taste of my bbq

Any type of purchased BBQ Pit.

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taste of my bbq

Postby odb1967 » Thu Jul 10, 2014 6:46 am

my first smoke I did two slabs of ribs an a chicken, used oak and pecan wood, I had to fight the smoker because of all the smoke leaking from everywhere, but I managed to keep it between 225 and 300, smoked for about 4 a half hours, it looked ok for my first time but had a strong flavor and smell kind of like using charcoal with wayyy to much lighter fluid on it, not happy :whiteflag:
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby Wtxsmoker » Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:39 am

Use a charcoal chimney and forget the fluid. Use the mixion method to get coals going. I think lump is better than briqettes Let the pit smoke until stable and white smoke settles to nice blue color. You'll just have to learn about fire management and leaks. Keep a split or chunks of wood on fire box hot wood catches faster.

Smoking/bbq is more about fire management the cooking..IMHO
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby odb1967 » Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:45 am

Wtxsmoker wrote:Use a charcoal chimney and forget the fluid. Use the mixion method to get coals going. I think lump is better than briqettes Let the pit smoke until stable and white smoke settles to nice blue color. You'll just have to learn about fire management and leaks. Keep a split or chunks of wood on fire box hot wood catches faster.

Smoking/bbq is more about fire management the cooking..IMHO

someone said my wood may be bad or something, didn't understand that but oh well, also said something about wood burning wrong causing creosote, I`m totally lost friend
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby Wtxsmoker » Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:49 am

Smoke everywhere? That means the fire was smothered and not catching. Start the fire open fire box door and camber lid until you have a clean burning fire. Let the charcoal ash over then add a split(s) let them catch till you have a flame and they catch good. Close cook chamber fire box door and open stack and vent wide open. Let her burn until just before desired temp then begin closing of fire box vent.

If you learn to manage the fire you will never have to open the cook chamber to know what the meat looks like. You will learn to watch the stack for the sweet blue smoke of a well burning cooker.

It is not as hard as many make it. Just practice
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby odb1967 » Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:09 am

Wtxsmoker wrote:Smoke everywhere? That means the fire was smothered and not catching. Start the fire open fire box door and camber lid until you have a clean burning fire. Let the charcoal ash over then add a split(s) let them catch till you have a flame and they catch good. Close cook chamber fire box door and open stack and vent wide open. Let her burn until just before desired temp then begin closing of fire box vent.

If you learn to manage the fire you will never have to open the cook chamber to know what the meat looks like. You will learn to watch the stack for the sweet blue smoke of a well burning cooker.

It is not as hard as many make it. Just practice

thanks friend, yes I `ve got smoke coming from everywhere, its terrible, I didn't start with charcoal just wood and had a hard time with it through the whole smoke, I will try your way if I can, thanks for all the help, I need it :)
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby BluDawg » Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:51 am

Smoked meat don't mean thick white billowing smoke sure sign of a Smoldering fire. Smoldering fires produce creosote that deposits on the food and that my friend is is what you have. The biggest culprit is that nasty Kingsford charcoal. You have an Oklahoma Joe Offset smoker. Off set smokers are stick burners and are not designed to operate efficiently on charcoal. Off sets require a good draft established by running the exhaust damper WFO and controlling the temps through a combination of the intake opening more open more air hotter temps & the size of the fire it's self. This can not be achieved easily with Charcoal as the main heat source as you have found. Offsets require hands on and baby sitting feeding the fire a stick of wood at regular intervals to maintain your cook temp. Typically 1 split every 30-45 min. These pits are not set & forget!

Cooking on a stick burner the main Idea is to feed the wood at a rate to replenish the coal bed as it goes to ash to maintain its mass.
Cooking on a stick burner you cook in a Zone not at a set temp; My preferred cook temp is 300* My pit swings from 275-325. At 275 I add split my temp will creep up to 325 then drop back to 300 for a time then begin to fall and I repeat. Relax shelf the OCD tendencies.

I start my pit with about 2 lbs of Lump charcoal and 2 splits of Post oak. the Lump gives me a jump on a coal bed and the post oak provides the heat to heat up the pit. It takes about 45-1 hr for the pit to get to temp and stabilize. Then I add a preheated split (heated on top of the Fire box) Once it has fully ignited I load the meat. Then it is time to turn up the tunes pull up a chair a full cooler and a good book and tend the pit.

Watch the stack! you smoke should be very thin with a slight blue hue to invisible, sure sign of a clean fire.

in this pic I had just added a Split you don't want your smoke an thicker than this.
Image
Last edited by BluDawg on Thu Jul 10, 2014 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby Okie Sawbones » Thu Jul 10, 2014 11:27 am

BluDawg gave you some sage advice. My offset takes a good hour to come to temp, so don't get anxious.
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby Texan79423 » Thu Jul 10, 2014 6:46 pm

Bludawg gave some good advise for sure. use the lump charcoal to get her going add your wood and wait. I theory you need the coals for the heat base and controlling the fire. You add the wood to keep making coals for the heat. The fresh wood adds the smoke and the pit will heat up and your smoke may turn white ...for a while. Hey relax if you have coals it will settle down again and shortly you will have that desired blue smoke.

That said I have not cooked on a thin smoker in a long while and they do take more "fire tending". But relax and just try tending the fire the meat will survive! In my pit I can just build the fire, tend the fire, then pretty much put the meat on and tend the fire and forget it. The is a learning curve to all pits but all are the same, basically. I have a friend that can cook on about any cooker made. Learn to judge your fire and smoke.
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby Texan79423 » Thu Jul 10, 2014 6:58 pm

Found a pic of some blue smoke for you. Your pit is smaller but thick enough to allow the same heat for slow and low cooks. Those thin pits may require more tending but basics are the basics. Good luck
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby riseabove50 » Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:53 am

also, I see that no one has mentioned curing your smoker before you cook on it. did you cure it?

this means covering the entire interior of the cook chamber and grates with some type of cooking oil, grease or animal fat and lighting up the fire box. the smoke and heat will cure the inside of your smoker like a cast iron skillet and will also contribute to the flavor of your meat once it's cured. let it heat up and run it hot for several hours - at least 4 to let the oil and smoke meld together and adhere to the metal. you need that protective coating always. let it cool down. now you're ready to cook.

I can't add anything to what the other pros said. I actually learned a little as well.

thanks guys!
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Re: taste of my bbq

Postby Boots » Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:56 pm

+1 to BluDawg. Only other advice is to manage yer woods down to smaller or thinner chunks is a good way to slow feed yer fire efficiently. Picking up an Adze or Maul from yer local True Value, etc. and keeping it sharp with a file and stone is a good way to split it and saves yer back better than using an axe. Also a good way to elevate yer heart rate and help keep all the barbecue and beer Lbs off.

The maul is also a dual use tool - if you have to be gone from the house for a bit, the Spouse or Spousal Equivalent can keep it next to the door for home defense from street creepers, door knocking politicians, and other such vermin. One whack on Chester the Molester will work wonders on his permanent post-incarceration rehabilitation. If she is a bit more on the petite side, I recommend the smaller Mattock, a garden tool surely derived from medieval trench warfare. Just make sure not to put her in the mood to whack you with it by mistake. Corkscrews of the old T handle variety also are a dandy concealed weapon, as are shrimp de-veiners, meat hammers, filet knives, potato peelers, and rolling pins. Spatulas? In the hands of any halfway skilled wife, old Chuck Norris would be in terror of the "Aunt Jemima" treatment. Show me a wife armed with a chop stick and a kabob skewer, and I'll show you a Dancing Ninja of Death. Why, most ladies are armed better than a battalion of Airborne Rangers and don't even realize it. And if they have one of those butane torches for crime brulee? Madame Mayhem, at yer service, Fugggheddaboutit.

Redneck should add a ladies' home defense course to his barbecue classes, all the tools are right there at hand. Double yer revenues...

Here are a few ideas (link below). I have a maul, mattock, a pick axe, a garden claw, a swallowtail hoe, and a Dutch bush hook. If I am ever attacked by an invasion of Mr. Potato Heads, I am ready! Gotta get me one of those single edge bush hooks, maybe an R Hoe or two....

http://www.nuplacorp.com/product.php?id=146
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