New Jersey Newbie

[hoboken smokin]

I love all things low and slow being from Texas originally and growing up in Florida. Now I'm here in Hoboken NJ - the birthplace of baseball and Frank Sinatra - home to plenty of great Italian deli's and Cuban diners. The food in this town is incredible - the deli's offer sandwiches with homemade roast beef and homemade muzz big enough to feed you over 2 days, great veal Milanese from the Italian restaurants pounded thin and lightly fried or a nice beef braciole, or you can hit one of the Cuban joints and get a killer churrasco skirt steak marinated overnight and grilled to perfection. All these great options, but no brisket, no ribs, no pulled pork. I've got a better chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa's body or that missing Malaysian Airlines plane than I do of finding brisket in town. 

I decided I need to do it myself, so 2 weeks ago I purchased an Oklahoma Joe's Highland smoker and modified it with gaskets on the smoke chamber and the firebox, latches for the smoke chamber lid, a tuning plate, and a fire basket.  I took it on a maiden voyage this weekend with 2 racks of ribs. I used a rub recipe from 4 Rivers founding pitmaster and fellow Floridian John Rivers. Flavor was great with some killer bark, but the meat was a little tough close to the bone. Probably didnt help that temps were in the 45-55F range this past Sat - had a tough time keeping my temps stable. 

After my 1st attempt on the smoke I hit the internet for some helpful tips and found this great site. Glad to be on board and look forward to sharing plenty of my failures and hopefully a few successes. 

Thanks

J

 

[joe black]

Welcome from SC. This is a great site. There are lots of really good folks here who are always eager to share their ideas and tips. All you have to do is ask and keep on reading. I smoke baby loin back ribs at 260-275* and they are usually done enough for a good bend test in about 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Then I sauce/glaze the twice at 15 minute intervals. A little faster cook with no foil will give you a very good product and it won't be tough.

I use Jeff's rub and sauce for most of my pork and poultry. The recipes are available on here and the proceeds go to help maintain this site. The recipes are very user friendly and can be tweaked to suit your personal taste. Give them a try.

Good luck and good smokin', Joe

 

[SmokinAl]

 to SMF!

Glad to have you with us!

Al

 

[hoboken smokin]

Thanks for the helpful tip Joe. I'll take a look at Jeff's sauces and rubs too. 

Hoboken Smokin'

 

[hoboken smokin]

Thanks Al. What part of C FL are you from? I used to live in the Sanford area. 

 

[tropics]

J Welcome check out the NJ Group have fun use the search bar ask questions when u have them

Richie

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/groups/show/51/new-jersey-smokers

 

[hoboken smokin]

Thanks Richie, I'll take a look at the NJ group.