New Smoker Needs His Hand Held Plz

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myagentcam

Fire Starter
Original poster
Dec 28, 2015
45
20
Hi all. I just got my Masterbuilt Gas Smoker (30) for Christmas. I have run it to season it and believe I'm ready to get started. I have read and read and feel overwhelmed. Here's what I'm wanting to have for dinner tomorrow. I just bought this at a store. 7.5 lbs of beef brisket and 3 lbs of chicken legs and wings (smaller bar-type). Can anyone here give me somewhat of a step by step guide on how to cook them?

What IT do each need to be?
What chamber temp do I cook at?
Fat up or down?
Idea on how many hours each will take?

Things like this woukd be extremely helpful. I REALLY appreciate any assistance.
 
Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you on board.

If you will pose your questions in the search at the top of the page, you will find step-by-step instructions. Don't be concerned by how many hours to cook...rather go by the internal temp of the meat. Time suggestions are for estimates of how long a meat will take, not how long to actually cook.

Good luck

Lamar
 
Fat on and trimmed to about 1/8".  Fat side up.  Cook at 225.  It is done when tender. 195-205, never go past 205 - there be dragons!

Good luck, brisket is one of the hardest things to cook well.

Chicken is chicken.  Cook to normal chicken temp (160-165?)  the skin will be rubbery crap, throw it away.

Chicken should be about 2 -4 hours.  Brisket - anywhere between 8-20 hours. Perhaps longer.
 
Thanks for the info. After about an hour it seems I finally have the temp steady. Here's my dilemna. The front thermometer shows just over 175 F. A digital probe that I slid in to the rear shows about 225 F. I'm posted pictures of each. Which one would you go by? There seems to be a 50 degree difference. That really concerns me. Please see below.

THIS?


OR THIS?

 
I would go by the digital as most built in thermometers are almost always wrong as you indicate. You might consider what almost everyone does and purchase a good digital with probes. Most put one probe in the meat for the IT and the other about the level of the meat to know the actual cooking temp.

Good luck

Lamar
 
Thanks Lamar. I was thinking the digital one as well, but it certainly concerns me that there's a 50 degree swing. I was expecting a difference, but nowhere near that much.

I have a thermometer in my cart on Amazon but haven't pulled the trigger yet. It's the Maverick ET733. Do you have any recommendations on which one I should buy?
 
I don't have a maverick, but from what I read they are great. I have some cheaper ones that have been going good for three years now. Will probably go Maverick when they fail.

Not uncommon at all for a 50 degree difference. Just cheap thermometers and the factories expect customers to trust.

Lamar
 
The the chicken skin will be rubbery but 15-20 minutes in a 425 oven will fix that. No need to toss the best part...Add any sweet sauce the last 5 minutes...JJ
 
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I use a MAV 732, love it. I also have a few Taylor in oven and an accurate instant read (not electronic). You may be able to calibrate the door thermo or replace it.

It's done when it's done. Every cook is different. I use temp to get it in the ballpark 195F, then toothpick probe. When it's done it'll slide in no resistance.

Happy New year!

RG
 
To avoid rubbery skin on chicken all you need to do is run your smoker at higher temps, 325-350. Unfortunately when doing other meats you may not want to do that. As Chef JJ mentioned you can finish the chicken in the oven. If going that route I'd pull the chicken from the smoker when the IT hits 150. Put it in a 425 oven and take it to 165.

Along the lines of therms I have the Mav732, and the iGrill2 with 4 probes. I haven't used the Mav since I got the iGrill2. I had the original iGrill which only had two probes and I used the Mav when I needed more probes than two.

I also have a Thermowand from lavatools. These are great for doing quick checks on individual pieces of meat and for $25 on Amazon you can't go wrong.

On thing no one has mentioned is you need to test your probes to see how accurate they are. Here's a good method for checking.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...is-212-f-an-accurate-measure-of-boiling-water

Hope this helps. Good luck and don't forget to post some photos of your smokes.
 
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