OT: Smokers

[ronpolk]

I’d get a kamado of some type if I were you. When I first got in to smoking meats i used my Weber kettle and then wanted something easier so I got a pellet grill (green mountain grill). Didn’t like it. Had it for a few years and found myself never using because of the lack of smoke flavor. It is super easy to cook on but essentially no different than your kitchen oven.

I ended up buying a Weber summit and love it. In my opinion, can’t go wrong with green egg, kamado Joe or Weber summit. I went with the summit just because I liked it being lighter than the ceramic

 

[Dawgbite]

Just a thought. I was in Lowe’s a couple of weeks ago and the had Kettle Joes marked down to $200, regular $499. It’s a heck of deal at that price. It’s a pretty versatile grill and at that price it’s easy to try Kamado style cooking. The firebox is ceramic lined but the entire grill isn’t. Don’t know if that was every Lowe’s or just mine.

 

[jkpz28]

I run a Camp Chef electric pellet smoker and its been nothing but great for me. The hopper is big enough to do long slow cooks without having to refill and the ash removal is really easy with the way they designed it.

 

[Augustus McCrae]

I'll add another recommendation for RecTeq. They make a good product and their customer service is top notch. I also have a BGE and I love them both. Sometimes it's convenient to use them in tandem when I'm reverse searing a tomahawk ribeye. I'll start it on the RecTeq and do it low and slow until the internal temp hits 115 or so. In the meantime I'll get the BGE as hot as it will go then throw the tomahawk on there for a couple minutes per side. Always comes out great. Even if you don't go with a RecTeq I recommend checking out their website and YouTube channel. They put out a lot of grilling/smoking videos, or at least they used to. I also recommend following Malcolm Reed on YouTube. He also has a lot of great grilling/smoking videos. Good luck with whatever you decide. I enjoy all kinds of cooking, especially outdoor cooking so I always appreciate these threads.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

Usually meat only takes on smoke flavor in the first couple of hours.

This is a myth. Meat will take on smoke for as long as you leave it exposed to smoke. I think it got perpetuated by the smoke ring formation stopping at 140-170° depending on the meat.

There are 4 common ways of wrapping a brisket. Foil, foil boat, paper, and unwrapped. I have done them all this year. I wrapped after the stall 7-10 hours into the smoke. Unwrapped has way more smoke than foil wrapped. Paper wrap was second lowest. Foil boat pretty close to unwrapped.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

View attachment 261867

So it is true. Chicken growth hormones do cause big tiddies

 

[L4Dawg]

The hip dudes call those vapes.

Maybe so, but it works with almost no fuss or problems. Temp control is always perfect. The food from it is great!

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

So it is true. Chicken growth hormones do cause big tiddies

 

[Lucifer Morningstar]

Maybe so, but it works with almost no fuss or problems. Temp control is always perfect. The food from it is great!

This^^^^^ I have had BGE'S, Backwoods cabinet smokers, tended stick burners and they are all great. But there is no comparison in terms of ease of use, I mean I can turn my Yoder on from my phone and monitor everything from there. And honestly I have never had one single person in all the caterings and different parties I have cooked for notice a difference from a stick burner or BGE to a pellet smoker.

 

[cfree3434]

I just bought one of the new Chargriller Auto kamados that were on sale through walmart. Basically temp controlled kamado grill. I've also had a Weber Smoky Mountain and loved it too. It's basically set and forget once you dial in your intake vents.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

This is a myth. Meat will take on smoke for as long as you leave it exposed to smoke. I think it got perpetuated by the smoke ring formation stopping at 140-170° depending on the meat.

There are 4 common ways of wrapping a brisket. Foil, foil boat, paper, and unwrapped. I have done them all this year. I wrapped after the stall 7-10 hours into the smoke. Unwrapped has way more smoke than foil wrapped. Paper wrap was second lowest. Foil boat pretty close to unwrapped.

Smoke ring and smoke flavor are two different things, try it both ways next time (take it off smoke after two hours) you won't be able to tell the difference.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

Smoke ring and smoke flavor are two different things, try it both ways next time (take it off smoke after two hours) you won't be able to tell the difference.

I know the difference between smoke and a smoke ring, which can be achieved with zero smoke... Just rub some tender quick on a chunk of meat and throw it in the oven. The smoke ring is the reaction of NO and myoglobin. It stops right around the time the stall begins usually. This is where many people think the myth of the two hour smoke absorption began.

What I am saying is from my own personal experience of having cooked hundreds of butts and briskets over the years is you absolutely get more smoke. It's limitless. I have over smoked stuff to were the bark tastes acrid as hell.

This summer I have cooked 6 briskets on different occasions. I am at elevation and have tinkered with a few a different methods to help retain more moisture during my cooks. The smoke profile in a 12 hour cook is very noticeable in an unwrapped vs a brisket wrapped in hours 8-12. You will get nowhere near the smoke profile if you take it off after 2 hours and cook it in the oven.

Smoke adheres to the outside of the meat. And it's probably faster in the first few hours since it's at it's coolest and most moist, but it definitely keeps adding up. Google is your friend on this one.

Google Search Smoke Myth

And I know guys like @Dawgbite @PBRME @mcdawg22 who have smoked as much or more meat than I have over the years will back me up.

Here's my last brisket from the Saturday we beat Auburn. Cooked unwrapped until after the stall and wrapped in foil. Good smoke and very juicy and tender. Bark slightly soft in a few spots, but a restaurant quality brisket:






This is a foil boat. A lot more smoke because it kept adding smoke for the last 3 hours or so.



Here was the unwrapped one from this summer. Smokey as hell and dry as hell. Never again above 2000'.



Here's a perfect butt. Turbo style at 7 hours unwrapped at 325°. Way more smoke than if it had gone in the oven after 2 hours...



So, I'm not sure what you cook with, but if you like smoke, the longer it's exposed, the more smoke you get. Guaranteed.

I don't mean to be a jerk, but I am pretty serious about this stuff. I got real close to buying a BBQ joint this summer, but peeled off because of staffing challenges in the area.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I know the difference between smoke and a smoke ring, which can be achieved with zero smoke... Just rub some tender quick on a chunk of meat and throw it in the oven. The smoke ring is the reaction of NO and myoglobin. It stops right around the time the stall begins usually. This is where many people think the myth of the two hour smoke absorption began.

What I am saying is from my own personal experience of having cooked hundreds of butts and briskets over the years is you absolutely get more smoke. It's limitless. I have over smoked stuff to were the bark tastes acrid as hell.

This summer I have cooked 6 briskets on different occasions. I am at elevation and have tinkered with a few a different methods to help retain more moisture during my cooks. The smoke profile in a 12 hour cook is very noticeable in an unwrapped vs a brisket wrapped in hours 8-12. You will get nowhere near the smoke profile if you take it off after 2 hours and cook it in the oven.

Smoke adheres to the outside of the meat. And it's probably faster in the first few hours since it's at it's coolest and most moist, but it definitely keeps adding up. Google is your friend on this one.

Google Search Smoke Myth

And I know guys like @Dawgbite @PBRME @mcdawg22 who have smoked as much or more meat than I have over the years will back me up.

Here's my last brisket from the Saturday we beat Auburn. Cooked unwrapped until after the stall and wrapped in foil. Good smoke and very juicy and tender. Bark slightly soft in a few spots, but a restaurant quality brisket:

View attachment 262127

View attachment 262128


This is a foil boat. A lot more smoke because it kept adding smoke for the last 3 hours or so.

View attachment 262129

Here was the unwrapped one from this summer. Smokey as hell and dry as hell. Never again above 2000'.

View attachment 262131

Here's a perfect butt. Turbo style at 7 hours unwrapped at 325°. Way more smoke than if it had gone in the oven after 2 hours...

View attachment 262132

So, I'm not sure what you cook with, but if you like smoke, the longer it's exposed, the more smoke you get. Guaranteed.

I don't mean to be a jerk, but I am pretty serious about this stuff. I got real close to buying a BBQ joint this summer, but peeled off because of staffing challenges in the area.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Smart, not only staffing but food supply/costs and if this is a longer term economic downturn, which many think it will be, people will have less money for eating out.

There are so many new restaurants opening in Rankin and Madison counties i wonder how many of them have real business plans, rather than just following their dreams.

I still disagree on the smoke issue, but we can still be friends.

 

[Dawgbite]

I'll put my two cents in on the great 2022 smoke debate. I've cooked multiple briskets and one might only have an 1/8 smoke ring and the one beside it has a 3/8 inch smoke ring and both taste the same. I've never really cared enough about a smoke ring to put that much thought into it. To me the smoke ring is just some made up BS on the BBQ circuit to give judges something to look for that has little to no bearing on the taste of the meat. I do think that smoked meat absorbs about 90% of the smoke flavor in the first half of a cook. I think that once the bark forms that it blocks a lot of the smoke but more so than that, once the meat gets up to a temperature that juices start flowing out that it's then a one way street and it's difficult for the smoke to penetrate. I'm generally a no wrap guy but I do sometimes wrap if the situation requires it. Pink butcher paper is my wrap of choice but I prefer no wrap if I have the time to devote to the cook. My place is full of Hickory so I'm just a short stroll from hickory chunks but I honestly usually just smoke over lump charcoal alone. I feel like it gets plenty of smoke for my taste that way. I do use hickory or pecan in my big offset but not as a primary fuel, I use lump charcoal in it as well. While I was once a pulled pork guy, I'm now a chopped pork guy. In my opinion you get a better mix of the different muscles and bark chopping rather than just pulling.

 

[aTotal360]

I know the difference between smoke and a smoke ring, which can be achieved with zero smoke... Just rub some tender quick on a chunk of meat and throw it in the oven. The smoke ring is the reaction of NO and myoglobin. It stops right around the time the stall begins usually. This is where many people think the myth of the two hour smoke absorption began.

What I am saying is from my own personal experience of having cooked hundreds of butts and briskets over the years is you absolutely get more smoke. It's limitless. I have over smoked stuff to were the bark tastes acrid as hell.

This summer I have cooked 6 briskets on different occasions. I am at elevation and have tinkered with a few a different methods to help retain more moisture during my cooks. The smoke profile in a 12 hour cook is very noticeable in an unwrapped vs a brisket wrapped in hours 8-12. You will get nowhere near the smoke profile if you take it off after 2 hours and cook it in the oven.

Smoke adheres to the outside of the meat. And it's probably faster in the first few hours since it's at it's coolest and most moist, but it definitely keeps adding up. Google is your friend on this one.

Google Search Smoke Myth

And I know guys like @Dawgbite @PBRME @mcdawg22 who have smoked as much or more meat than I have over the years will back me up.

Here's my last brisket from the Saturday we beat Auburn. Cooked unwrapped until after the stall and wrapped in foil. Good smoke and very juicy and tender. Bark slightly soft in a few spots, but a restaurant quality brisket:

View attachment 262127

View attachment 262128


This is a foil boat. A lot more smoke because it kept adding smoke for the last 3 hours or so.

View attachment 262129

Here was the unwrapped one from this summer. Smokey as hell and dry as hell. Never again above 2000'.

View attachment 262131

Here's a perfect butt. Turbo style at 7 hours unwrapped at 325°. Way more smoke than if it had gone in the oven after 2 hours...

View attachment 262132

So, I'm not sure what you cook with, but if you like smoke, the longer it's exposed, the more smoke you get. Guaranteed.

I don't mean to be a jerk, but I am pretty serious about this stuff. I got real close to buying a BBQ joint this summer, but peeled off because of staffing challenges in the area.

I didn't know Bucees sold whole briskets.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

I didn't know Bucees sold whole briskets.

 

[Dawgbite]

I didn't know Bucees sold whole briskets.

Of course they do, you just have to buy a **** load of sammiches.

 

[1 Old Dog]

I've been wanting a smoker to add to my outdoor cooking repertoire for a while now. I've been doing all my smoking using offset heat on my charcoal grill, but I get tired of the struggle of regulating temperature on it. I want something I can set the temp on it and it does its thing. For those with smokers, do you prefer electric, charcoal, or pellet? Not too concerned about brand right now. Just trying to narrow down type and then I'll look at what brand fits the budget.

Reqtec RT700. Look up "set and forget" in a dictionary and you will see at picture of a Reqtec.