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Astronaut Jones posted:Or, the HeaterMeter that a few of us have built (which kicks the WiFi Stoker's rear end.) Have the instructions been updated recently. I really want to build one, but every time I have looked at the instructions or parts lists its just hella confusing to me.
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May 15, 2013 13:54
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niss posted:Have the instructions been updated recently. I really want to build one, but every time I have looked at the instructions or parts lists its just hella confusing to me. Check out tvwbb.com, there's a forum there dedicated to the HeaterMeter builds where you can find answers for pretty much anything.
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May 15, 2013 19:36
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Let's make some Jerk Ribs! (Yes, doing a jerk sauce again) First you need some spices to make the rub - today's selection involves the following:  - allspice - mustard seed - coriander seed - black pepper - nutmeg - cinnamon - fresh thyme - fresh green onion - garlic - ginger and importantly: - a super hot habanero Dice 'em all together! You'll note that I didn't put volumes since I didn't record it - I just went by taste. (You'll be heavy on the allspice, thyme and garlic). Here's a hint: the flavors mute themselves over time, so go extra hot and extra flavour. You can't be delicate with your Jerk.  Throw some liquid in there - I recommend some citrus juice, a touch of soya sauce, cider vinegar, and oil.  Compare against some commercial seasoning (which is way more salty - never noticed until I tried side by side)  Slap on the ribs and put away over night for awesomeness.  So it's the next day and you've had a night of food dreams - it's time to toss it into the smoker at 215F for a few hours...  You'll end up with something like this:  Add some slaw and dig into happiness!  Enjoy! I know I did.
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May 16, 2013 02:25
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Is anyone aware if Kingsford will be going on sale for Memorial Day weekend or if it already is, and if so, where? Last Labor Day I loaded up at Home Depot, but my supplies are looking slim and I didn't see anything in their current sales ad.
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May 17, 2013 19:07
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RHIN0002 posted:Is anyone aware if Kingsford will be going on sale for Memorial Day weekend or if it already is, and if so, where? Last Labor Day I loaded up at Home Depot, but my supplies are looking slim and I didn't see anything in their current sales ad. I would bet come next week home depot and Lowe's will have it on sale.
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May 17, 2013 19:17
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RHIN0002 posted:Is anyone aware if Kingsford will be going on sale for Memorial Day weekend or if it already is, and if so, where? Last Labor Day I loaded up at Home Depot, but my supplies are looking slim and I didn't see anything in their current sales ad. Is there a difference between using lump charcoal and briquettes in terms of flavor? I just bought a WSM and am super excited about using it, but don't know which is better.
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May 17, 2013 19:19
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30 Goddamned Dicks posted:Is there a difference between using lump charcoal and briquettes in terms of flavor? I just bought a WSM and am super excited about using it, but don't know which is better. It depends on who you ask. I can't tell a difference, especially over the smoke wood. Briquettes seem to require less fiddling and reloading to keep a long slow burn, so I mostly use them. I like lump better for grilling, though. edit: use briquettes for your first few smokes until you get some gunk built up on your smoker and get the hang of regulating the temperature. After that, try both and see what you like.
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May 17, 2013 19:24
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I got a smoker for christmas and after languishing in the box through our brutally cold spring I finally have the time to use it this weekend. I was thinking of going simple and just doing some chicken to start. Does anyone have any specific tips for my first smoked chicken?
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May 17, 2013 19:33
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Generalissimo
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If you're doing a full chicken: the skin will probably come out rubbery, but don't panic, the meat is awesome. (pull it out a few minutes early and finish in the high heat oven to crisp it up) If you're doing just pieces: Go with dark meat as the fat will keep it moist.
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May 17, 2013 19:53
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Bought a 18" WSM today and it is currently in the middle of a burn-in. Two observations so far: 1) the water pan sits so low it hits the coal pile 2) the thermometer in the dome hasn't hit above 150. I assume it just sucks?
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May 17, 2013 23:59
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bunnielab posted:Bought a 18" WSM today and it is currently in the middle of a burn-in. Two observations so far: If you fill the ring up to just the top and pack it tightly, it should chug along for 13+ hours. Unless you are doing a low heat brisket or giant shoulder and aren't going to be around to keep an eye on it, you probably don't need to fill it high enough to hit the water pan. The thermometer sucks, but it is generally in the ballpark after it sits for a while. You should probably not rely on it for anything other than a rough idea, though. How did you have the vents set?
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May 18, 2013 01:04
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cornface posted:If you fill the ring up to just the top and pack it tightly, it should chug along for 13+ hours. Unless you are doing a low heat brisket or giant shoulder and aren't going to be around to keep an eye on it, you probably don't need to fill it high enough to hit the water pan. Yeah, I think I did over fill it, I had most of and old bag of bricks and wanted to get it good and hot to burn the oil off. I did a Minion but only lit a small (20ish) pile of coals. I think the combo of the small pile, the water pan hitting them, and having the vents way shut down kept it from really getting up to temp. I started it at 6:11pm and about 30m ago I opened the bottom vents all the way up for like 5m and then shut them down to just a crack. I stuck an old probe thermometer in some foil and set it on the top rack. It now reads a steady 250 while the one in the dome reads like 225. I have to get the woman from the airport at 10:30 so I can check it again around 12am. Pretty pleased that it seems to be holding temp so far. I ordered one of those Maverick dual-probe remote units and some O-rings and will mount them in the body when they arrive next week. I decided against the fancy Thermoworks one as I really wanted something I could bring inside. Gonna get so loving fat. I heat my house with a wood stove and I have half a cord of cherry that has been drying for like 18 months and access to whatever (local) wood I want as my landlord is an arborist. Super excited to smoke some salmon soon, I have an old rear end cedar log I have been hauling around for years, shopping chunks of off when I get the urge. Rigging up smokers in shady plywood boxes and grills was so annoying, so loving excited to play with this thing.
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May 18, 2013 01:58
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Try having all the vents wide open when you start it. When it gets up to around 190 (assuming you are aiming for 225ish) start closing down the bottom ones. Saves some time and still gives you enough leeway to avoid overshooting.
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May 18, 2013 02:05
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Crazyeyes posted:I would bet come next week home depot and Lowe's will have it on sale. Both places will have it on sale next weekend. Usually Walmart does too last year I ended up getting 8 of the 2x20 kingsford packs at lowes for $10 each. Ran out about 2 months ago so I guess I'll be buying 12-14 this year since now ill have a normal charcoal grill to go with my WSM.
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May 18, 2013 05:52
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I use lump charcoal exclusively. Cheap, good flavor, no additives and less ash. It's the only reason I go to wal mart. Can't wait to build this heatermeter.
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May 18, 2013 18:44
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So I lit my WSM at 6pm yesterday and just 20m ago it was still reading 200f and was just finally dying out. I was able to get the temp to move around pretty well using the vents and by my best guess the water lasted until after 2am last night. If the rain stops I am going to do a half chicken tomorrow as I cannot wait for my new thermometer to arrive. I am going to use the Basic BBQ Chicken recipe from Virtual Bullet. I am going to buy a rub at the store as I dont have 1/4c of decent paprika and if I am going to buy grocery store stuff I might as well just buy a rub. Does anyone have a particular brand to recommend?
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May 18, 2013 18:59
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bunnielab posted:So I lit my WSM at 6pm yesterday and just 20m ago it was still reading 200f and was just finally dying out. I was able to get the temp to move around pretty well using the vents and by my best guess the water lasted until after 2am last night. If you like a little spice, and can find it, the Salt Lick BBQ rub is really, really good. The weird thing is that it is really strong, and tastes nothing like the BBQ at the restaurant, so they clearly do not actually use it themselves.
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May 18, 2013 21:36
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premade rubs suck, use my recipe. 2T paprika 2T brown sugar 2T salt 1T cracked black pepper 1T cumin 2t oregano 1t garlic powder 1t onion powder 1/2t cayenne 1/2t fresh ground dark roast coffee(optional) And you don't need the worlds finest paprika for BBQ, buy that cheap mexican brand stuff. I've got cheap spices for rubs/marinades, and good spices for cold applications/finishing.
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May 18, 2013 21:39
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Well I finally got around to building one of those Mini WSM's using the Smokey Joe Gold and Vasconia 32-qt steamer pot. It was pretty easy, only took a few hours this morning and I am super happy with how it turned out. It's so nice and portable I can bring it pretty much anywhere and smoke some meat. I am seasoning it right now, and plan on cooking some chickens on it tomorrow. It's been going for a few hours now and the temps are super stable at 225F so I am really happy about that.  Link to more pics http://imgur.com/a/rZewc
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May 18, 2013 21:40
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:premade rubs suck, use my recipe. Also, buy spices from the bulk section. The stuff in jars is marked up like 500%. If your store has no bulk section find one that does.
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May 18, 2013 22:26
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cornface posted:Also, buy spices from the bulk section. The stuff in jars is marked up like 500%. If your store has no bulk section find one that does. Yeah, I buy a ton of stuff from this mexican grocer who has great spice prices. It's just that the difference between random cheap paprika and the good stuff is so extreme that I hesitate to use it. Unless the smoking process is really going to make it less important.
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May 18, 2013 23:41
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bunnielab posted:Yeah, I buy a ton of stuff from this mexican grocer who has great spice prices. It's just that the difference between random cheap paprika and the good stuff is so extreme that I hesitate to use it. Unless the smoking process is really going to make it less important. Even the good smoked Spanish paprika is usually only like $13/lb bulk (here at least) and you need less than an ounce for a batch of rub. But depending on what else you use in the rub, the paprika is probably going to be one of the mildest flavors regardless, so just use whatever and see if you like it. One thing to watch out for with homemade and commercial rub is the sugar content. If you are cooking above 250 or so you might want to go easy on the sugar or it can burn.
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May 19, 2013 01:09
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cornface posted:Even the good smoked Spanish paprika is usually only like $13/lb bulk (here at least) and you need less than an ounce for a batch of rub. Yeah, it is more of a "too lazy to drive to get the good stuff" than anything else. I guess I might as well make a small batch of stuff with grocery store spices if sugar content is going to be an issue.
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May 19, 2013 01:43
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About to fire up my first ever overnight pork butt. 8.26 pounds bone in x 1.75 hours starting at 1 AM at 225 F = late lunch tomorrow hopefully. Or perhaps breakfast!
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May 19, 2013 07:17
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Sunday morning! That means it is time to step outside, fire up the Horizon, and start smoking that brisket. No better way to spend a Sunday.
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May 19, 2013 10:38
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cornface posted:Also, buy spices from the bulk section. The stuff in jars is marked up like 500%. If your store has no bulk section find one that does. If you think 500% is a bad markup I tried finding caraway seed for making rye bread. On the shelf in a 2 ounce jar? $5. Online from Amazon? $15 for 2.5 pounds.
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May 19, 2013 10:47
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ada shatan posted:Sunday morning! That means it is time to step outside, fire up the Horizon, and start smoking that brisket. No better way to spend a Sunday. I had the same idea, but I have a bad feeling it is not going to turn out great this go round. I went to foil it, got it sealed up, and while I was maneuvering it back onto the smoker the top grate somehow flipped upside down and dumped the whole thing into the (thankfully empty) water pan. It wouldn't have been a big deal but in the time it took to fish it out and make sure it was still sealed, the fire flared up. I guess if worse comes to worse the tears I shed while eating dry brisket for lunch all week will help to moisten it. edit: somehow this ended up being the best brisket I've ever made, even though it rode at like 400 degrees for over an hour. I think I was saved by the fact that it had a gigantic point on it that was like half the brisket. Which is excellent, because now I get a gargantuan tub of burnt ends. cornface fucked around with this message at 21:48 on May 19, 2013 |
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May 19, 2013 20:01
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So I was pretty surprised yesterday when I went to try out the first cook on my new little smoker. I had two 6lbs chickens and figured I would put one on the bottom rack and one on the top rack. I then quickly realized I could fit them both on one rack. So this little thing can hold 4 whole 6lbs chickens, way more than I thought it would be able to handle. They turned out really good too. All in all a fun little project. 
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May 20, 2013 16:36
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Can I ask about cold-smoking cheeses in here? I just bought a cold-smoking kit http://www.macsbbq.com/cold-smokers/product/proq-cold-smoke-generator If I do this in my Weber kettle and decide to smoke some cheese or salmon, should I also be putting tupperwares full of ice in there to keep the temperature cool? Is leaving cheese out at room temperature for 5-10 hours okay or a bad idea? edit: VVV cool, thanks! Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 23:33 on May 20, 2013 |
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May 20, 2013 22:41
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Get two aluminum roasting pans, and a lot of ice. poke a lot of holes in both pans. Put ice in one pan, cheese in the other. Put cheese pan on ice pan, wrap with foil or plastic, insert remote thermometer in cheese to monitor temp, try to keep it below 80F. Change your ice whenever it all melts. You should only really need an hour or two to smoke cheese though.
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May 20, 2013 23:18
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Steve Yun posted:Can I ask about cold-smoking cheeses in here? With the device you bought you should be fine. You can put some ice in there to help lower the temps, but it shouldn't matter to much, I've done it both ways with and without ice and neither seemed to affect the temps all that much in my BGE. Biggest advice I can give is to do it early in the morning or late in the evening when it is a bit cooler, and keep your grill out of direct sunlight. Also shouldn't need more than a few hours, I think I've done 4 hours before and that was probably overkill imo. Here are two pics of my setup I posted a while back. This was the one time I decided to use ice. I generated my smoke using a small soup can with holes and just a lump or two or charcoal and some wood chips http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3460953&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=23#post413976792
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May 21, 2013 12:46
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niss posted:So I was pretty surprised yesterday when I went to try out the first cook on my new little smoker. I had two 6lbs chickens and figured I would put one on the bottom rack and one on the top rack. I then quickly realized I could fit them both on one rack. So this little thing can hold 4 whole 6lbs chickens, way more than I thought it would be able to handle. They turned out really good too. Looks wonderful, the skin looks crispy and all (keep hearing that smoking chicken makes the skin rubbery). Recipe / cooking procedure?
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May 21, 2013 13:30
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The inaugural cook in my WSM was about 6 chicken thighs as I could not find a decent whole bird on short notice. It was a mixed result, the rub was insanely salty but once you scraped it off the meat was flavorful, juicy and all around amazing. I am now pretty sold on only using rubs I make myself and am going to give it another go later this week, maybe even tonight. I didn't really crips the skin as the meat was at 170ish when I went to check it so I was afraid of overlooking if I stuck them right next to the coals. It was fine to eat while hot but too rubbery when cold. Next time I am going to use way less coals and check it more frequently. I should have my duel thermometer soon which I hope will help fix this issue. I also have some pork bellies thawing so soon it will be bacon time.
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May 21, 2013 14:17
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Kind of a long shot but I would rather ask here first: Anyone in the DC area (I'm halfway between Tyson's Corner and the Dulles Airport) want to buy my Bradley BTIS1 (with a cover) plus a pack of 120 maple bisquettes/ a 48 pack of apple bisquettes? I've only used it four or five times, and never to smoke fish or anything stinky. $175 for the whole shebang, come get it this week sometime. Send me a PM or email me at dawn at 4talents dot com. Otherwise it's going on Craigslist on Wednesday night. Cause I bought a WSM thanks to this thread and am ready to get into all the fiddly bits of smoking! I didn't like how the Bradley was a "set it and forget it" smoker. I really like experimentation with cooking.
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May 21, 2013 16:03
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His Divine Shadow posted:Looks wonderful, the skin looks crispy and all (keep hearing that smoking chicken makes the skin rubbery). Recipe / cooking procedure? The skin was more crisp than usual, but it was still a bit on the rubbery side, def not up to grilled chicken standards. Those cooked at 210 for about 6 hours, the temp got up to 230 or so for the last hour. I realized I didn't need to fill the pie tin/heat diffuser with water on this cooker. I never stick to any particular recipe, just grab whatever spices look appealing in my cupboard, I always have pepper, garlic and onion powder, and the rest is usually just whatever else i feel like grabbing. I think had some sage on them if I remember right.
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May 21, 2013 17:34
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30 Goddamned Dicks posted:Kind of a long shot but I would rather ask here first: I might be interested. I am about 30 min north of the wilson bridge. Let me talk it over with the woman and get back to you asap.
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May 21, 2013 23:10
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Found a semi-local BGE dealer going out of business. Niss and those who have one, what's a fair offer on a large? He tried to sell me one for 1100 with nest, wings, ash tool and 20lb charcoal and I laughed at him. He said to make him an offer. I don't really want the nest as I'd like to build a table. Thoughts?
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May 22, 2013 05:43
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niss posted:The skin was more crisp than usual, but it was still a bit on the rubbery side, def not up to grilled chicken standards. Those cooked at 210 for about 6 hours, the temp got up to 230 or so for the last hour. I realized I didn't need to fill the pie tin/heat diffuser with water on this cooker. I never stick to any particular recipe, just grab whatever spices look appealing in my cupboard, I always have pepper, garlic and onion powder, and the rest is usually just whatever else i feel like grabbing. I think had some sage on them if I remember right. I've been reading up on this and it seems like not using water when smoking chicken (and higher temps) is the way to go. I am considering filling up the water pan with sand or stones for heat regulation and trying this out. Maybe one could use some water at the start as it seems to make the smoke penetrate the meat more, experimentation is needed. I think I will try a dry smoke first.
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May 22, 2013 07:01
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His Divine Shadow posted:I've been reading up on this and it seems like not using water when smoking chicken (and higher temps) is the way to go. I am considering filling up the water pan with sand or stones for heat regulation and trying this out. Wouldn't the sand/stones becomes a disgusting mess covered in chicken grease afterward? Do you just trash it once you're done? I've never done a higher heat smoke like that. I guess it can't be worse than the awful water/pork droppings mixture after a large pork butt. My wife has landscaped nearly every square foot of my yard so I'm forced to dump it on the side of the house in a little pit I've dug. If I use the smoker a couple weekends in a row in the summer, it starts smelling absolutely terrible.
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May 22, 2013 08:04
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I read you cover the thing in foil. The more I read I think I will just foil the empty pan and leave it at that. I am not sure which method is better of the following though: 1) Smoke at lower heat for a longer time, then crisp up the skin by conventional grilling 2) Going high temp from start to finish (about an hour cook time total, 300+ temp, maybe 350).
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May 22, 2013 08:16
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