New smoker from Maryland

[tatts4life]

Hey the names Chris. I live in the DC metro area. My wife got me my first smoker for my birthday over the weekend. It's an electric Charbroil 2 in 1 smoker roaster. Gonna use it tonight and see how some pork loins turn out.

i was planning on getting a masterbuilt smoker but started seeing reviews on sites that said the element would short out or other issues. My brother in law works at lowes and said that he heard good things about the charbroil. My biggest reason for going with an electric is because I don't have to worry about keeping the temperature up or coals. Hopefully I made the right choice by getting this one. My only issue is that it's a round cylinder instead of being more like a box with racks. I guess I find out how good it works with ribs. I would of loved a box style with racks but couldn't find any that had good reviews.

 

[kathrynn]

 to SMF!  We are so glad you joined us!   (And a late Happy Birthday)
 

Also....sign up for Jeff's E-course.  It's great and you will learn so much from it!  http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-basics-ecourse

The Course is great for anyone no matter what your experience level may be!

If you need any help roaming around the forums....just holler!  Happy to help out!

Kat

 

[jrod62]

to SMF

 

[seenred]

Welcome aboard, Chris! Glad you joined us. You've found a great place to learn and share info. Lots of friendly and knowledgeable folks here who enjoy helping. Good luck with that new rig, and just ask when you need help and you'll get plenty.

 

[tatts4life]

Well smoking the pork loin was a success. Need to adjust the recipe a little bit but the smoker works great. I only had one minor issue but it might of been a time issue and not the smoker. The directions say that on full heat the wood chips should start smoking within 15 to 20 minutes. After 20 minutes they hadn't started smoking which meant that dinner would be getting pushed back. So I took a lighter and lit it near the chips which caught right away and started smoking. My guess is that they were minutes away from smoking but I needed to help them along in order to get dinner done in time. Next time I'll make sure I start the smoker earlier to see if it starts smoking.

 

[s2k9k]

Hi Chris! :welcome1: to SMF! We're happy you joined us!
Would you do us a favor and add your location to your profile, Thanks!

 

[tatts4life]

Sorry about that. Done

 

[hova1914]

Hey! A fellow DC Smoker! Welcome!

 

[mdboatbum]

Welcome Chris. You might look into the Amazn smoker sold by forum a member. There are several different variations, and they're designed to produce smoke independently of the chip tray in an electric smoker. Many of the watt burners on here swear by them.

Wow, seems like we have quite a few members around the Beltway. Might be time to start planning a DC gathering.

Good luck and enjoy the new hobby!

 

[tatts4life]

MDboatbum do you have a link about the Amazn smoker? I looked and can't find anything with that spelling.

 

[s2k9k]

MDboatbum do you have a link about the Amazn smoker? I looked and can't find anything with that spelling.

A-Maze-N Products is owned by Todd Johnson, a forum sponsor who has the best customer service you will find anywhere:
http://www.amazenproducts.com/

If you have any questions about which smoke generator would be best for you don't hesitate to call him.

 

[tatts4life]

Thanks but unfortunately those won't work with the smoker I have now. I have a Char-broil 2 in 1 electric smoker roaster. The section that holds the wood chips is a v shaped box that fits on the side next to the can which has holes that let the smoke in to smoke the meat. The electric coals rest right next to the smoker box. Like I said I probably just needed to wait a few more minutes when I used it the first time. It's a small box but it produced a good amount of smoke for close to an hour and a half before I thought I might need to reload it.

This is my first smoker so it's not like  its supposed to last the rest of my life. Once I get my own home and not have to rent a place I plan on getting a bigger better one.

 

[tatts4life]

So I figured I would post this here since I didn't want to start a new thread.

I'm cooking a 10.5 pound pork butt. Started at 5:30 this morning and things have been going good until a few minutes ago when the meat has stalled at 150 degrees for the last hour and a half. So curious I took my thermometer and moved it and all of a sudden the temp shot p to 165. When cooking a bone in pork but where is the best place to measure the temp? I started freaking out that I wouldn't have things done in time but now it looks like I might be okay.

 

[timberjet]

Bone in pork butts generally always stall at some point. That stall is A result of the connective tissue breaking down in there. My theory is that the tougher that chuck of meat is the longer your stall will be. I had A 3 and a half hour stall one time. You should always give yourself a few extra hours before smoking A Butt. You just never know. I would not recommend jacking the temp up or anything. Just wait it out. Hope this helps. Happy smoking.

 

[tatts4life]

Holy crap that's a long stall. Things ended up turning out really good. Since it was a Saturday we could push back dinner a little bit while I got other stuff done. The meat ended up turning out perfect. The only annoying thing about my smoker is it uses a basket to hold large meats so it was a pain to get out since it kind of cooked to the sides of the basket so things didn't just slide out. Other then that it was very moist. As for the temperature I didn't mess with it at all. I had read how the stall was normal and things would pick back up after that.