a lot of money on a smoker until I know what I'm doing. I have my eye on an offset smoker, but it's $200, and I don't want to make that kind of investment until I know what I'm doing. I might get one of those Brinkman smokers, the chimney type, if I can get one cheap enough. Sad part is, I had one many moons ago. Didn't know what I was doing, and ended up trading it for a weber that lasted me a few years.

I've smoked ribs, they turned out great. Did a beef roast last week. Didn't come out the way I wanted it too, but it was good. Grilled a shoulder a couple months ago, and that went horrible wrong, although I didn't realize that until now. At the time, it was okay.

I want to do some pork butt steaks, as opposed to a roast. Maybe another shoulder, although I wasn't too hip on the taste of it. Brisket, sausage... any kind of meat, really. Actually, any kind of food. I've been grilling veggies here lately, and they've turned out good. So I'm willing to try just about anything. I grill year round, even when it's below freezing outside. So I'm not really looking at just fooling around and doing a roast every so often, but start smoking more and more.

I've been using apple chips to add some flavor, and last weekend I bought some hickory logs and apple logs as well.

Anyways, I'm completely open on this. So anything you're willing to share, I'm willing to discuss.

Nice smoker, BTW. Sigh...maybe someday.

 

[Leatherneck]

I keep no secrets on smoking ... and I smoke in competitions, not for the victory but for the funny.

Smoking on a grill is tricky as you are close to the heat and good smoking is low and slow a 12-15 lbs shoulder on say a small smoker with a side firebox will take 10-12 hours at 190F-210F, I try to hold it at 190F as pork is cooked and easy to pull at 180F, I use hickory mainly, but I have sugar maple, apple, peach, pear, pecan, and a few other woods in the barn. Labor Day we are smoking 2500 chicken and it will take about 20 smokers like the one pictured. (They ain't cheap BTW the one I use was about $5K)
As for smoking a pork steak on a grill .... hmm I'd go with a low heat 190F-210F, since your meat will be right over the fire and I'd prolly wrap or cradle it in foil and try to keep the fire on one side and the meat on the other, you want ambiant heat to cook it not direct. I rarely use seasoning as the smoke is the flavor I like with a good BBQ sauce. If I'm doing big meat like half a hog or a 1/4 hog I use a vinegar mop on it since so much of it cooks at different speeds, just really depend on my mood on smaller stuff. Main thing is do keep tinkering with it, that will br the problem with a grill type smoke everytime you open that lid you increase the time and lose your heat, thus the value of a side or rear box smoker.
If you have the funds buy a desent smoker and get use to it, I know my smoker like every square inch of my glorious naked body. I can pretty much tell the temp without looking at the gauge just by the smoke, the sound, the feel. It is as much art as it is just cooking. I'll be smoking tomorrow which sucks since I'm smoking for my b-day seems like someone else could do it and I could be the bum drinking beer going is it ready yet? LOL...

Not sure what all you what to know or if I hit at your question, but I'll answer any question I know the answer too. Smokin on a grill is ticky as I said. That's why it's called a grill and not a smoker.

 

[Leatherneck]

Note those temp are below boiling point for a reason, the hotter the heat the drier the meat is the thing to remember .... IF you are in a hurry you can go as high as 250F but any more than that you will have dry tough meat and noone will kiss the cook.

EDIT .... check this out ...
http://www.cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/elecsmoker.html

Made for under $50

 

[Turner]

See, that's the thing. I don't know what I want to know! But I'm getting there.

Perhaps I should start out with my plans for the pork steak. I haven't decided what I was going to marinade it in yet, but I'm thinking the Lawry's pineapple-teriyaki marinade. Or I just might get some pineapple juice and marinade it in that, with some teriyaki on the side. One mistake I made with the pork shoulder was having it right on the grill. No drip pan or nothing. I think I lost a lot of flavor that way. When I did my roast last weekend, I did it in an aluminium pan, and basted it with the juices. I didn't have much trouble keeping the temp up because it ran hot, so opening the grill actually helped. So I'm thinking of doing the same with the pork steaks, having them in a pan. The grill will looks something like this:

(side view)
[pre]| pan with |
| meat here |
|-----------------------|
| Coals | |
| here | |
\-----------------------/[/pre]

I'll use the pan to keep the juices and baste with it. I might throw some veggies in another pan and put it on top of the coals, but that means I'll have to cook it hotter than I want. I'm not sure if I should turn the pan every so often or not.

Anyways, that's what I'm thinking. The pan will catch the drippings, and use that to baste every so often. I might put another pan of water in there for moisture. And I'll start out with moisture in the pan, whatever I end up marinating it in.

As for the temps, I like to keep the grill around 225. That's about where the roast was, and it wasn't too dry. Although it had some nice marbling, so I'm not sure if it was the fat or the basting. I did baste it quite a bit to keep it moist. Which is why I'm considering putting a water pan next to the coals to help with the pork. The pork steaks will be thinner, and easier to dry out.

 

[Turner]

Note those temp are below boiling point for a reason, the hotter the heat the drier the meat is the thing to remember .... IF you are in a hurry you can go as high as 250F but any more than that you will have dry tough meat and noone will kiss the cook.

EDIT .... check this out ...
http://www.cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/elecsmoker.html

Made for under $50

Awesome. All it needs is a door on the side to get the chips out without taking the grill out. That shouldn't be that much more work...

 

[Leatherneck]

You more roasting than smoking ... check out that link in the post about, the why you are doing it will work but you aren'y REALLY smoking and therefore you are not going to get the true smoke effect the idea is to trap it in the smoke for a long slow time. I can see how your temp gets up with your setup as it a grill and well, grills are designed to be hot 350F-400F ... way to hot for smoking.

Really if you want to smoke you going to have to crack the wallet and get a smoker even if it's a cheap starter smoker, the design is that link will work and it will work cheap I mean $50 ... that's nothing.

I think that if you try smoking on a grill your going to get annoyed and give up on the idea of it, you can take a screw out with a butter knife, but it's better to use a screw diver. right tool, right job.

 

[Leatherneck]

Awesome. All it needs is a door on the side to get the chips out without taking the grill out. That shouldn't be that much more work...

Door would be a piece of cake ... a hinge and a latch ... but in a good smoker it take and amazingly small amount of wood to smoke. That's a HUGE beginner mistake is it take a rick of wood to smoke ... I can smoke 100 lbs of shoulders with less than an arm load of wood and we're talking about a 12-14 hour smoke. you want smoldering not flames.

 

[Turner]

You more roasting than smoking ... check out that link in the post about, the why you are doing it will work but you aren'y REALLY smoking and therefore you are not going to get the true smoke effect the idea is to trap it in the smoke for a long slow time. I can see how your temp gets up with your setup as it a grill and well, grills are designed to be hot 350F-400F ... way to hot for smoking.

Really if you want to smoke you going to have to crack the wallet and get a smoker even if it's a cheap starter smoker, the design is that link will work and it will work cheap I mean $50 ... that's nothing.

I think that if you try smoking on a grill your going to get annoyed and give up on the idea of it, you can take a screw out with a butter knife, but it's better to use a screw diver. right tool, right job.

Right, I agree. I'm hoping that I learn enough with this grill that when I do go to buy a smoker, it's not going to be another one of Turner's Fads, which happen from time to time. It's going to be along the lines of "I can smoke on the grill, and it's okay, but I can do a lot better with the smoker." I've already talked to the wife about the old smoker and wishing I hadn't given it up...I chalk it up to not knowing what I was doing. I see now why I didn't like the Brinkman's, and not liking it then is exactly why I would use it now...it didn't run hot enough. Yeah, I could pull the charcoal pan out of the bottom and put it right under the grill, but that's not really what it's designed for. So I'm learning with what I have now, and that'll make me feel better about purchasing a smoker later.

But that link is an awful tempting offer. It is something I'm going to check out.

 

[Leatherneck]

The hardest part of smoking is drinking beer for 12-14 hours and staying focused and awake.

Oh I don't think I said ... always fat side up on things like shoulders ... that does your basting for you.

 

[Turner]

Door would be a piece of cake ... a hinge and a latch ... but in a good smoker it take and amazingly small amount of wood to smoke. That's a HUGE beginner mistake is it take a rick of wood to smoke ... I can smoke 100 lbs of shoulders with less than an arm load of wood and we're talking about a 12-14 hour smoke. you want smoldering not flames.

That's another problem I have now, is I'm mostly cooking with charcoal. I do have some hickory logs, so I might light those with the briquettes and let the hickory do the cooking when I get started.

 

[Leatherneck]

Right, I agree. I'm hoping that I learn enough with this grill that when I do go to buy a smoker, it's not going to be another one of Turner's Fads, which happen from time to time. It's going to be along the lines of "I can smoke on the grill, and it's okay, but I can do a lot better with the smoker." I've already talked to the wife about the old smoker and wishing I hadn't given it up...I chalk it up to not knowing what I was doing. I see now why I didn't like the Brinkman's, and not liking it then is exactly why I would use it now...it didn't run hot enough. Yeah, I could pull the charcoal pan out of the bottom and put it right under the grill, but that's not really what it's designed for. So I'm learning with what I have now, and that'll make me feel better about purchasing a smoker later.

But that link is an awful tempting offer. It is something I'm going to check out.

No temping to it ... I'd build one for camping and lose the hot burn and cut a hole in the bottom side and burn my wood out of the smoker and shovel the coals in the bottom. Like I said no flames, flames are bad. I use to use one of those cheap-o Brinkman Smokers withe the 2 pans in it, it's worked ok, it took a lot of tending but I was able to keep it in the idea range pretty easy. A side box or a rear box is best ... to bad you aren't closer I'm in FAR western KY near Reelfoot Lake we smoke all the time down here you can learn it thru osmosis around here.

 

[Turner]

I use to use one of those cheap-o Brinkman Smokers withe the 2 pans in it, it's worked ok, it took a lot of tending but I was able to keep it in the idea range pretty easy.

That's what I used to have. I had NO clue what I was doing with it.

Now that I've been thinking about it a while, I might go back to one of those. To start out with, at least. The second pan would be good for wet smoking, and I certainly have a lot more patience now that I did 9 years ago. I don't think I was ready for one of those.

A side box or a rear box is best ... to bad you aren't closer I'm in FAR western KY near Reelfoot Lake we smoke all the time down here you can learn it thru osmosis around here.

Yeah, I learn pretty good just by watching people. I learned to grill by watching my dad, he did it all the time. I don't know anyone out this way that I'd go over and que with them.... I should start going to the competitions around here (not as a contestant!) and see what I can soak up.

But this is good...I'm learning this way. Really, thanks...You are answering my questions.

 

[Leatherneck]

That's another problem I have now, is I'm mostly cooking with charcoal. I do have some hickory logs, so I might light those with the briquettes and let the hickory do the cooking when I get started.

If you have a saw mill the hickory bark is best, they bundle it up around here and give it away. It's where they cut the bark off the trees before milling.

Rarely do I use charcoal, I'm a purest on that. Many of them have got burn or light agents in them and it just taste wrong. They make a natural hardwood charcoal ... you should be able to find in KC ...

http://www.charcoalstore.com/products/wicked-good/CH-1233.html

Summin like this ... if you mush use charcoal.

I'll check that thread in the morning this old mans eyes are rolling. And I'll be all tomorrow night smoking, so I'm gonna sleep late ... hell it's my birthday I'm allowed. LOL!

 

[Leatherneck]

That's what I used to have. I had NO clue what I was doing with it.

Now that I've been thinking about it a while, I might go back to one of those. To start out with, at least. The second pan would be good for wet smoking, and I certainly have a lot more patience now that I did 9 years ago. I don't think I was ready for one of those.



Yeah, I learn pretty good just by watching people. I learned to grill by watching my dad, he did it all the time. I don't know anyone out this way that I'd go over and que with them.... I should start going to the competitions around here (not as a contestant!) and see what I can soak up.

But this is good...I'm learning this way. Really, thanks...You are answering my questions.

No problem ... much past on the art to the next generation ... and I'm not talking about Star Trek I'm like 2 hours north of Memphis in KY on the TN.KY line ... not that they do any smoking in Memphis, it's is huge here there are more place that do BBQ than sell pizza.

Ok tomorrow ...I'll catch up.

 

[Turner]

If you have a saw mill the hickory bark is best, they bundle it up around here and give it away. It's where they cut the bark off the trees before milling.

I'm sure there's one around here somewhere. Just need to find it.

Rarely do I use charcoal, I'm a purest on that. Many of them have got burn or light agents in them and it just taste wrong. They make a natural hardwood charcoal ... you should be able to find in KC ...

http://www.charcoalstore.com/products/wicked-good/CH-1233.html

Summin like this ... if you mush use charcoal.

Charcoal's all I've ever cooked on. I did have a gas grill for a while, but it got stolen. Actually, I was upset about that, because it was a father's day present. But I do prefer charcoal. I don't, however, use the quick-starting-lighter-fluid-built-in kind. I do use lighter fluid. I've been thinking about going with a chimney starter for a while now. I don't taste the fluid (I know this because my grilled stuff tastes a lot like my dad's, and he uses an electric starter) so I'm okay with that.

Do those hardwood coals last longer than charcoal? I seem to remember something about them lasting longer?

I'll check that thread in the morning this old mans eyes are rolling. And I'll be all tomorrow night smoking, so I'm gonna sleep late ... hell it's my birthday I'm allowed. LOL!

Have a good one!

 

[Grisu]

damn you guys, now I'm hungry

and I've never ever tried smoking, but it sure sounds delicious :yummy:

 

[Ramius75]

Isnt smoked food unhealthy ??

 

[Turner]

I dunno. I would presume not. If it was, I don't think there would be the market there is for it.