Any pellet heads out there?
- Thread starter imaclone2
- Start date
Haven't decided yet.
Pork butt or ribs likely. Heck maybe both it's a long weekend. Probably some sausages too.
Might tackle a brisket, but not sure I want to invest that much time.
Finished redoing my deck last weekend and looking forward to sitting out there with a beer watching the smoker rather than working on the deck.
Pork butt or ribs likely. Heck maybe both it's a long weekend. Probably some sausages too.
Might tackle a brisket, but not sure I want to invest that much time.
Finished redoing my deck last weekend and looking forward to sitting out there with a beer watching the smoker rather than working on the deck.
Do you guys use electric smokers or charcoal or what? I've been wanting to get into this but not quite sure where to start. Those eggs look super nice but are quite a bit out of my price range..
How many hours does say a rack of ribs or a brisket take?
How many hours does say a rack of ribs or a brisket take?
Here's a link to times and temperatures.
http://www.helpingubbq.com/smoking-times-and-temperatures-chart/
The best advice I can give is don't get a real cheap smoker. Most people that are new to it make that mistake if they have never been around it. (raises hand)
You want something that can hold heat in and those really thin metal boxes just can't do it so it is a lot of work to maintain a consistent temperature. I am in the market for a decent smoker and still haven't decided yet. Most people will say that when it comes to charcoal smokers the Weber Smokey Mountain is going to give you the best bang for the buck.
Personally I prefer using wood and charcoal but you can get real good results with some of the better electric smokers. When I grew up the only thing I ever saw on a grill was hot dogs and hamburgers so I had to learn from scratch. I never had BBQ until I was in the midwest so I had a whole lot of learning to do.
I use my Weber Gold grill to smoke chicken and have had great luck with that. I plan on smoking a bunch of chicken breasts tonight after work. I smoked a prime rib on that Weber at Easter and it came out great also. I'm sure I could do a rack or two of ribs on it if I gave it a go. Might have to give that a shot this weekend.
I'm going to disagree a little bit with this. I recently got into smoking and received an electric Brinkmann as a hand me down. Have done some great Boston butts, ribs, wings, chickens, and turkeys on it so far (have yet to tackle a brisket). It does a really good job at holding a 215-250 degree temperature without much hassle and refilling wood chunks is pretty simple. It has been working so well for what I use it for that I have been continually putting off the 18 1/2" Weber Smokey Mountain. The biggest factor that will push me to the WSM is the extra grilling surface for when I start doing 3-4 10 lb pork butts or something like that at one time.
Overall, I would say a cheep electric might not be a bad idea for someone looking to get into smoking, since they typically will produce good results and at $80-100, not much of a loss if the person realizes that they don't really care for the hobby.
With having half a cow and pig use up something you have a lot of:
Smoke a meatloaf: use 2lbs beef, 1lb sausage.
Make a smoked pork loin roast.
Typically when we get a hog or cow I try and smoke something that involves the non-traditional smoked meats, that way you aren't doing a couple racks of ribs right away and then have none left but still have all that meat.
I'll be doing ribs.
I started with an electric smoker and I'm so thankful I moved on from that. The results I'm getting from my Rec Tec pellet smoker blow away the electric. My smoke rings are amazing.
I started with an electric smoker and I'm so thankful I moved on from that. The results I'm getting from my Rec Tec pellet smoker blow away the electric. My smoke rings are amazing.
If you want the low cost route. A Weber kettle grill and a "Smokenator" (Google it) used to give me some great results. I've found maintaining temperature with charcoal takes more work than I'm rather do (although sitting on my deck all day with a beer watching temperatures isn't always bad).
I've upgraded to a Smokey mountain gas smoker this year and loved the results. Based on friends/family I would personally stay away from electric. Ease of use is good but I think there's a difference in that. Someday I'll likely make the pellet jump.
If you are getting started (or actually regardless) I'd highly recommend amazingribs.com. It covers more than ribs, basically any outdoor cooking and has never steered me wrong.
I've upgraded to a Smokey mountain gas smoker this year and loved the results. Based on friends/family I would personally stay away from electric. Ease of use is good but I think there's a difference in that. Someday I'll likely make the pellet jump.
If you are getting started (or actually regardless) I'd highly recommend amazingribs.com. It covers more than ribs, basically any outdoor cooking and has never steered me wrong.
I am relatively new to smoking, only been doing it for about 6 months, but everything has turned out awesome so far. Never done a meat loaf. Do you have a rub recipe that you put on it? Or how do you cook yours?
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/meatloaf.html
Follow that recipe 80%. When you pull the meatloaf off the smoker, put it one a wire cookie cooling rack on a cookie sheet and let some of the fat drip off before eating it.
Aren't those things about a grand? My first car didn't cost that much. If I have a grand to spend I'll put it towards a new mountain bike. I need a good smoker (don't care whether it's wood/charcoal or electric) in the $300 range. Suggestions?
My neighbor just got one and he said he paid a grand for his. It is a very nice smoker though. I have a slightly cheaper Green Mountain Brand. Mine retailed for $700-800 but got mine for $500. I love it.
Weber Smokey Mountain, comes in 14.5", 18.5", and 22.5".
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001I8ZTJ0/thevirtualweberb
Little above your range, but I'm really happy with this...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ASIN=B006FU06M6&link_code=as3&tag=amazi0a8-20
