2nd go around, first was successful. Ready to try 2 racks and a pork loin.

[twopaper]

Hey everyone!

I wanted to report that my first smoking attempt was HIGHLY successful, thanks in large part to the excellent advice and very helpful tips I've received reading through these forums.  The first smoke saw two racks of St. Louis spare ribs, cooked with the 3-2-1 method with a crutch, regular spritzing with equal parts Jack Daniels and apple juice (also distributed evenly between the meat and myself).  I used lump charcoal and hickory chunks which had been soaked in water for ~30 minutes prior to being placed on the charcoal(this method was recommended to me by the guy who presented me with my first smoker but I'd love to hear what you guys think).

Tonight, I plan on two racks of Smoked Baby Back Ribs and the Herb Rubbed Smoked Pork Loin  and maybe a Turkey Tenderloin as well.
The temp today will be in the 90's, and the humidity will be roughly 35% in sunny Salt Lake City, UT.

Anyone have any special tips for me, or care to weigh in on the soaked v dry wood issue?

All comments, tips, tricks and ideas are welcomed!

 

[demosthenes9]

 
Hey everyone!

I wanted to report that my first smoking attempt was HIGHLY successful, thanks in large part to the excellent advice and very helpful tips I've received reading through these forums.  The first smoke saw two racks of St. Louis spare ribs, cooked with the 3-2-1 method with a crutch, regular spritzing with equal parts Jack Daniels and apple juice (also distributed evenly between the meat and myself).  I used lump charcoal and hickory chunks which had been soaked in water for ~30 minutes prior to being placed on the charcoal(this method was recommended to me by the guy who presented me with my first smoker but I'd love to hear what you guys think).

Tonight, I plan on two racks of Smoked Baby Back Ribs and the Herb Rubbed Smoked Pork Loin  and maybe a Turkey Tenderloin as well.
The temp today will be in the 90's, and the humidity will be roughly 35% in sunny Salt Lake City, UT.

Anyone have any special tips for me, or care to weigh in on the soaked v dry wood issue?

All comments, tips, tricks and ideas are welcomed!

Soaking wood is a waste of time.   Pork loin and turkey tenderloin cook times are determined by how thick they are, not how much they weigh.   Take the pork loin to about 140ish and the turkey to 160.    Good luck !!

 

[twopaper]

The thinking behind soaking the wood was explained to me as a longer smoke for the wood, instead of the chunks just burning up quickly.  Is there any truth/fact behind this?

 

[waywardswede]

I've never soaked wood, but the way it was explained to me is that wet wood gives off steam (which may not necessarily be a bad thing) until it dries enough to burn, at which point it starts giving off smoke.  The amount of smoke is the same, it just takes longer to get started while the moisture in the wood is being forced out.

 

[bobank03]

I don't soak my wood chunks either. 

 

[twopaper]

Thanks everyone.  I still have much to learn but I am most certainly hooked on this smoking thing.