New to smoking meat!

[pargeman]

Hello all...I am a new person in the world of smoking meat...Love the grill but watching BBQ Pitmasters I thought I would try smoking (meat)!  I cooked a rack of ribs with charcoal and 4-5 pieces of hickory chunks....I used a rub with several spices and followed a random recipe from google...I cooked for 4 1/2 hours and loved the experience...when the ribs were "done" the meat was tender BUT the rub seemed to bake on the ribs and actually had to be scraped off to enjoy the meat.....I know not to use BBQ sauce because the sauce with baked faster than the meat, but if I went "lighter" on rub then it shouldn't be as thick next time?? Trying chicken (bone in) breasts this weekend...just light packet rub and cook!!! Wish me luck...ha 

Any advice would be appreciated...I do love to grill and now smoke!

 

[kathrynn]

Good Morning and Welcome!  Noticed that this is your first post at SMF.  Would you mind going to Roll Call and introduce yourself?  We can give you a proper SMF welcome!

Kat

 

[twingijon]

not sure about the spice buildup... but i do have some advice on chicken... and the word is leg quarters.  Leg quarters in my opinion... have the best results for chicken.  I buy a 10lb page and brine it overnight.  What ever temp your smoker is at just check the temp on the chicken every so often.  Pull with internal temp of 160.  The chicken is great.. we pull it.. put it in zip locks and then use it for pizza toppings.. lasagna... chicken salad.. a lot of things.  Then... boil the bones for stock.  You can freeze that... and any soup that calls for chicken stock is 10 times better with smoked chicken stock!!

First few times smoking can be intimidating... but after a few tries... you will love it!!

cheers..

twingi
 

 

[pargeman]

twingijon,  thanks for the advice....I tried chicken breasts with bone yesterday with just a couple of hickory chunks and after 4 hours the meat was juicy, very tasty, and the family loved it!! Really cant beat charcoal!  I didn't go rub this time...went with a NY State Fair marinade....was fantastic...My family isn't into leg quarters like I am....they only eat white meat(breasts)....

 

[smoking b]

I've smoked lots of chicken breasts & they come out great! If you tire of them & want to try something different sometime here are a couple things I do that may give you your own ideas...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/134007/tonights-smoke-to-feed-the-parents

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/132571/todays-smoke-for-the-evening-meal

Have fun smoking - It's a great thing to do! 

 

[spiketus54]

What temp did you cook your ribs at and for how long? Also what was your marinating process? Now I know people will say wrap them individually for a few hours, but I'm lazy and find that this way works fine... Just peel off the membrane and coat them in rub the night before, and put them in a big trash bag and into the fridge. Since you are marinating such a long time that way you don't need the help of the individual wrapping. Anyway... I find that if you just rub them down real good once the ribs won't actually let you put too much rub on... the excess will just fall off. By the time you take them out to put them on the smoker the rub will have soaked in and it should create a good bark rather than a thick coating of rub.