The Official Smoker Thread!

Any tips for those of us who don't have a smoker and will have to depend on an oven or the Weber grill outside?
 
Brangus said:
Anxious to see the finished product and how things turn out my friend. First timer here gonna try one or two later next week so I need your tips!
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I just pulled it when the internal temp hit 130 degrees. It's gotta rest for about 20 minutes. It'll keep rising to about 135 degrees and be medium rare to medium in the center when it's done resting...

Here is the recipe I followed. I have also cooked these in an oven before. Just put it in the oven and set a timer. It'll turn out perfect. This is really easy in the oven, just like baking a cake. ..

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The Ultimate Smoked Prime Rib Recipe | Hey Grill, Hey

Smoked prime rib is the crowning glory of every table. This meat is slow-smoked for amazing flavor and then seared for a rich exterior crust.
heygrillhey.com heygrillhey.com

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So I tried out double indirect smoking in my Akorn (for reference check post 353 in this thread) for the first time on Friday with some beef short ribs (first time smoking short ribs too).

Nothing fancy just right from the grocery store.


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This is how they looked going on. I used a Chipotle roasted garlic rub.
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I used some ceramic spacers between the two cooking stones. The only downside is that now there is no vertical space left for a water/drip pan so I covered the pizza stone with foil to keep it nice for pizzas.

I was able to run it at 230° very stable with no issues, which is what I was hoping to get out of the double indirect method. I do think I was getting more smoke to the fire as the ribs came out nicely smoked in just 5 hours.

Not as juicy and tender as a pork butt but not as dry as it looks in the photo either, lol. Lots of smokey flavor. Boy they were good!

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I've been using sort of a snake method of charcoal burning because I'm trying to keep the surface area that's burning small (smaller is hotter so less chance of flaming out). So that's why the charcoal is stacked like that. It was actually stacked narrower/taller, I think I bumped it or something lol. I'm using briquets because my theory is it will produce more even temps over time than lump. I use all hardwood briquets with no fillers. So this is what I saw after the cook.

My concern is that only about half the charcoal is burning, about half is wasted. Happens with any all hardwood briquets I've tried. Is this happening with anyone else using all hardwood briquets? I'm guessing standard briquets like kingsford probably have some agent in them that makes them burn fully. Maybe I should I switch back to lump? The pic below is from the short rib cook I posted above. There are hickory and cherry chunks in there.

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As a side note, that's grease from the ribs on the ledge on the left. Since I was using the double indirect method I could not use a drip pan so the grease ran off the second/top stone. Before if I didn't use a drip pan it would fall on the first cooking stone and burn right off, now that I'm using two stones the top stone is cooler so I've got this grease issue to deal with. :mad:
 
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Flashpoint said:
So I tried out double indirect smoking in my Akorn (for reference check post 353 in this thread) for the first time on Friday with some beef short ribs (first time smoking short ribs too).

Nothing fancy just right from the grocery store.


View attachment 714123

This is how they looked going on. I used a Chipotle roasted garlic rub.
View attachment 714127

I used some ceramic spacers between the two cooking stones. The only downside is that now there is no vertical space left for a water/drip pan so I covered the pizza stone with foil to keep it nice for pizzas.

I was able to run it at 230° very stable with no issues, which is what I was hoping to get out of the double indirect method. I do think I was getting more smoke to the fire as the ribs came out nicely smoked in just 5 hours.

Not as juicy and tender as a pork butt but not as dry as it looks in the photo either, lol. Boy they were good!

View attachment 714142
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Looks awesome!
 
Started this whole 10lb brisket at noon yesterday. Took it off at about 3am this morning, wrapped in butcher paper, a towel and in a cooler. Brought it to work to feed my employees for lunch

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Burt Gummer said:
Started this whole 10lb brisket at noon yesterday. Took it off at about 3am this morning, wrapped in butcher paper, a towel and in a cooler. Brought it to work to feed my employees for lunch

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That’s good boss right there. 👍
 
Brangus said:
@Alabamacoastie How close are we to seeing some pics of that hunk of meat after the knife has sliced through it ?
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Here you go! And, a pic of the left over meat and mashed potatoes. Two of my wife's brothers backed out at the last minute and we ended up with a lot of left overs. Probably 4 pounds of meat for tomorrow...

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Alabamacoastie said:
Here you go! And, a pic of the left over meat and mashed potatoes. Two of my wife's brothers backed out at the last minute and we ended up with a lot of left overs. Probably 4 pounds of meat for tomorrow...

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Vacuum packer is useful if you don’t have one. We took some of our leftovers for tomorrow and froze enough for 2 more meals another time. Best appliance I ever bought.
 
11 pound butt went on the smoker at 5:30am. We are gonna be eating good at dinner tonight!

Here's the rub I'm using today. It tastes just like Lay's BBQ potato chips! Sweet Heat!

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After 7 hours... Still cooking!

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I cooked two racks of spares today and shared them with my daughter's family. No "after" pictures, as soon as they were done I had to wrap them up and dash over to their house. They were pretty good. I rubbed them with Memphis Dust and cooked them over B&B briquettes and hickory.
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Pack72 said:
I cooked two racks of spares today and shared them with my daughter's family. No "after" pictures, as soon as they were done I had to wrap them up and dash over to their house. They were pretty good. I rubbed them with Memphis Dust and cooked them over B&B briquettes and hickory.
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One "after" photo, courtesy of my daughter.
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I put an 11lb Butt on the smoker at 9:30 thinking I was going to bed and let Smobot do it's thing overnight. But the damned thing died on me - damper server motor went out :( Now I gotta babysit this stupid thing overnight. Wish me luck.
 
Catfish said:
I put an 11lb Butt on the smoker at 9:30 thinking I was going to bed and let Smobot do it's thing overnight. But the damned thing died on me - damper server motor went out :( Now I gotta babysit this stupid thing overnight. Wish me luck.
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Oh man. Sorry you are dealing with that!
 
I did a two bone prime rib yesterday for my gf and I. This was the first one I’ve cooked myself. I learned a couple things. I made a paste with butter, bacon fat, and a a couple different prime steak seasoning and of course salt and pepper. I was planning on about 2-2.5 hours at 225 until 112-115 internal but after 1.5 hours my meat probe is telling me it’s ready to come off and rest. One side of the roast was over 120 degrees and the other side was 104-106. I freaked out not wanting to over cook it and pulled it off. I wrapped it in butcher paper and put it in a little yeti to rest. While it was resting I built a fire on my new fire pit and got it rolling with pecan chunks and a couple oak logs. Seared it off all on sides let it rest again while the potatoes were finishing in the oven. I could have let it go longer at 225* but it was not too rare for my gf and I. If we would have had guests I don’t know how it would have went over but it was just fine for us two. 1E71E10B-29C4-4F50-9CE7-822122186E40.jpeg601984F5-93A5-4077-ADDF-98D9D9BDC506.jpeg549B2772-AB32-47B9-994D-4634B6D5E684.jpeg
 
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Bigdave0924 said:
I did a two bone prime rib yesterday for my gf and I. This was the first one I’ve cooked myself. I learned a couple things. I made a paste with butter, bacon fat, and a a couple different prime steak seasoning and of course salt and pepper. I was planning on about 2-2.5 hours at 225 until 112-115 internal but after 1.5 hours my meat probe is telling me it’s ready to come off and rest. One side of the roast was over 120 degrees and the other side was 104-106. I freaked out not wanting to over cook it and pulled it off. I wrapped it in butcher paper and put it in a little yeti to rest. While it was resting I built a fire on my new fire pit and got it rolling with pecan chunks and a couple oak logs. Seared it off all on sides let it rest again while the potatoes were finishing in the oven. I could have let it go longer at 225* but it was not too rare for my gf and I. If we would have had guests I don’t know how it would have went over but it was just fine for us two. View attachment 720277View attachment 720278View attachment 720279
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That's some good looking meat!

When do we get to see a pic of the girlfriend? 😉
 
Alabamacoastie said:
I love it, but I haven't had a beer in 7 weeks, so my BBQ Timer is broken... I have to stick with the instaread thermometer...
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Going on 8 years for me I can’t control myself when I drink. That reminds me of a funny story when I was in college we all smoked way too much. When one person in our friend group would ask how long something is going to take or how long it will take to drive somewhere we always answered something like “two bowl packs, three tops we’ll be there”
 
Bigdave0924 said:
Going on 8 years for me I can’t control myself when I drink. That reminds me of a funny story when I was in college we all smoked way too much. When one person in our friend group would ask how long something is going to take or how long it will take to drive somewhere we always answered something like “two bowl packs, three tops we’ll be there”
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I act fine, but I drink too much beer and gain tons of water weight...

I'm on my yearly "health kick" where I go a couple months with no beer, lose 45lbs, look great, feel great, get lots of compliments, then I drink one beer, and that turns into two, and next thing you know I've gained 45lbs back...
 
KnotRight said:
It is 1:00 PM on Monday and I just put 3 slabs of baby back ribs on the smoker. WHY do I feel like I need to go and pour myself a bourbon in the middle of the day???????
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Because it is the right thing to do.
 
KnotRight said:
It is 1:00 PM on Monday and I just put 3 slabs of baby back ribs on the smoker. WHY do I feel like I need to go and pour myself a bourbon in the middle of the day???????
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Because if you’re able, why wouldn’t you 😉
 
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