# Smoking Meats



## goldsilverpro (Oct 7, 2012)

This question was asked on another thread. I'm answering it here to keep from hijacking the other thread. Here's the gadget I'm talking about.
http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AMNPS5X8



924T said:


> As an aside. does that meat smoking pellet gadget you mentioned work to your satisfaction?


Works as advertised. Heavy duty stainless, well made. You fill it to about 1/8" - 1/4" from the top with about a pound of pellets, light it on one end with a torch, and you get about 11 hours of smoke. If you fill it too full, the fire will cross over into the adjacent channel. I bought it for making jerky in my box-type electric smoker. The electric smoker does a great job of keeping the temperature low at the needed 140F-150F.

______________________________ 

For smoking all other meats, I recently discovered what is called the "Minion" method (link below), using my 22.5" Weber kettle. This is the only way I've ever seen to get a steady low temp in a Weber. It was originally designed for the $300 vertical Weber smoker but, in the 1st link below, search the forums listed and you'll find photos (and youtube videos) for using the Weber kettle as a smoker. Allow about 45 minutes to get things set up. They make another gadget called a "Smokenator" (link below) which fits in a 22.5" Weber for about $60. However, the method below accomplishes the very same thing. The company that make the Smokenator makes the Hovergrill ($16 - link below), a 2nd grill that sits on top of the regular grill and doubles the meat capacity. I might get one.
https://www.google.com/search?q=minion+method+weber+kettle&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a
http://www.smokenator.com/
http://www.smokenator.com/Store/p/13/individual-hovergrill

You pile about 50 *unlit* briquettes on one side of the lower grate, using 2 firebricks (about 1" x 4" x 8" - easy to find), to keep the briquettes confined and piled up. The firebricks were stood on edge and, since 2 were wider than the grate, I overlapped them. I used Kingsford briquettes but I might try Royal Oak or chunk charcoal next time. The other part (about 2/3 - 3/4) of the lower grate is covered with heavy foil and a pan 1/2 filled with boiling water is placed on the foil. Several dry wood chunks and 12-15 (15 max) lit briquettes are distributed on top of the unlit briquettes. The meat is placed on the top grate over the water pan and the lid is put on. The lid vent is located on the opposite side of the kettle, away from the coals. The bottom vent is usually wide open and the top vent is about 1/3 open. I put a $7 dial candy thermometer through the top vent. With a little vent adjustment, I got a steady 225F-250F. If smoke leaks out around the edge of the lid, it will get too hot and the temp will be hard to regulate. The lid is easily sealed with medium sized binder clamps from Walmart in the stationary dept. (12 for $1.88). After about 2 hours, I found that the briquettes on one side weren't burning well - may have been the wind direction. I stirred them all up and it then burned fine. No additional coals were needed during the whole process.

I did 3 racks of back ribs with my favorite dry rub (Rendezvous Memphis - see link below for recipes) a few days ago and, after 6 hours, there were still enough coals left to go several more hours. I used the 3-2-1 method - 3 hours with no foil, 2 hours wrapped in heavy foil, and 1 hour with no foil. I checked the internal temp of the ribs after 6 hrs and it was only 160F. I wanted 170F and, since I didn't have time to go 2 or 3 more hours, I finished them off in foil in a 300F oven. I didn't like doing that so, next time, I'll give myself more time. The ribs were very tasty and tender with a good 1/4" smoke ring on both sides. No sauce needed, at least for my tastes. Lots of compliments. My sister-in-law said they were the best ribs she ever had. The proof is in the pudding.
https://www.google.com/search?q=rendezvous+memphis+rib+rub+recipe&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a


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## lazersteve (Oct 7, 2012)

I saw the Weber smoker grill add on recently myself on a cooking show ( Test Kitchen). I was very impressed, but haven't picked one up yet from Lowes.


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## acpeacemaker (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks, Chris I had to break out the smoker earlier because of you :lol:
That's one thing about around here in Missouri. Once cold starts coming, traveling down the backroads in the hills. There's always farmers with smoke shacks going. Smells so good.

Steve, I'm glad I'm not the only one that watches the "Test Kitchen".

Andrew


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## qst42know (Oct 7, 2012)

I know you bought wood pellets for your smoking but if you also like nuts save your hickory or pecan shells. They are excellent smoker material.


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## etack (Oct 8, 2012)

my favorite is apple. Love the sweet flavor it gives the meat. I have the rotierator for my 22.5 weber and love it to death. will have to try your way GSP as it is always a full time job to tend to the grill 8) 

Eric


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## Geo (Oct 8, 2012)

i have some crazy big hickory nuts this year. my 15 year old didnt know you could eat them. i told sure you can, but you need a hammer and a nail. it really was a nice crop of them this year even with the squirrels. think ill have some squirrel when it gets cold. :lol:


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## etack (Oct 8, 2012)

Geo said:


> my 15 year old didnt know you could eat them. i told sure you can, but you need a hammer and a nail. it really was a nice crop of them this year even with the squirrels.



You need a pointed vise jaw like this metal bendre. http://toolmonger.com/2008/04/24/controlled-angle-bends-with-a-bench-vise/

Hever had hickory nuts but I might go get me some from the woods next door. Do you need to cook them or anything before you eat them?

Eric


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## Geo (Oct 8, 2012)

nope, no cooking required. i would let them dry a couple of months if its this years crop though. eating green (raw) hickory nuts even in small quantities will give you the hot poops same as pecans. besides they get sweeter after they dry out. the thing about hickory nuts is that they store really well. they can stay nice and sweet for years in storage. if you can, its best to raid squirrel nest's for hickory nuts. it may sound mean, but squirrels have many such caches hidden all over.


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## fasTTcar (Oct 8, 2012)

I know this is cheating, but I have one of these and they are fantastic.

http://www.bradleysmoker.com/product/4-rack-digital-smoker/


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## 924T (Oct 9, 2012)

goldsilverpro,

What an excellent meat smoking tutorial!

I'm going to try it.

It looks like I'd better go get some hickory wood-----after reading all this, I'm hungry for
some back ribs.

Plus, I think hickory nuts are delicious.

This forum is the coolest place on earth, methinks.

Cheers,

Mike


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## rewalston (Oct 9, 2012)

I have a Brinkmann smoker that I would like to use, it's electric though. Here in Ontario it's getting kind of cold, any ideas on what I can do to insulate it so that it doesn't loose heat to the cold?

Rusty


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## goldsilverpro (Oct 9, 2012)

rewalston said:


> I have a Brinkmann smoker that I would like to use, it's electric though. Here in Ontario it's getting kind of cold, any ideas on what I can do to insulate it so that it doesn't loose heat to the cold?
> 
> Rusty


I inherited an ancient vertical Brinkmann electric smoker and did a pork roast in it awhile back. The one I have has no temp regulation - it's on or off. In the summer, it runs at least 300F-325F and that was too hot for low and slow smoking. I used a Variac on it, got the temp down to 250F, and the roast came out pretty good but it wasn't near as smoky as I like. For the winter it would be a problem. You can buy insulating blankets but most are not cheap. They make them for hot water heaters. Maybe some of that pink insulation or something similar - smoking temps aren't very high and it probably will withstand it. I wouldn't want fiberglass in the meat, though.

I had a pan of wet wood chips right over the element. This old Brinkmann had little venting, though, and, instead of burning the chips, it tended to pyrolyze them and there was a lot of carbon left over. When this happens, the smoke flavor is almost nil. You need for the wood (chips, chunks, pellets) to actually burn to get real smoke. To burn, you need air. The Weber kettle method burned them to ash.

_______________________________

For jerky, I recently bought a cheap 30" Masterbuilt, temp adjustable, box-type electric smoker on sale with the same problem. I didn't know what I was doing at the time or I would have bought something else with adjustable vents - not a Masterbuilt, though. All I looked at was the price tag and the fact that it weighed 50#. It came with a box for wood chips that sat on the element. I did a test run and got a lot of carbon left over. I then tested the pellet smoke gadget I bought and got the same results. The Masterbuilt smoker only has a 1/2" hole in the bottom and a 1/2" hole near the top back - no adjustable vents. I probably could crack the door a tiny bit but, instead, I bought a $10, 2800cc/min aquarium air pump from Walmart. I stuck a 6" stick of steel brake line up through the bottom hole about an inch and used an adjustable lab-type vinyl tubing clamp (made of metal) to hold it there. The air outlet from the brake line is directed on the pellet burning gadget. I attached the brake line to the pump with vinyl tubing. For adjustment, I put another clamp on the vinyl tubing. I haven't tried it yet but I think it will work (I hope so). I can always crack the door a smidge but smoke would be lost. The best way would be to modify the smoker and add a couple of adjustable vents. That could be a pain since the smoker is double walled and is probably insulated.


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## etack (Oct 9, 2012)

rewalston said:


> I have a Brinkmann smoker that I would like to use, it's electric though. Here in Ontario it's getting kind of cold, any ideas on what I can do to insulate it so that it doesn't loose heat to the cold?
> 
> Rusty



You could use felted wool blankets or sweaters. Got to be allot of them around you  

I use them as pot holders for my cast iron I use on a daily basis. they don't catch fire but they do singe.

Eric


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## rewalston (Oct 9, 2012)

That's too funny Eric. Actually I don't have many of those around. But I'm sure I could find some. I need to pick up a new temperature probe though, I cooked a turkey the other day and with the oven set a 325 the blasted probe was reading almost 400. Me thinks my probe is over baked and time for a new one.

Rusty


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## goldsilverpro (Oct 9, 2012)

rewalston said:


> That's too funny Eric. Actually I don't have many of those around. But I'm sure I could find some. I need to pick up a new temperature probe though, I cooked a turkey the other day and with the oven set a 325 the blasted probe was reading almost 400. Me thinks my probe is over baked and time for a new one.
> 
> Rusty


Dial thermometers aren't that reliable, especially when they've been used a lot. The probes on those digital thermometers can also go bad.

Measuring the smoker temp is something I haven't mastered. What type thermometer should I use and where should I put it? Many people say at grill level. Many just stick a dial candy thermometer in the vent. I did that and that may be the reason my ribs weren't done the other day after 6 hours. When you do that, it's in the smoker exhaust and heat does rise. I'm now thinking the thermometer was in a place that read hotter than the actual temp where the meat was. I did lay the probe of a digital thermometer on the grill and it read lower than the one in the vent. However, I then couldn't seal off the lid completely because of the wire. A tiny convection oven fan would be nice. 

Any ideas would be appreciated.


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## acpeacemaker (Oct 9, 2012)

Would a digital wireless work? About $50-$60 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004IMA718/ref=aw_d_detail?pd=1


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## goldsilverpro (Oct 9, 2012)

acpeacemaker said:


> Would a digital wireless work? About $50-$60
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004IMA718/ref=aw_d_detail?pd=1



Thanks. I have a cheaper digital wireless from Walmart ($15). I checked it in boiling water and it was right on the money (212F). Wireless means that you can use the receiver at a distance from the transmitter with no wires. However, the probe(s) (inside the smoker) is wired to the transmitter (outside the smoker) and the wire(s) go under the edge of the lid. The Maverick in the link works the same. The only difference is it has 2 probes and wires - 1 to the meat and 1 to the inside of the smoker clipped to the grill. Mine has 1 meat probe and wire that could be used for the smoker temp. I've thought about running the probe on mine through the top vent and onto the grill but it could be difficult to relocate it every time I removed and replaced the lid. I might rig up something to clip it to the grill and try it through the vent, though. Might be the best way.


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## Harold_V (Oct 10, 2012)

goldsilverpro said:


> [I have a cheaper digital wireless from Walmart ($15). I checked it in boiling water and it was right on the money (212F).


That's dependent on altitude. 212° @ sea level. Lower at higher elevations. 

Harold


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## Oz (Oct 10, 2012)

One of the neatest experiments is to demonstrate water boiling at ambient temperature under a bell glass.


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## goldsilverpro (Oct 10, 2012)

Harold_V said:


> goldsilverpro said:
> 
> 
> > [I have a cheaper digital wireless from Walmart ($15). I checked it in boiling water and it was right on the money (212F).
> ...



Elevation here 892'. Boiling point water = 210.4F


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## g_axelsson (Oct 11, 2012)

Oz said:


> One of the neatest experiments is to demonstrate water boiling at ambient temperature under a bell glass.



One of the neatest experiments is to boil water with vacuum under a bell glass until it freezes.

/Göran


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## Oz (Oct 11, 2012)

Well I had never seen it taken that far. I tried to imbed a video of it though unsuccessfully.
Thanks


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