New to smoking

semologger · December 23, 2012, 06:37:51 PM

I know that sounds kind of funny ha. But its the truth. I recently was given a electric smoker from me wife. Its one that looks like a mini fridge adjustable temp and time. So far ive cooked my first turkey for thanksgiving. Whoo hoo. Salmon and alot of chicken. Today its a beef roast and a boston butt. I have been using hickory chips out of a bag. But today i am using a cherry board got from neighbor. Just chunking it up Really small. One thing i noticed really fast was the smell of the smoke with the different wood. Gonna have use maple next. Any other sugestions on any ofher wood or recipes? Loving this smoker

WDH · December 23, 2012, 11:07:32 PM

My favorite is cherry, but I use a lot of oak and hickory, too. Just go to the shop and get some scraps.

NWP · December 23, 2012, 11:26:51 PM

A guy I used to deliver firewood to used sassafrass for fish/poultry.

wildbill · December 24, 2012, 12:50:43 AM

I use oak. my dad uses oak and hickory a lot. i gave him some pecan but im not sure if he used it yet. i have some stashed for myself but have not used it yet.

ive only smoked picnic hams and brisket. Raider Bill has a little more experience than me. (by a few hundred lbs)

scgargoyle · December 24, 2012, 06:23:53 AM

I mostly use hickory, since I have a lot of it growing on our property, but I also like fruit woods, especially with pork. A few easy ideas- almost any kind of sausage is great on the smoker, and it doesn't take very long. Another favorite is ABT's. I cut the side off of a jalapeno, scoop out the seeds and membrane, stuff with a cheddar and cream cheese mixture, and wrap with a half slice of bacon. They usually smoke for 1-1/2 hours, depending upon your smoker temp. There are many other variants for stuffing. I have never made enough of these- they are always GONE!

When you get into things like pork butt or brisket, it takes a LONG time to smoke. It ain't done until it's done. Until the meat goes tender, it will be like shoe leather. I've read that once the meat gets to 140 degrees, it won't take any more smoke, so you don't have to keep adding chips on a long smoke.

If you really get into the BBQ hobby, get a good book, like Paul Kirk's 'Championship Barbecue'. It's worth it for all of the rubs, mops, marinades, and sauces.

Magicman · December 24, 2012, 08:57:52 AM

Hello and Welcome to the Forestry Forum, wildbill. It seems from your profile that maybe you can share what we may wonder about and someone else tends to hide. ;D

That is one ~~ugly~~ pretty chicken that you are holding.

Raider Bill · December 24, 2012, 09:02:19 AM

Quote from: wildbill on December 24, 2012, 12:50:43 AM
I use oak. my dad uses oak and hickory a lot. i gave him some pecan but im not sure if he used it yet. i have some stashed for myself but have not used it yet.

ive only smoked picnic hams and brisket. Raider Bill has a little more experience than me. (by a few hundred lbs)

That's my SON!!!!

I've got 4 picnic hams smoking today. One has your name on it. ;D

sandhills · December 24, 2012, 10:27:32 AM

A good friend of mine that recently passed away was big into BBQ and cooked for a lot of weddings, contests, etc. and he used a lot of mulberry and apple wood in his smoker. He cooked pork butts for our wedding and WE forgot the BBQ sauce, no one noticed ;D, I never ate anything "Slim" cooked that I didn't like!

Welcome to the forum Wildbill.

Raider Bill · December 24, 2012, 10:32:40 AM

Different wood for different meat or sometimes I just mix it up. Today's smoking is some oak chunks I found on the side of the road, Hickory and Apple chips.

Mulberry is hard for me to get.

Billy, the pecan is gone up in smoke a long time ago. Got anymore?

Norm · December 24, 2012, 10:40:27 AM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Wildbill.

DanG · December 24, 2012, 11:58:19 AM

Welcome to the Forum Wildbill! I have an almost unlimited supply of pecan here if y'all need some more.

I favor a mix of pecan, cherry, and oak for most meats. Don't know why I haven't thought to try mulberry. A little birdy brought us a mulberry tree a few years ago and now they're coming up everywhere.

Good luck with the smoker, Semo! Outdoor cooking is a fun thing to learn. You can eat your mistakes to get rid of evidence, or let the dog help out if it's too bad. ;D Keep a supply of beanie-weenies on hand, just in case.

mad murdock · December 24, 2012, 12:10:05 PM

I want to try me a fattie! That bacon weave looks so righteous!! Anyone done a fattie using pork tube sausage as the middle meat? Out here we have a wood that i know as mtn mahogany, not sure the real name of it. It is real hard kind of like iron wood, but not as heavy a spec gravit( it will float), is dark kind of like black walnut, doesn't get real big, kind of like scrub oak, but the wood has a real nutty aroma and when used to smoke with, it is gooood!

WDH · December 24, 2012, 09:10:50 PM

Welcome Wildbill ;D.

semologger · December 25, 2012, 05:07:29 PM

I ended up cooking a prime rib on it today. Man was it great. I used some of the cherry for smoke. Not to much though prime rib is great by its self. I bought one of those digital probe remote gauges. so i can tell what temp the meat is without ever opening the door. Its great It works up to 100 feet away. So no going outside in the cold to check temp also ha. i know i could get better flavors with the charcoal smokers but this is so much easier. I got a book called smoke and spice it seems to have alot of rubs and marinades in it. Ive never really used any rubs for cooking but am going to now. I also read about brineing going to try that out also.

I didnt know that after the meat temp hits 140 it stoped takeing in smoke flavor thats a great pointer.

I also forgot i cooked a half dozen eggs in there here awile back.
just like hard boiled eggs but with a good smokey flavor. just takes awhile for them to cool off the shells are hot. lol
The boston but i cut in half and was around 2 and half pounds i cooked. it lasted for about 5 min and was gone kids wanted more. Cook for 6 hours and ate in 5 min. But was worth the wait.

sbishop · December 25, 2012, 05:37:36 PM

a breakfast fattie is the best!!!! doing one up for new years!

semologger · December 25, 2012, 07:34:50 PM

please explain the fattie. The only ones i am use to i dont do any more. :laugh:

sbishop · December 25, 2012, 07:58:09 PM

hahaha

i'll take 4-5 sausage links of my favorite sausage, remove casing andput them in a zip lock bag..and roll them flat...making a nice square flat sausage meat. cut out the top of the zip lock bag and flip it out onto the counter.

What i do is fry up some bacon, eggs, greens pepper and onions...then spread it all over the sausage meat and roll it up.

Then i'll weave some bacon, and roll the sausage meat up with it. place in smoker and smoke at 225 for about 1 1/2hrs to 2hrs until the internal temp is 160.

good luck!

wildbill · December 25, 2012, 08:33:42 PM

Quote from: semologger on December 25, 2012, 05:07:29 PM
I ended up cooking a prime rib on it today. Man was it great. I used some of the cherry for smoke. Not to much though prime rib is great by its self. I bought one of those digital probe remote gauges. so i can tell what temp the meat is without ever opening the door. Its great It works up to 100 feet away. So no going outside in the cold to check temp also ha. i know i could get better flavors with the charcoal smokers but this is so much easier. I got a book called smoke and spice it seems to have alot of rubs and marinades in it. Ive never really used any rubs for cooking but am going to now. I also read about brineing going to try that out also.

I didnt know that after the meat temp hits 140 it stoped takeing in smoke flavor thats a great pointer.

I also forgot i cooked a half dozen eggs in there here awile back.
just like hard boiled eggs but with a good smokey flavor. just takes awhile for them to cool off the shells are hot. lol
The boston but i cut in half and was around 2 and half pounds i cooked. it lasted for about 5 min and was gone kids wanted more. Cook for 6 hours and ate in 5 min. But was worth the wait.

i have used a few rub recipes from that book. its in kitchen with the other cookbooks. i don't remember which holiday i got it for but it came from my dad.

and thanks for the welcomes

mad murdock · December 26, 2012, 02:46:24 AM

Quote from: sbishop on December 25, 2012, 07:58:09 PM
hahaha

i'll take 4-5 sausage links of my favorite sausage, remove casing andput them in a zip lock bag..and roll them flat...making a nice square flat sausage meat. cut out the top of the zip lock bag and flip it out onto the counter.

What i do is fry up some bacon, eggs, greens pepper and onions...then spread it all over the sausage meat and roll it up.

Then i'll weave some bacon, and roll the sausage meat up with it. place in smoker and smoke at 225 for about 1 1/2hrs to 2hrs until the internal temp is 160.

good luck!

That would go good with some fresh corn tortillas a and a whole jalapeno on the side!

Raider Bill · December 26, 2012, 08:53:36 AM

Quote from: semologger on December 25, 2012, 05:07:29 PM
I ended up cooking a prime rib on it today. Man was it great. I used some of the cherry for smoke. Not to much though prime rib is great by its self. I bought one of those digital probe remote gauges. so i can tell what temp the meat is without ever opening the door. Its great It works up to 100 feet away. So no going outside in the cold to check temp also ha. i know i could get better flavors with the charcoal smokers but this is so much easier. I got a book called smoke and spice it seems to have alot of rubs and marinades in it. Ive never really used any rubs for cooking but am going to now. I also read about brineing going to try that out also.

I didnt know that after the meat temp hits 140 it stoped takeing in smoke flavor thats a great pointer.

I also forgot i cooked a half dozen eggs in there here awile back.
just like hard boiled eggs but with a good smokey flavor. just takes awhile for them to cool off the shells are hot. lol
The boston but i cut in half and was around 2 and half pounds i cooked. it lasted for about 5 min and was gone kids wanted more. Cook for 6 hours and ate in 5 min. But was worth the wait.

That's one of the best BBQ books out there.

Weekend_Sawyer · January 26, 2013, 10:31:04 AM

I have found 3 Smoke & Spice books by 3 different authors. Which author do you guys recommend?

Raider Bill · January 26, 2013, 10:35:32 AM

I will have to check with my Son. I gave him my copy. Can't remember the Author.

Al_Smith · January 26, 2013, 11:49:30 AM

I used to scoop up 5 gallon buckets full of saw chips when I was cutting down hickory which my buddy used with a electric skillet to produce smoke .The smoked meats came out real good as a matter of fact .