Smoking Meat...

[WarmerBeer]

As I was told, water doesn't penetrate wood to any extent, that's why they build boats out of it.
Don't bother soaking your wood.

 

[seifer]

Spot on.

 

[Exile]

Tried to soak my wood last night, the misses had a headache

 

[seifer]

Lol, try oak instead of balsa wood next time.

 

[Bribie G]

Currently cooking pork belly, supermarket thick sausages and 2 kilos of drumsticks

My wood only lasted about half an hour ( first time that's happened since I was a teen)

So is it normal to keep recharging the wood tray from time to time? I used about a cup and a half and have another lot handy to put in about an hour before flame out.
With the two door model of course it's fairly trivial to open the bottom door and do the wood thingo.

ed: I only about quarter filled the wood tray, as the instructions on the Samba Brand chips said just to use a cup. I rehydrated but as posted above it's maybe not necessary.

 

[Exile]

Currently cooking pork belly, supermarket thick sausages and 2 kilos of drumsticks

My wood only lasted about half an hour ( first time that's happened since I was a teen)

So is it normal to keep recharging the wood tray from time to time? I used about a cup and a half and have another lot handy to put in about an hour before flame out.
With the two door model of course it's fairly trivial to open the bottom door and do the wood thingo.

ed: I only about quarter filled the wood tray, as the instructions on the Samba Brand chips said just to use a cup. I rehydrated but as posted above it's maybe not necessary.

I fill up my wood tray only once, because the smoke ring penetrates the meat before the outer layer gets crispy, I may be wrong tho

 

[Seaquebrew]

Apply smoke at the start of the cook, how long is a matter of personal preference

For a 10hr cook I would have it on for 2-3hrs (remember cooking to internal temperature not time )

It is a learning process, enjoy

Cheers

 

[Bribie G]

Oh merciful Allah, if it were not for the fact that there's pork on the plate, take me now..........

This shyte is incredible. It turned the supermarket snags into something you'd pay $20 a kilo for at a deli. The pork is succulent and smoky, the chicken is a melody of richness.... where has a smoking oven been all my life?

 

[Seaquebrew]

Nice work

A pork rib roast is about half way in my 25yr old Weber kettle with just 1 chunk of hickory helping the Heat Beads

Veges now in

Hmmmmm, crackling and Pale Ale

Cheers

 

[WarmerBeer]

Oh merciful Allah, if it were not for the fact that there's pork on the plate, take me now..........

This shyte is incredible. It turned the supermarket snags into something you'd pay $20 a kilo for at a deli. The pork is succulent and smoky, the chicken is a melody of richness.... where has a smoking oven been all my life?

smoker 3.jpg

I reckon you've overcooked the snags, albeit they're still great.

I usually give snags 1 hour, chicken wings/breast 2 hours, and a pork belly 4 or more, depending on thickness.

One trick with the snags, the skins will dehydrate when you pull them out of the smoke, making the skins tough. I put them straight into a bowl of water, then when I bring that inside, pull the snags out of the water, and you still get soft skin.

Try some decent Bratwurst sausage, smoked for an hour, rehydrated, then wrap and put back in the fridge until cooled. Slice them up, and you've got something you'd pay a lot from a continental delicatessen.

 

[peteru]

Smoke penetrates meat up to about 60C. So, the question is not so much how long, but to what temperature. When cold smoking, having smoke applied for 24 hours will be beneficial. If your smoker is at 180C, then anything past the first hour or even 1/2 hour is unlikely to make much difference.

When cooking meat, the best results are usually achieved by cooking at very low temperatures (60-80C) for an extended amount of time, then towards the end of the cook, raise the temperature about 20C above target and wait for the meat to get there. If you want to get caramelisation (browning) on the outside, take the meat out of the BBQ/smoker, ramp up the temperature (at least 180C, because the Mailard point is just above 150C) and then return the meat to the hot environment for a brief amount of time.

I usually do very thick steaks by smoking them for about 40-50 minutes at around 70-80C, until the internal temp reaches about 45C. Get them off the BBQ, ramp up the temperature to about 220C (easy to do with real charcoal), then return the steaks to the BBQ for about 3-5 minutes per side until internal temp hits 58-60C. That tends to give the "product shot" grill marks on the steak and raises the internal temperature to just below the point where the cells burst and all the juice floods out. I rarely eat steak in restaurants these days, because very few places can cook steak properly.

 

[Bribie G]

Bugger.
Picked a bad week to go on a diet.

Snags procedure sounds excellent.
Now off for a few giant steaks.

 

[WarmerBeer]

Bugger.
Picked a bad week to go on a diet.

 

[Bribie G]

Uncle Bribie's cleaning tip

If you have a smoker / oven with chrome shelves, to clean simply lay in laundry tub (edit: lay them in laundry tub) along with smoke tray, etc and cover with very hot water and a cup of liquid cloudy ammonia.
Leave for an hour
Nearly all the shit will dissolve and drop off, and just need a touch up with a stainless steel scrubber.

 

[Fents]

mallee root with charcoal apple tree trimmings for smoke

Costco Ribs before rub (Costco's ribs are so MEATY!)

Into the Akorm kamado for 5 hours @ 230f (no wrapping, just basting every 20mins for last hour)

Got eaten to fast for after pics!

 

[Exile]

Uncle Bribie's cleaning tip

If you have a smoker / oven with chrome shelves, to clean simply lay in laundry tub (edit: lay them in laundry tub) along with smoke tray, etc and cover with very hot water and a cup of liquid cloudy ammonia.
Leave for an hour
Nearly all the shit will dissolve and drop off, and just need a touch up with a stainless steel scrubber.

Grandfather Exiles cleaning tip
Or you could just use canola oil cooking spray and just wipe the chrome shelves clean :lol:

 

[Hop Thief]

Ok after looking at the aldi thread and then reading all of this thread, I couldn't help but go buy one of these aldi smokers tonight. I was going to wait a week or 2 to see if they come on special but when I checked tonight they had 5 left so grabbed one while they had em. Just finished putting it together a while ago but don't have any wood chips as yet so I can break it in. I'm not even sure I can even buy any tomorrow in the town I live in as we don't have a bunnings or bbq place. Looks like a road trip might be on the cards as I can't wait to try it. My first brew will be 2 weeks bottled on Thursday so what better way to try it than with a smoke up.

 

[peteru]

Most hardwood will do for smoking. Untreated, of course, and best if it's not completely green. Take a stroll through the nearest bit of bushland and pick up a few fallen branches. A few chunks of red gum (bark removed) or yellow box is nice. Try a banksia cone.

 

[shaunous]

Hot water and DiSan, another great cheap aldi product, cleans it all up a treat. Same process though, hot water in laundry sink.

Uncle Bribie's cleaning tip

If you have a smoker / oven with chrome shelves, to clean simply lay in laundry tub (edit: lay them in laundry tub) along with smoke tray, etc and cover with very hot water and a cup of liquid cloudy ammonia.
Leave for an hour
Nearly all the shit will dissolve and drop off, and just need a touch up with a stainless steel scrubber.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Most hardwood will do for smoking. Untreated, of course, and best if it's not completely green. Take a stroll through the nearest bit of bushland and pick up a few fallen branches. A few chunks of red gum (bark removed) or yellow box is nice. Try a banksia cone.

Some of the locals at Wooli here smoke the local oysters with Banksia...damn nice they are

Ironbark is my pick of native hardwoods for red meats, pastrami's, jerky etc