New to this,

[bnylander]

My wife and kids got me a Brinkman off set charcoal smoker for my birthday and I will be trying it out today on some ribs.

So far i have...

Fill small basket with charcoal, add some to the grill chamber to warm up

once charcoal is ready dump the grill chamber into the basket  get the temp to 250.

add wood Blocks....I have chips but i think i get some blocks...I wanted applewood for the ribs....but blocks seem the easiest to control temp with.....  For the chips i was just going to soak the chips....put them in a tinfoil bowl and set the bowl in with the coals......not sure if that would work or not.  Anyways....once you have good temp and smoke add ribs.

add charcoal and wood as needed to maintain temp and smoke

Cook 4 hours at 250 and enjoy.

As this is my first attempt at smoking I am sure I will learn more.  If anyone has a few starting tips im all ears.

I look forward to sharing my trials...and Successes here.

 

[humdinger]

*Bump*

I'm a propane guy so I can't help much here.

 

[rmmurray]

Welcome bnylander! :welcome:
1st things 1st: DO NOT SOAK YOUR CHIPS!!!!! Wet wood will create steam when introduced to heat. It must the dry out before it will even smoke. Just put the chunks or the chips in with the charcoal. The fire will do the rest.
2nd: Search minion method for the charcoal fire. You'll be pleased to learn the you shouldn't need to add much if any charcoal if done properly.
Good luck today.
- Ryan

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello and Welcome.  NO SOAK!  What is your location?  Good luck.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[bnylander]

Thanks for the tips ....NO soak got it.

Well i wont be eating till 9 ....got off work late...but i am determined to have a few beers....and smoke away.

Ill let you know  how they turn out.

I am in the Killeen TX area,

Retired military (22 Years Army Infantry)

Now I am a Real Estate Agent.

Living the American Dream.....Wife, Kids in College, and a mortgage :)

 

[themule69]

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David

 

[bnylander]

ok....So it was a struggle.

Couldn't keep the temperature high enough........had huge problems with that.

After 3.5 hours and the ribs not even looking like they were coming along..i threw them on the grill.

Lessons learned.....and still need answers too.

1. need to use Real Charcoal blocks instead of brickettes...I think that will help keep smoke side hotter.

2.  Need to put more charcoal in the fire side.

3.  need to create a little more space between the charcoal and the wood chunks.....they caught on fire and burned....was replacing wood every 15-20 min....maybe that is normal not sure.

what I am unsure of........I used regular kingsford bricketts.  I used probably 1/2 a large bag in the fire side to start and added some as we went along.......but accept when i started ....i was never able to get the temperature above 200.  So how much charcoal do you put in the fire pit to start.......i have a brinkman smoke and pit model 810.  

I did read a forum here about getting fire bricks and using the actual coal blocks instead of charcoal.  

Oh well ill take another stab at it saturday or sunday.

 

[gary s]

  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a cloudy and warm day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary

 

[rmmurray]

Hey, it was a great 1st attempt and good for you for trying. You should have had better luck reaching higher temps. I have a mini WSM so it's a completely different set up than your brinkmann. If you don't have a charcoal basket, you should. The basket will hold the briquettes tighter and create more heat for longer burns. As for the chunks, I only use two or three and I seperate them thought my basket. I also use minion method for burning so the entire basket doesn't burn all at once. Just keep playing with it, searching the forums and asking questions.
- Ryan

 

[bnylander]

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT ILL LET YOU KNOW HOW SUNDAY GOES....