Who likes to smoke their meat?

djm

Well-Known Member
my experience with pit barrel cooker has been outstanding although I'm the simple type... set/forget/eat
 

jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
It's tough to argue with the Monkey's logic there, for all I've put in I should have just gotten a Green Egg.
But unless you have the budget to start with a Yeti, go with a Weber Smoky mt 18.5" as a starter (my current smoker). Maybe the 22.5" because you guys throw big parties.
Refueling after 8-10 hours doesn't upset me, and build quality and heat retention is about as good as you'll get for the price.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
super low budget get a Weber kettle, the big one, but will need a few mods.

Going to try my first rack of ribs this weekend on the large kettle. What kind of mods do you suggest?

Also what should I start with for wood chips? A quick search on amazon brings up so many options.
 

jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
+1 on apple or other fruitwood as the primary,
I usually do at least 2/3 apple with some hickory mixed in.
Hickory and mesquite you can oversmoke the meat,
never had that happen with apple.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
Keeping it fruity, good advice, thanks. The wife did mention eating smoked chicken at a friend's house that taste like nothing but smoke, so I'd like to avoid that.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
I started out with the Weber kettle with the Smokinator. I then moved up to the "18 Smokey Mountain. Once you have it dialed and seasoned, its fantastic, but not optimal for longer smokes. Buddy of mine has the Egg, and I hijack it from time to time to do ribs and brisket. The Egg is next level. Holds temp so well, and has the flexibility to do so much more. This shit is like bike riding, you get a bunch of cheap stuff and end up at the high end eventually, having spent 3x as much vs. going straight there. I'd say go straight to the Egg, even if it's a bit of a stretch, you won't be disappointed. And get a good thermometer.

Ceramics like the Egg and Primo are great home smokers, they are heavy so if you need to move it around, I think the XL size is about 200 lbs
I've talked to a number of guys at the smoking comps who brought them around and they swear by them, but are always concerned with damage during the moves
My only problem with them, the kettle and WSM is that they are round and limits the number of racks I can cook without some odd configuration
Also I think Pat mentioned this earlier, not the easiest to get to stay under 200F for fish is my preference. The sweet spot for the Egg is around 275-300F which I think is ideal for poultry. If money weren't an issue, I'd have the XXL Egg, I'd make bread and pizzas in there one week and a suckling pig the following. If you can't get at least the XL I'd wait and save for it, the others are too small IMO.

At the end of the day, you'll need to decide how often you plan to cook on a smoker. If it's once a month, dropping over a G seems excessive, even at twice a month, which is my norm I can't justify it at the moment.

@Monkey Soup what has your experience been smoking with Egg in the winter? The kettle is useless below 40F regardless how much I feed it or try to insulate.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Going to try my first rack of ribs this weekend on the large kettle. What kind of mods do you suggest?

Also what should I start with for wood chips? A quick search on amazon brings up so many options.

My is setup like this, with clay bricks, they suggest using insulated bricks in the article that Pat left here
keep a turkey pan at the bottom for drippings and a small water pan on top of the coals if you are doing fish are cooking for a longer time (this will keep your temps down to low 200s and below). All your meats should be to the left of the coals and not on top.

As for wood, I think @walter and @jmanic said it all. But get the chunks not the chips and soak them in water overnight.
I never use mesquite except for beef and even that's less than 30%. Apple is also my base wood for pork, chicken and fish. Hickory is mixed in proportionately less for the more delicate meats. This summer, I'm going to use more oak and maple as i have them drying in the backyard from downed trees. Oak is heavy than maple, kind of like hickory vs apple. Good luck, the kettle is a great budget option to get started but don't expect to go off and ride your bike for a few hours. I religiously check the temp every 15-20 with a wireless probe (you should get two), one for the meat the other for ambient.

smoking-on-weber-bricks.jpg
 

Monkey Soup

Angry Wanker
Ceramics like the Egg and Primo are great home smokers, they are heavy so if you need to move it around, I think the XL size is about 200 lbs
I've talked to a number of guys at the smoking comps who brought them around and they swear by them, but are always concerned with damage during the moves
My only problem with them, the kettle and WSM is that they are round and limits the number of racks I can cook without some odd configuration
Also I think Pat mentioned this earlier, not the easiest to get to stay under 200F for fish is my preference. The sweet spot for the Egg is around 275-300F which I think is ideal for poultry. If money weren't an issue, I'd have the XXL Egg, I'd make bread and pizzas in there one week and a suckling pig the following. If you can't get at least the XL I'd wait and save for it, the others are too small IMO.

At the end of the day, you'll need to decide how often you plan to cook on a smoker. If it's once a month, dropping over a G seems excessive, even at twice a month, which is my norm I can't justify it at the moment.

@Monkey Soup what has your experience been smoking with Egg in the winter? The kettle is useless below 40F regardless how much I feed it or try to insulate.


You can cook with the Egg all winter. I would recommend a size large, you can find them between $7-800. Once you get it up to temp, it holds pretty well, even in cold weather. Obviously I wouldn’t smoke on those single digit, 30mph wind days, but you can easily smoke in the 20-30’s. You can do it with the Smokey Mountain also, but wind is the killer there. It’s a leaky bastard, so the wind actually spikes your temps. The Egg on the other hand seals very well, you can control everything with the bottom vents. Other thing with the Egg is you can crank it up to close to 1000 degrees and get a steakhouse quality sear on your thick steaks, which is pretty amazing.
 

Monkey Soup

Angry Wanker
Going to try my first rack of ribs this weekend on the large kettle. What kind of mods do you suggest?

Also what should I start with for wood chips? A quick search on amazon brings up so many options.


QC’s setup is what you want, with a water-filled (hot water) drip pan on the indirect side. And no wood chips, you want chunks of wood (preferably some type of fruit wood), and you don’t want to overdo it. The meat only takes the smoke in the first 1.5-2hrs anyway, so just 1-2 chunks. Once you get a good bark, no more wood, just heat.
 
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rick81721

Lothar
You can cook with the Egg all winter. I would recommend a size large, you can find them between $7-800. Once you get it up to temp, it holds pretty well, even in cold weather. Obviously I wouldn’t smoke on those single digit, 30mph wind days, but you can easily smoke in the 20-30’s. You can do it with the Smokey Mountain also, but wind is the killer there. It’s a leaky bastard, so the wind actually spikes your temps. The Egg on the other hand seals very well, you can control everything with the bottom vents. Other thing with the Egg is you can crank it up to close to 1000 degrees and get a steakhouse quality sear on your thick steaks, which is pretty amazing.

Any thoughts on egg vs Kamado Joe?
 

Bike N Gear

Shop: Bike N Gear
Shop Keep
A large Egg is plenty large. I wouldn't want a larger one unless I had a huge family to cook for. I use it way more for grilling than I do for smoking, but every smoke has been super easy. Set it and the temp just holds, even in the Winter.

For grilling wood just tastes so much better than a gas grill. 1000+ degree steak sears won't happen at home any other way.
 

Bike N Gear

Shop: Bike N Gear
Shop Keep
Any thoughts on egg vs Kamado Joe?

I did a bunch of research back when I bought mine 4 years ago. Lots of people said the Joe was "just as good as a BGE," I don't recall anyone saying it was better in any way other than cost. I found a good deal on the EGG at the end of the season, so it was only about $100 more than the Joe. Figured I was only buying once as these last forever, so I'd go with the real deal.

Customer service has been great the only two times I needed it. Once because the delivery guys left a part off of it when they installed it (mailed out no questions) and once when I had some questions during my first smoke. Pro tip: When starting an Egg for a low and slow smoke, don't let the temp get to high with the thought of backing it down to smoking temp. These hold their heat so well, that can take hours. Lesson learned.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Blocking the wind is key with the WSM - good point there.

this is a good site - http://virtualweberbullet.com/tipsfaq.html
talks about different charcoal methods (i do minion)
mods and accessories.

you know, i never thought to buy a second one, and stack the center sections.......

at the end of the day, they are still round - and fitting 4 racks on 1 shelf is problematic.
unless ya do crown rack of ribs (which i have.)
 

jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Blocking the wind is key with the WSM - good point there.

this is a good site - http://virtualweberbullet.com/tipsfaq.html
talks about different charcoal methods (i do minion)
mods and accessories.

you know, i never thought to buy a second one, and stack the center sections.......

at the end of the day, they are still round - and fitting 4 racks on 1 shelf is problematic.
unless ya do crown rack of ribs (which i have.)
Okay, I have to ask, are you cooking brontosaurus ribs?
I know you said you don't like the standing racks, but with those I can work in 4-6 babyback racks easy per level just curving the ends.
Plenty of separation for smoke circulation.

But yes, valid point on the wind block. Ask me about the time I tried smoking 4 butts overnight in 30* temps with 15-20 mph winds.
Part of me died that night.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Okay, I have to ask, are you cooking brontosaurus ribs?
I know you said you don't like the standing racks, but with those I can work in 4-6 babyback racks easy per level just curving the ends.
Plenty of separation for smoke circulation.

But yes, valid point on the wind block. Ask me about the time I tried smoking 4 butts overnight in 30* temps with 15-20 mph winds.
Part of me died that night.

i shall take a picture. perhaps i have the 18.5" wsm.
my ribs go to 11.
 
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