i STARTED SMOKIN'

[m8man]

Thanks to Mezz for this one. He hooked me up with an electric smoker to try out. I gave it the test run on Friday and tried some salmon and trout. I think it came out ok. I also brought some over to my Dad and he said he liked it.

I did read the directions and put 4 chunks of soaked wood by the coils, but it seemed to lose its smoke after about 2 hours. The chucks were still there and only about 1/3 of the way gone. I'll have to mess with it to get it right.

Here are a couple of shots.

m8man

 

[fusionfool]

We have had an electric smoker for about 2 years now. We smoke fish, ribs, turkey, duck, sweet corn, and many other foods. We found that for our preference we like more smoke than we were getting by following the directions. We do not soak the wood chips in water any more. We just place them dry and let them start smoking before we place any food in, unless we are smoking the turkey. We also found that the longer you can soak the food in a salt brine the better the smoke flavor will be. Oh and don't forget to rinse the salt brine off before placing in smoker. My wife did not rinse some fish one of the first times, wow, good smoke flavor, but salty as heck. Have fun with it, they are addicting.

 

[russholio]

Looks good! I'll be up in about...oh, 12 hours.

 

[thunderstruck88]

Wow and Yummy looking got some hush puppies to go along with that fish and lemons and tarter sauce to Got me HUNGERY now and how do you do the corn in those?

 

[mjkaliszak]

Welcome to the world of cooking with smoke .... I smoke on a Weber Gasser. Learned many lessons, there is no turning back now. It's our favorite way to cook. here are a few pics, brisket, chicken, pork loins with a nice smoke ring.... there are a few lessons in these pics of what not to do ( IMO ). 1) the brisket has a chunk tore from it,( couldn't help myself ) this is earlier in my smoking career, it's best not to do that and when done cover the meat and let it " rest ". 2) it is better to keep it simple, i don't mix chicken with P-loins anymore , I keep the all the same meat, it's easier to control . 3) I only brine the chicken it helps keep it juicy, never did fish so I cant speak to that but I know it does need brined. 4) LOW & SLOW is the rule of thumb, and quit lifting the lid....( LOL ) 5) get your self a good thermometer.

 

[m8man]

yum

 

[jbs]

Did my first smoke yesterday. I did two 7lb pork shoulders, some moink balls, and some ABT's. Everything turned out awesome.

 

[jbs]

A few more pics.

 

[t660redrocket]

Thanks to Mezz for this one. He hooked me up with an electric smoker to try out. I gave it the test run on Friday and tried some salmon and trout. I think it came out ok. I also brought some over to my Dad and he said he liked it.

I did read the directions and put 4 chunks of soaked wood by the coils, but it seemed to lose its smoke after about 2 hours. The chucks were still there and only about 1/3 of the way gone. I'll have to mess with it to get it right.

Here are a couple of shots.

m8man

For most items you probabaly won't want much smoke after the first 2 hours anyway. Most of your smoke flavor will be taken in during the first hour or so or until the outside of the meat has a nice seer on it. Remember heavy heavy smoke early on. It's also fun to try different woods like apple chips or nut tree chips. Fruit juices in your water pan also make things interesting too. Have fun!

 

[mjkaliszak]

For most items you probabaly won't want much smoke after the first 2 hours anyway. Most of your smoke flavor will be taken in during the first hour or so or until the outside of the meat has a nice seer on it. Remember heavy heavy smoke early on. It's also fun to try different woods like apple chips or nut tree chips. Fruit juices in your water pan also make things interesting too. Have fun!

Good Point.... I over smoked in the beginning.Ruined a couple of cooks. I remember calling my bbq brethren up and asking " how come the smoke is not pouring out constantly". Heck I even caught the chips on fire 1 time trying to seer some 2" thick t-bones with garlic on the top. That was a " fire in the hole " with " smoke in the eyes " event. (LOL)

Another idea with fruit juice: If you get to a brisket, put your rub on then mix some rub & apple juice together, pass it thru a coffee filter and use it to inject into your meat. I ran across 1 of the winners from the 2002 Great American Royal team down in the DFW airport, he told me to try that and to always wrap the brisket in foil to finish the cook. I have been doing it since. Works excellent.... For the record he also said he wished they could remember what exactly they did when cooking that brisket, because they haven't won a constest since.....