First Time "Smokin"

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papabob

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 29, 2014
21
10
Livonia, Michigan
At 62 and recently retired, I thought learning how to smoke would be a good way to kill some time. Over the years I've gottne pretty good at wok cooking and although I can't really see a connectioin between wok and smoking, I thought I'd give smoking a shot.

So for Christmas my darling bride of 40+ years got me a MES 40.

I started by assembling and seassoning according to directions and that all went pretty well. But that's where everything went south in a hurry.

I had some chicken wings that I thought would be a good first time sacrifice. I seasoned them according to the MES recipe for the "Smoky, Spciy Wings" and placed them on the preheted 250 smoker. Put in a half of a cup of soaked apple wood chips, a half of a pan of apple cider and closed the vent and set the timer for 1.5 hours just like in the recipe.

About a half hour into the smoke i noticed moisture on the inside glass of the smoker and I thought "hey the meat is staying nice and juicy." I opened the smoker and turned them just like the video said to.

At an hour, when I went to take them off to put them in the aluminum pan with sauce, just like the recipe, I noticed they were as mushy as if I put them in a pan of boiling water. But I sauced them anyway for the last 30 minutes.

Took them off at 1.5 hours and not only were them soft and mushy, but they tasted like they had an oily film on them.

Then I stumbled on your blog and found out that the top vent should always stay full open and what I was actually seeing was condensate and not moisture from the meat. At least the trash can was well fed last night.

So I guess I have a lot to learn and its not as simple as Myron makes it out to be on TV. But I have to admit that making a mistake with a smoker is alot safer than making a mistake with a 60k btu wok full of oil!

Thanks for letting me join your blog and be assured from now on I will "read first and cook second."

Happy New Year to All!

PapaBob
 
Papa Bob, I am sorry your first smoke turned out so bad.  At least you were smoking wings and not a $50 brisket.  Remember to use the search bar at the top of the page here for questions or issues you may have.  It is a great resource.  You can always post questions and a local expert will be along shortly to help you.  And yes vent, wide open.  Good luck of future smokes.

Richard
 
Thanks Bear55. Im sure with a lot of reading and some more trial and error, I will have some success in the future. And I will keep reading as its a great blog.

By the way, this is the first time I have ever used been on a blog. Kinda fun to know theree are others out there learning like me.

Thanks again and hopefully I will post a success soon!
 
Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David
 
texas.gif
  Good evening and welcome to the forum, from a cold and drizzly  day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

 Gary
 
PapaBob,
Welcome, from southern Ohio, to the best forum on the internet if you are looking to learn how to BBQ/smoke/brine/cure/inject. Well you get the picture if you can do it to something you put on a plate to eat then someone here has probably done it then smoked it.

Use the search bar at the top of the page and you will be led to the answer to most every question you can think of. If you don't find the answer there then just post it and someone will chime in with their opinion on the subject.

Hang in there Papa, as with anything new there is a learning curve, You already learned about the top vent, next smoke will be better!! Like you said before attempting anything new I spend almost as much time researching on here as I do cooking it. Anyway Welcome and have fun with your new pass time!!

Always remember the only dumb question is the one you don’t ask!!
Keep Smokin!!!
Wolf
 
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Thanks Gary....looking forward to learning from you masters and maybe someday I can provide some valuable advice. Thanks again. By the way in Michigan is sunny and 15F. How about that!
 
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