food smoking are you a smoker of meats? can you help? share your recipes!

[h4ppy-chris]

i have made a smoker BUT not had a good time with it what am i doing wrong.
i bought a book and that as not helped!
i would love to smoke a pork joint in it

please help me you know you want too!

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

First of all, don't be hard on yourself. Take your time and you will improve with time, trial and error. I would suggest starting out with poultry and move on to more expensive cuts of meat as you get more experience. No matter what...don't let it intimidate you. Here are a couple of sites that are really helpful to someone just starting out.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/

http://www.barbecuebible.com/board/index.php

I've always got something in the smoker it seems. You will be as addicted to it as I am one day...lol. Once you get the hot smoking down pat, just wait until you start cold smoking cheese and fish. I even rigged a side firebox onto an upright smoker to bake/smoke my pecan pies. What a treat.

Good Luck!!!

 

[jerryb]

I will try to help you out here.

it looks to me like you have a damper on the stack on top. if so block it OPEN. use the vent on the bottom to control the airflow and thus the temperature.

your charcoal basket idea will work fine, but I think its too small for the size of your smoker if you want to do pork legs.

How does the charcoal get into the smoker? are you just going to place the drum over the coal basket? if so how will you add more charcoals once you have your meat inside?

just a couple things to consider.

now here is what I think you should do: prop open the damper (if that is what I see) light your charcoal basket and set the drum up and see what temperature you are getting. leave the bottom vent wide open for this. also let the coals burn until the temp starts to fall off so you have an idea of how long the coals will last.

You will want 225-250 degrees to do a pork leg or shoulder, or for a chicken. 140-150 to make some smoked fish or jerky.

First you need to figure out how to get the temperature you want.

once you get the temp sorted out I'll be happy to give you some recipes.

cheers
Jerry

 

[h4ppy-chris]

First of all, don't be hard on yourself. Take your time and you will improve with time, trial and error. I would suggest starting out with poultry and move on to more expensive cuts of meat as you get more experience. No matter what...don't let it intimidate you. Here are a couple of sites that are really helpful to someone just starting out.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/

http://www.barbecuebible.com/board/index.php

I've always got something in the smoker it seems. You will be as addicted to it as I am one day...lol. Once you get the hot smoking down pat, just wait until you start cold smoking cheese and fish. I even rigged a side firebox onto an upright smoker to bake/smoke my pecan pies. What a treat.

Good Luck!!!

thanks marty 2 good sites there very helpful

 

[h4ppy-chris]

I will try to help you out here.

it looks to me like you have a damper on the stack on top. if so block it OPEN. use the vent on the bottom to control the airflow and thus the temperature.

your charcoal basket idea will work fine, but I think its too small for the size of your smoker if you want to do pork legs.

How does the charcoal get into the smoker? are you just going to place the drum over the coal basket? if so how will you add more charcoals once you have your meat inside?

just a couple things to consider.

now here is what I think you should do: prop open the damper (if that is what I see) light your charcoal basket and set the drum up and see what temperature you are getting. leave the bottom vent wide open for this. also let the coals burn until the temp starts to fall off so you have an idea of how long the coals will last.

You will want 225-250 degrees to do a pork leg or shoulder, or for a chicken. 140-150 to make some smoked fish or jerky.

First you need to figure out how to get the temperature you want.

once you get the temp sorted out I'll be happy to give you some recipes.

cheers
Jerry

no jerry its not a damper on the chimney just some metal that was welded to it. on the basket there is a wire handle in the middle and i use a long hook to lift it in and out.
i can keep the temperature good its the smoke i can't get right, it seems thick and wants to stay in the drum. do you think my chimney is too long?
I would love to see some recipes please. thanks for your help it is appreciated

 

[Oregon Blues]

Well, it is a smoker, so you actually do want the smoke to stay in the drum for awhile. The whole point is to saturate the meat with the flavor of smoke. How long the smoke stays inside the smoker depends upon both the air inflow and the air outflow. You have to have both. One for the smoke to go out and one for the fresh air (or the new smoke) to come in.

What type of wood are you using for the smoke? I prefer fruit wood. Apple wood is my favorite, and seems to be the favorite of just about everyone else I speak to about smoking meats. A light fruit wood is my recommendation to start with, because it is hard to go wrong with the flavor. Heavier flavors, like hickory can be saved for when you are more comfortable with the smoker.

 

[Oregon Blues]

By the way, I nearly scrolled over your question because I figured it was going to be another ugly thread about cigarette smoker's rights. I only opened it because I saw the word "damper" in the reply.

I don't know if you can change titles or not, but something about "meat" in the title might get you more replies.

 

[h4ppy-chris]

Well, it is a smoker, so you actually do want the smoke to stay in the drum for awhile. The whole point is to saturate the meat with the flavor of smoke. How long the smoke stays inside the smoker depends upon both the air inflow and the air outflow. You have to have both. One for the smoke to go out and one for the fresh air (or the new smoke) to come in.

What type of wood are you using for the smoke? I prefer fruit wood. Apple wood is my favorite, and seems to be the favorite of just about everyone else I speak to about smoking meats. A light fruit wood is my recommendation to start with, because it is hard to go wrong with the flavor. Heavier flavors, like hickory can be saved for when you are more comfortable with the smoker.

i have been using oak but i am getting a bitter taste. gona have to fined some apple.
title edited thanks.

 

[jerryb]

OK,

if you have the right temps then you have a large enough stack. oak is not generally liked for smoking. fruit woods, hickory and cherry are my choices.

Jerry

 

[Oregon Blues]

It's almost fruit tree pruning time. I save the prunings off my fruit trees, but probably anyone you know, even vaguely, would be happy to give you whatever they are pruning off their tree. It saves them the trouble of hauling it to the dump.

If worse comes to worst, you can buy apple wood chips in a plastic bag next to the smokers in any big discount store or sporting goods store.