Looked at the Green Mountain Grills today.

[jcjack]

Make sure the temp probe is in the thickest part of the breast and not exposed to any air or hitting bone. Both will throw off the temp. If all is good there, it should slow down in temp rise as you get to the 165 mark.

 

[tikigriller]

Thanks.  It has seemed to slow down quite a bit.

To bad many newbies like me will never get to this thread....it has taken a life of its own that is proving to be extremely helpful to me!!!!

Thanks again....I really appreciate you all making me look good in front of my wife!  Will send some pics as soon as it is all done.  One thing I have been very good at, is NOT cheating at looking inside the grill.  HA!

 

[mowin]

Your good. You might eat a little early, but you will quickly learn NOT to plan on a set time to eat, but a general time frame.

 

[rogerwilco]

.......................... you will quickly learn NOT to plan on a set time to eat, but a general time frame.

Such as......."Tuesday!"

 

[rogerwilco]

 
I am paranoid.......seems like the temp on the chicken is racing up much faster than it should.  It's been on the grill for about 30 minutes or so and it is already at 120.  Is it safe to say the temp is going to slow down as it gets closer to the end desired temp?

It seems just about everything does that. The way my first brisket soared in temperature during the first hour of cooking, I was led to firmly believe it would be done in about an hour and ten minutes: took about thirteen hours.

 

[tikigriller]

Just cheated and checked the chicken since it hit 150. Skin is already nice and crispy with a good look to her. Seems to be coming along just fine!!

image.jpg

• tikigriller
• Aug 16, 2016

Does that temp probe look to be in a good spot?

 

[ammaturesmoker]

I am going to retrofit an old school Oklahoma Joe charcoal grill into a smoker with the Smoke daddy hopper.

 

[tikigriller]

The meat was perfect.......

image.jpeg

• tikigriller
• Aug 16, 2016

The plate looked good....

image.jpeg

• tikigriller
• Aug 16, 2016

It was just a tad salty. So either I did too much salt in the brine...18 cups of water and 1 1/4 cup sea salt....or too much rub that ended up being salty. It was just simply too salty.

Seasoning is always going to be my challenge. I don't have the taste buds to know what to use and how much.

But the skin was crispy. Simply cooked it breast side up at 335 in 90 degree outside temp until chicken reached 165. The meat and skin really was perfect. It was just the seasoning that missed.

Slowly getting better. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[mowin]

The meat was perfect.......

image.jpeg

• tikigriller
• Aug 16, 2016

The plate looked good....

image.jpeg

• tikigriller
• Aug 16, 2016

It was just a tad salty. So either I did too much salt in the brine...18 cups of water and 1 1/4 cup sea salt....or too much rub that ended up being salty. It was just simply too salty.

Seasoning is always going to be my challenge. I don't have the taste buds to know what to use and how much.

But the skin was crispy. Simply cooked it breast side up at 335 in 90 degree outside temp until chicken reached 165. The meat and skin really was perfect. It was just the seasoning that missed.

Slowly getting better. Thanks again for all the help.

1 1/4 cups is a little much salt IMO. I use 3/4 cup per gallon of water (16c). But I don't rarely use salt on my plated food.

 

[jcjack]

IMG_0558.JPG

• jcjack
• Aug 17, 2016

Don't feel bad - its all a learning curve.  Did smoked salmon tonight.  Used a recipe that had me dry brining overnight with brown sugar and salt, then rinsing, air drying, then smoking.  Turned out mostly well, but a tad on the salty side.  The recipe is better for smoked salmon as an appetizer (small slices on crackers with cream cheese) than as a main course.  Here's a photo of the plate.  Too bad the wife felt it too salty to finish!  No worries, appetizer leftovers. 

 

[mowin]

IMG_0558.JPG

• jcjack
• Aug 17, 2016

Don't feel bad - its all a learning curve.  Did smoked salmon tonight.  Used a recipe that had me dry brining overnight with brown sugar and salt, then rinsing, air drying, then smoking.  Turned out mostly well, but a tad on the salty side.  The recipe is better for smoked salmon as an appetizer (small slices on crackers with cream cheese) than as a main course.  Here's a photo of the plate.  Too bad the wife felt it too salty to finish!  No worries, appetizer leftovers. 

Gosh that looks good. Might sound silly, but keep notes of your cooks. It's much easier to look at notes on what you did a few weeks ago vs memory. It defiantly helps.

 

[tikigriller]

I'm playing it safe tonight. Tri tip marinated from the butcher that we like, baked potatoes-yes, they are on the grill already, and some green beans and pasta for the kiddos.

Oh...and a sweet onion..whole onion with a cube of butter and seasoned pepper. Cook as long as you want. Always gets destroyed by everyone before anything else.

If I screw this one up, I'm selling this thing!! LOL

 

[mowin]

I'm playing it safe tonight. Tri tip marinated from the butcher that we like, baked potatoes-yes, they are on the grill already, and some green beans and pasta for the kiddos.

Oh...and a sweet onion..whole onion with a cube of butter and seasoned pepper. Cook as long as you want. Always gets destroyed by everyone before anything else.

If I screw this one up, I'm selling this thing!! LOL

SOLD. LOL

 

[tikigriller]

Ok. 640pm. Tip put on grill at 225. Current meat reading at 69. Potatoes in the touch test don't feel anywhere close to being done after sitting I there at 350 for an hour, so I am definitely not worried about those over cooking while waiting on the meat.

Any ideas how long I can expect?

 

[tikigriller]

I'm fed up with this thing. I don't think anything is even working. Can't get the food therm to work worth a damn. Says my meat is already a 130. Can't stick it in a fatter piece of the tip. I don't even think the damn temp on the grill is right at this point. So ready to be done with it already. What good does anything do if it does not even give you the right damn info.

Is 225 even hot enough if I want to eat before midnight? Cooking potatoes at supposedly 350 for an hour and they still feel as hard as they did when I put them in there.

 

[tikigriller]

LOL

After sending an email to GMG about return policies, I gave up on their stupid food therm and cranked the temp up to 375 for 20 minutes a side. Everything turned out really good. Meat a little over cooked, but what I have learned this far, is forget about these stupid recipes. Nothing has worked for their site. Only thing that has worked thus far is the recommendation fro this site and friends who have cooked on these grills for a while now.

image.jpeg

• tikigriller
• Aug 17, 2016

 

[jcjack]

Invest in a good digital thermometer. I use the Maverick for both grill temperature and food temperature. Way more accurate. I have had good results with chicken, pork shoulders, and brisket. For the salmon, it was pretty foolproof.

Forgot the "corporate" recipes. About the only value from those is potentially the rubs or sauces. For cooking, I've gathered a variety of inputs from friends, smokers on the Internet, and my own experience in grilling and cooking. For example, on the salmon, one site said smoke for two hours. Another said 8. What a disparity!! Knowing that salmon cooks quickly, I did mine at 165F for a couple hours to get good smoke, then cranked to 225F for 30 minutes. I checked with a fork - flaky but still moist! Imagine the shoe leather I would have gone to 8 hours! Imagine the undercooked salmon if I stuck with the "pro's" recipe!

Also, I have found the GMG-DB to be a pretty good product overall. It has its limits (e.g., lighter smoke flavor than my old propane set up, need to use pellets which cost more than propane!) but it also has great upsides (e.g., automatically maintains temps set, ease of use, still gives a decent smoke flavor, easy clean up). Give it time and make sure to figure more time than you think for cooking - especially anything that needs to get to a higher temp to break down meat collagen!

 

[tikigriller]

Thanks  JC.  I  just have to be more patient.  I am so eager to have great new tasting food and have to realize, it is going to take a bit to get the hang of it.   Heck, after 5 days and some trial and error, I already now know how to make Ribs---Cook longer at 225-250, Chicken--Less Salt in the Brine or a different Rub---Tri Tip--about 250 for an hour to get a smoke, then crank it up to 350 and 20 minutes a side approximately!

Going to be interesting to see the response I get from GMG after I sent them a brutal email last night in my frustration asking about returning the grill and how useless I felt  it was! LOL

Tonight will be safe....not cooking dinner!!!

 

[mowin]

I agree with JC. Get a maverick 732 , 733 or a igrill2, and go by those temps. My DB is very close to set temps when set at 150†, but the higher I go they are way off.. like 75* off.
But I don't care. I go by what my grate temp probes are telling me, and I adjust the temps accordingly.

My right side is also hotter then the left. Again don't mind. If I'm cooking something like a packer, I'll flip it so it will cook evenly, or put the thinnest part on the cooler side.

You will learn your smoker, and master it. Give it time.

 

[tikigriller]

Ok...Kudos to GMG and their customer service.   Just got off the phone with Eric and we had a great conversation and some things to look for/do.  The little  things that he recommended changing right away, is to take the heat shield and slide it to the right as much as  possible.  He said a lot of people center it, as did I as it seems as though it should be, and it creates  a drag in the heat flow.   So that change will happen.  he also said that wrapping the drip trays, or  whatever they are called, is very recommended even though there are holes, to still wrap in foil.  Here is the twist for me however since I was already wrapping it in foil......he said to wrap it while it is on top of the other tray and wrap the edges of foil around them both.  When you only wrap the top one and then set it on the bottom one, it can create an air gap, effecting temps slightly.  he also recommended to always have the holes closed, not open.  Not sure why they would have the design if they recommend to always close  the holes, but I am sure there is some reasoning behind it.  I was  also using the  meat probe incorrectly.  Going into the side of the meat was not the way to go.....I need to go  straight down into the meat...so another case of possible user error.  Going to stick it in a glass of ice water tonight to see if it reads at the 32-36 degree mark to make sure it is working correctly. (it did for  the chicken)

I hope all that makes sense.  Bottom line, is I am happy with the answers he gave and the recommendations he said.   He did not sound like a salesman, or  someone trying to "make me happy"...he actually sounded like the folks I have been chatting with right here!!!