First smoke under my belt with qview

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schaydu

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Jan 13, 2010
239
17
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
I finally got my first smoke under my belt! It was an absolutely beautiful day here in Alabama. the sun was shining and it was warm 75 degrees outside. Since this was the first smoke i have ever done, i decided to do something that was cheap and not so difficult. Like i previously said, i had some chicken breasts in the freezer so i decided to give it a shot. It was challenging, but i got good results and i think i will do better next time. I had trouble maintaining a temp of 275. I didnt realize how much fuel i was going to use. I started off with a half bag of charcoal and then started putting mini pecan logs on top of the charcoal. I assumed that the charcoal would be enough to last for the whole smoke and that i would get by with just using three of the mini logs. Boy was i wrong. I ended up using about 10 of the mini logs because the charcoal was turning to ash. My biggest concern was the white smoke i was getting when i added new wood. Much to my relief it didnt affect the outcome of the meat. Anyhow enough rambling heres what I did.

First i lighly seasoned the breasts with garlic powder, cajun seasoning, and cayenne pepper for some heat.

then i marinated them in italian dressing for 45 minutes.

after they marinated for 45 minutes i put them on the smoker at 275 and let them get to an internal temp of 180.

Surprisingly they were very moist, and they had a nice smoke flavor to them.
 
Great job on your first smoke. Now you are going to be hooked. Every weekend will be consumed smoking and all week will be consumed thinking what you are going to smoke the next weekend. haha Nice smoker to by the way.
 
Very nice. Thanks for sharing!

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That scenic shot really made me homesick! I grew up in Georgia and lived in Tuscaloosa for a couple of years in the early-to-mid 90's. UA has a gorgeous campus.

The chicken looks great! I expect that the pecan was a nice touch -- I'll have to try that (I always figured on using Mesquite, maybe a mixture would work well).
 
Im new also and have been smoking every weekend now. Ive learned that when smoking always have more than enough fuel. I use hardwood lump charcoal which usually last the entirity of my smoke along with a few hickories that arent directly on the fire. Im still trying to perfect my ribs but love smoking. Cant wait till football tailgate season. Your chicken is gorgeauos by the way but one things missing in the picture. Some good ole cold beer
 
Thanks for compliments and for the advice on controlling the temp! i had a blast smoking the chicken. Im thinking about doing a whole chicken this weekend and gradually do something a little more difficult. this time i will invest in a big bag of lump charcoal and hickory chunks.

And to mythmaster: Yesterday was one of the prettiest days here in ttown that we have seen in a long time. I was born and raised here and wouldnt want to be anywhere else!
 
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