Author Topic: Basics for Beginners  (Read 31583 times)

DivotMaker

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Basics for Beginners
« on: August 18, 2014, 10:46:24 PM »
First off, let us say "Congratulations!" on your decision to join the Smokin-It family!  While you are waiting for your smoker to arrive, you will have a million questions about what to expect.  Hopefully, you've read the post about what to do when it arrives.

In this post, I want to address some of the common accessories that will make your first smoke (and every one after) easier, and more enjoyable!  I'll also address a few of the common questions about how the smoker performs, as well as a simple guideline to wood amounts.

Common accessories:

1.
Digital thermometer:  It's best to have a remote digital thermometer, so you can insert the probe into the meat while it is smoking, and not have to open the door to check the temp.  Opening the door too often is highly discouraged in these smokers!  Smoking is all about Internal Temperature of the meat - NOT time (with few exceptions)!

A good choice for a remote thermometer is the Maverick ET-732 or ET-733.  Both are dual-probe thermometers, with a remote unit for watching your temperatures away from the smoker.  Both have a range of about 300', so are usually good anywhere in the house.

The thermometer probes (usually a box temp probe, and a meat probe) are dropped down through the vent hole on the top of the smoker.  Do NOT feed the probe wires through the door!  These doors are compression-sealed doors, and they WILL smash your probe wires!

There are other remote thermometers out there, too.  I used to use a AccuTemp single-probe thermometer with great success, but prefer the 2-probe variety now.

These can be found at www.smokin-it.com, Amazon, or several other suppliers.

2.  Water pan:  These smokers benefit greatly from a pan of water, apple juice, beer, or seasoning liquid of your choice, inside the smoker while cooking.  This adds moisture to the already "tight" environment, so it's one of the keys to eliminating the need to "foil" anything while cooking!

You can use anything with a little depth (so you have 2-3" of liquid in the pan).  Mini-loaf pans work great, either the disposable aluminum ones, or the non-stick metal pans.  Just fill it about 3/4 full, and set it on the bottom of the smoker, tucked up against the smoke box (and element).  The idea is for the pan to get hot enough to give off moisture; this is the only place that will happen.

Don't overlook the juice pan - it makes a difference!

3.  Heavy-duty aluminum foil:  Be sure to pick up a couple of rolls of the long, heavy-duty foil.  Don't get standard strength foil, as it just doesn't cut it!  You'll use the HD foil to cover the bottom of the smoker, as well as the lid of the smoke box.  This aids greatly in cleanup! 

When you foil the bottom, don't forget to keep the foil out of the doorway, and remember to poke a hole (a pencil works great) in the drain/air hole in the bottom of the smoker!  VERY IMPORTANT not to miss this!

4.  BBQ gloves and tongs:  A good pair of fingered PVC BBQ gloves are handy; it allows you to handle hot meat with your hands, which is nice when removing large cuts for foil wrapping!

A strong pair of BBQ tongs is great for things like racks of ribs - especially when they are "fall off the bone" tender!  You can get under the rack and hold them together!

5.  Wood:  Your smoker will come with a bag of hickory "dowels" (round cuttings of hickory).  While these are great for seasoning, and anything you like hickory smoke on (which is just about anything, for me!), you may want to explore different flavor profiles of wood smoke.  If you are new to smoking, trust me when I say that, yes, there is a big difference in the flavors that different woods will impart in our food!  All wood is NOT created equal!

For example, hickory, mesquite, and oak are hardwoods.  They each have a distinct taste, and act differently on different kinds of meat.  Oak is great on beef, and is more mild than hickory or mesquite, but is subjective.
Fruit woods, like cherry, peach or apple, impart a totally different type of flavor to the meat.  Some a mild, and some are stronger.  The point here, is that you won't know what works for you without experimentation!

I've said all that to say that it matters where you get your wood!  Stay away from the hardware store/Big Box store woods; they are typically old and too dry.  Order from a reputable smoking wood company, like Fruitawood.com or MaineGrillingWoods.com.  There are others out there, but these are two I've been very satisfied with.

Dry wood can get heated enough to combust in the smoke box, especially with the #2 and 3.  The large heating elements, in those, get really hot, really fast.  If you set your temp to, say, 225, the element will stay on until it reaches that temp.  This doesn't mean the element is only 225; it's much hotter (red hot).  There have been many discussions on how to prevent combustion of the wood, which has ranged from soaking, to ramping-up the temperature slowly, to wrapping the wood in foil.  I have recently gone to wrapping the bottom of the wood in a single layer of foil (like a little foil boat), keeping the upper half of the chunk exposed.  I have not experienced any combustion (the dreaded "smoke belch") using this method, so it's what I recommend now.  The quality of the wood (moisture content) is still a factor that effects duration of smoke, but not combustion.  If your smoker wood has the right moisture content, it will smolder longer, and produce the best smoke.  Dry wood just doesn't last as long.

6.  Digital Scale:  If you don't have a digital kitchen scale, get one!  It doesn't have to be anything expensive, just a small scale that will read ounces.  Why do you need this?  To measure your wood!  These smokers require an incredibly small amount of wood, and "eyeballing" the proper amount can be disastrous!  Here's the general guideline on wood amounts for basic smokes:

Poultry:  2-3 oz
Pork Ribs:  2.5-3 oz
Pork Butts or Brisket:  5-6 oz

Never use more than 6 oz of wood in the smoker.  Meat will only "absorb" smoke until it hits an internal temperature of about 140, so any smoke after that just builds-up on the surface of the meat, and will lead to an "oversmoked" bitter taste.  A little wood goes a long way, so start out light, and adjust up according to your taste.

7.  Disposable nitrile (blue, non-latex) gloves:  During meat prep, or smoker cleaning, nitrile gloves are fantastic!  Many rubs will stain your hands, so the gloves prevent that.  Also, from a food-prep standpoint, wearing disposable gloves is much more sanitary; you won't have raw meat juices on your hands to clean!  I do all my meat preparation wearing nitrile gloves.

8.  Heavy-duty plastic wrap:  Have plenty of this on hand for prep work!  When you coat your meat with a binder (I like yellow mustard) and rub, you want to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then let it rest overnight in the fridge to "get happy!"  This allows the seasonings to penetrate the meat, and what happens next is pure magic!  Sam's Club and Costco carry the restaurant supply boxes of plastic wrap.  It is 18" wide (which really helps when wrapping larger cuts of meat), and is very good quality.  Since those boxes contain 3,000' of wrap, one will last you a really long time!

9.  Spice containers (the ones that are left from using garlic powder etc..):  These are great for storing your homemade rubs and seasonings.

10.  Gallon & quart-size Ziploc bags:  Bags for storage, or prep.  Have them handy!

11.  The usual kitchen devices for prep and serving:  This includes measuring cups and spoons, storage/prep bowls, good kitchen knives (be sure to include a good boning knife, and a Granton-edge slicing knife), serving platters, etc...  A good Q chef is never short on the kitchen basics!

Frequent Questions:

1.  My temp is not holding steady at the set temp. 
This is perfectly normal!  The analog contoller on your smoker will have temperature swings of 20-30° from the set temp.  As the controller cycles on and off, temp will rise and fall.  But, it will "average" to your set temp!  Don't be alarmed by this, as it's the nature of the beast with electric smokers.  Trust that the engineers that designed your smoker knew this, and it does work.  Don't get too wrapped-up in monitoring internal box temp; just be assured that it will average to your set temp.

2.  There's smoke coming out from around the door!  The doors on these smokers are sealed by compression (no rubber gaskets to wear out).  Initially, the bare metal mating surfaces may not seal 100%...this is normal!  After you get several smokes in, the door will be coated with creosote from the smoke, and you'll see this go away.  A little "seepage" won't hurt a thing, and is normal.

3.  Where should I place the meat in the smoker?  Generally, you want to place the meat as high as possible.  The heat is more stable closer to the top of the smoker, so always place your meat high.  If you have multiple racks, place the thicker meat on the lower racks, and the thinner meat above it.  The thick meat will help shield the thin meat, and it will cook more evenly.

4.  Should I use a big drip pan under the meat?  Simply put:  NO!  That's why we foil the top of the smoke box, and the bottom.  Placing a large drip pan between the meat and the smoke box can lead to temperature problems.  As the heat rises, it channels around a pan and up the sidewalls.  This funnels the hotter air over the temperature sensor on the back wall of the smoker, and makes it believe the temperature is higher than it really is.  This, in turn, can cause the element to turn off more than it should, and usually leads to low box temp.  Just cleanup the dripping by removing the foil, and don't bother with a drip pan.

5.  I got a big blast of smoke out of the top vent hole, and around the door, and the smoke is dark!  You've had combustion of the wood in the smoke box.  DO NOT open the door if this happens!  The rush of air into the smoker will make the flame continue.  It will blow itself out, if you keep the door closed.  It's like a "backdraft" fire.  To prevent this from happening, wrap the bottom of your wood chunks in a single layer of foil, to shield it from the intense heat of the element, and to eliminate air from getting to the smoldering wood.


I've probably missed something, and will review/add to this as necessary.  Please send me a PM if you feel I missed something important!
« Last Edit: September 27, 2014, 01:08:43 PM by DivotMaker »
Tony from NW Arkansas
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