First Smoke - interesting :-)

[garyng]

I just got my Model 2 and did the seasoning smoke first.  I had a temp probe in it and it flew up to nearly 400 degrees and then cooled down.  I'm guessing the wood chunks caught on fire?  Any other ideas? 

So then I put on a rack of St Louis.  Not a huge rack, perhaps 2.5 pounds total.  Since I had that weird heat burst I monitored it carefully and noticed that if I set it at 215 the heat would stay on until it got to around 235 and then kick off until it dropped to around 190 or 195.  I thought it was broken but reading other posts it looks like this is normal?  That's a pretty big swing.  Again, any insights from more tenured M2 owners?

Cooked it at 215 for 6 hours and they needed more time so I wrapped in foil for 30 minutes and then unwrapped with some light sauce for 30 more.  They had good texture and bite but I though were slightly dry so I might go back to my old 3-2-1 method and see how that turns out. I was sort of surprised you don't add more chips - so it basically does a massive smoke in the beginning and then tails off to heat after 3 hours, it seems. 

Would love to hear from others with tips, insights, or suggestions!  Splashed some Piedmont sauce on the final product.

 

[old sarge]

Welcome Gary from SE Arizona.  Good to see you made it over here from that other site. In answer to you question regarding temp swings: Perfectly normal on the analog smoker as explained in the FAQ. I do ribs at 225 degrees. Some folks may use a small aluminum mini loaf  with liquid just to keep the box moisture up but I do not except on brisket. As for the wood, yes, the smoke goes for a few hours and then dies out. Conventional wisdom is that smoke flavor is only absorbed up to the point when the meat hits 140 degrees and then just sort of layers up on the surface. (The same is true for wood burners and the smoke ring which only penetrates a few millimeters).  So just a couple of chunks or a large chunk in the 3 to 5 ounce range for ribs should be plenty but you adjust to your case. Better to go light and work up than to go too strong. I use a digital scale to weigh the wood and cut to the desired weight so that I do not over smoke.
Hope this helps.

 

[jcboxlot]

+! Sarge nailed it.

Meat only takes smoke up to 140 internal temp.

Its sort of a hard concept to get at first, but there is no need for smoke on ribs after the 1st 2 to 3 hours.


On a side note, these smokers we use don't really use the smoke for the "heat".  The flavor comes from the wood burn, the heat comes from the inside box element.  (like an oven)