New to smoking already addicted send help!!

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

bourne1228

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 15, 2016
4
10
Hi Im Nate. Im an electrician out of Warren, Ohio. Just did my first smoke yesterday. I bought a Masterbuilt 30 inch 2 door propane model. I thought i saw somewhere a link for a different thermometer for that model if someone could help me there. Seems the factory one is off. I started with just some ribs and then decided to smoke anything i could yesterday lol. Did mac n cheese beans and corn. I loved the mac n cheese and beans. The corn was way to smokey i put it in no husk with some butter garlic and oregano brushed on. I did 2-2-1 on the ribs and they were a little tough. After reading some posts here I think they needed more time i had little to no pullback. Anyhow thanks for the add cant wait to learn more and read as much as i can! And smoke more maybe some good lake erie walleye!!
 
Welcome from SC, Nate. It's good to have you here on this great site. There are a lot of really fine folks here who are always eager to share their ideas, recipes and tips. All you have to do is ask and keep reading.

I would suggest you look at the River Country therms. There are others that are way more expensive, but not any better.

Good luck and good smokin', Joe. :grilling_smilie:
 
Hi Nate!

welcome1.gif
  to SMF!

Glad to have you with us!

Al
 
Welcome...You didn't say what Cut of Ribs you used. 2-2-1 is fine to get Baby Back Ribs cooked but you use 3-2-1 for Spare or St. Louis Cut Ribs at 225°F...JJ
 
Last edited:
texas.gif
  Good evening and welcome to the forum, from another hot day here in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary
 
Hi Nate, how does an electrician happen to buy a PROPANE smoker?    
biggrin.gif


I'm a wattburner, but you will love your new smoker.

The thermometers in all of them are pretty poor at best.

There are lots of good ones out there and like Joe said, you don't have to break the bank.

If you follow some of the advice you'll get here, you'll be making ribs to die for.

Even the bad ones taste darned good.

Welcome and always remember to have FUN.

                    Ed
 
No need to replace your factory thermometer, unless it doesn't read in degrees (some read: warm, smoke, Bbq/hot...or something totally hilarious like that). If it's an actual readable thermometer, use it, but calibrate it first with a known temp, either with the use of another calibrated thermometer in close proximity to your door therm, or the water-boil test. There are very few analog dial thermometers that can't be calibrated...look for the 7/16" (give or take) hex on the stem on the back. Turn that hex and your gauge reading changes...dial it in to what it should read and you're good to go.

Here's a few web pages to help you understand:

Boiling Point / Atmospheric Pressure / Altitude

http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oboilcalc.html

Note: atmospheric pressure is what determines the boiling-point of water. Atmospheric pressure can change from weather fronts or elevation/altitude.

As for the addiction, there's no help to be had...just keep feeding it, and enjoy...you'll probably end up being a hard-core lifer like the rest of us...LOL!!!

Eric
 
Thanks for all the tips. I checked the thermometer seems low about 5 degrees i havent adjusted it yet but definitely will. The ribs packaging said back ribs. Honestly they were probably a horrible cut but i didnt want to use our own pork on my first go. Also i think i was having a lot of flare up and have now started wrapping the chips in aluminum foil and poking pin holes. Seems to work well while i decide what to do with my chip tray (definitely need something better). Today im smoking a rack of spare ribs and a 4 pound pork but from our hog. The pork but i dry rubbed and a guy from work told me to wrap it and use brown sugar honey and butter. I believe i saw on SMF to wrap at 165 and leave wrapped till 203? Then let cool wrapped in foil a towel and place in a cooler. The ribs are thick so im assuming at least 3-2-1. Im finishing the butt with a finishing sauce i saw here. Thanks for all the help so far this site is full of people ready to answer questions and throw tips around. I really appreciate it
 
Last edited:
Hi Nate, how does an electrician happen to buy a PROPANE smoker?    :biggrin:
I'm a wattburner, but you will love your new smoker.
The thermometers in all of them are pretty poor at best.
There are lots of good ones out there and like Joe said, you don't have to break the bank.
If you follow some of the advice you'll get here, you'll be making ribs to die for.
Even the bad ones taste darned good.
Welcome and always remember to have FUN.

                    Ed


I despise electricity when i dont get paid to do it!!! Actually we do alot of horse camping where we have no electric hookup so electric was a no go anyhow. And i had a few drinks and found the propane 2 door on amazon (which is my downfall beer and free 2 day shipping. Genius!!) So yeah no electric. Thanks for the welcome
 
Thanks for all the tips. I checked the thermometer seems low about 5 degrees i havent adjusted it yet but definitely will. The ribs packaging said back ribs. Honestly they were probably a horrible cut but i didnt want to use our own pork on my first go. Also i think i was having a lot of flare up and have now started wrapping the chips in aluminum foil and poking pin holes. Seems to work well while i decide what to do with my chip tray (definitely need something better). Today im smoking a rack of spare ribs and a 4 pound pork but from our hog. The pork but i dry rubbed and a guy from work told me to wrap it and use brown sugar honey and butter. I believe i saw on SMF to wrap at 165 and leave wrapped till 203? Then let cool wrapped in foil a towel and place in a cooler. The ribs are thick so im assuming at least 3-2-1. Im finishing the butt with a finishing sauce i saw here. Thanks for all the help so far this site is full of people ready to answer questions and throw tips around. I really appreciate it
5* is pretty close...if you do nothing with it, just make a mental note and add that to your target smoke chamber temp...no worries. Main thing is knowing how accurate it is, then you can move forward from there.

Ditch the chips. Well, you can use them, but here's what I do with my LPG smokers: use smaller amounts of chips and more chunks of varied sizes. The chips start smoking fast and heavy and before they're done your small chunks will take over with a lighter smoke. Then the bigger chunks will pick up rest. The size of your larger chunks should be based on your anticipated length of cooking time...larger pieces requiring 12-24 hours to finish cooking should have large chunks to bring the smoke for a longer time period. With this method you rarely need to mess with your smoke wood after you're up and running. The bigger chunks smoke very slowly, so they seem to last an eternity...chips go fast with a heavier smoke up front, so this falls right into how I like to hot smoke meats (and other things). Heavier smoke up front, then carry it through with a lighter, thin smoke.

You can wrap your pulled pork subjects, but I don't. I smoke to finished temps on open grates, which creates a killer bark. I rest on an elevated grate over a baking or roasting pan, covered with a towel. The towel allows the meat/bark to breathe instead of steaming from it's own evaporating juices, while still providing some insulation to allow it to cool more slowly than out in open air. This will preserve that great bark you created and keep it hard and crisp.

If you have back ribs 2-2-1 is a good baseline for moderate bark with a tender bite. For less bark 2-2.5-0.5 is a good starting point. If you like a harder, heavier bark on your ribs, with a less tender bite, go no foil. If you want to just set the bark very lightly you only need 15-20 minutes at the end. There are a lot of tricks you can play with ribs, as you probably can imagine. More time on open grates from the start gives more smoke and less tenderness in the bite, if you cut the foiled time down. Once you foil you soften the bark, so if you want the bark set you have to go back to open grates at the end. I have skipped the 3rd step a few times just for what if...very tender bite and chew with bones popping out while handling is the result.

Eric
 
Last edited:
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Hot Threads

Clicky