Rookie Reporting for Duty

[tndony]

I got a MES 30" on black Friday and have been smoking every chance i get.  I'm in Nashville, TN so the whether has been hit or miss having to watch out for rain etc also.  I have smoked 1 turkey breast, 1 12lb turkey, a chicken, a pork butt.  I have been having fun with it but VERY FRUSTRATED at cook times...... I bought a smokin recipe book from amazon and was using it as a guide for cook times etc.  I haven't had one be done in a correct time frame yet...... My 4lb pork butt cooked at 200-220 they said should take up to 6-8hours of slow cooking...... 15 hours later it still was registering like 160ish on temperature so i bumped it up to 275 for 20 minutes to get to 190ish and then it was AWESOME!!! But 14 hours for a 4 hour butt is a little ridiculous if you ask me...... I bought a oven thermometer to put in my smoker also to compare and MES has been holding what it says it is..... The butt i also didn't even have the vent open at all.....  So i'm anxious to do another one.  I'm smoking 3 turkey breasts this Friday for the homeless i plan on using turkey brine on this site.  I used another brine one other time it didn't have flavor of this brine. :)  Also how do I add a footnote of my posts like what i own MES  30" and amazen pellet smoker!!! :)  Lovin my amazen but i did try to use it on the windiest day of the year so blowing out the fire was a HUGE challenge!!! LOLLLLLLL

 

[scarbelly]

Hello TN and 

to SMF.  I notice in your intro that you were frustrated with cooking times. I also saw that you were cooking at 200-225 - if you bump that up to 225-250 that is where most of us that use electrics smoke. It will help with the times but the real answer is the temp tells us when it is done not the clock. A butt can go into a stall at anywhere from 150 -180 and sit there for a couple of hours then others sail right through with no stall.  Good luck with the Turkey and open that vent so you don't end up with creosote on the birds from the smoke being trapped  

 

[tndony]

Yeah, I have been smokin with the vent open ever since. :) That butt just sat at the temp for like 4-5 hours though which from what i have read was excessive so my buddy said it's been way to long in there bump it up to 275 to finish it and the pulled pork was awesome though. :)  I plan on doing a brisket this spring/summer as soon as i have a party. :)

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF! Glad to have you with us!

 

[jrod62]

:welcome1: TO SMF !!!

 

[sprky]

 to SMF. You have come to the right place for smoking info. This site is loaded with great info just use the search bar at top of page to find what you are looking for. If you can't locate the answer just ask folks here are willing to share there knowledge. I suggest you take  the 5 day e-course on smoking its chuck full of great info.Smoking  5-Day e-Course

 

[venture]

Welcome aboard!

Hang in there!  Get your temps under control with good therms.  After that, the meat is done when it is done?

Sometimes when the meat takes longer, you get rewarded!

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[scrappynadds]

Welcome............If it was easy everyone would be doing it...........It's an art just like anything else you need to practice practice and practice somemore.........

 

[smokinhusker]

Welcome to SMF! Sometimes patience is a virtue and with it comes the best smoked food! I've learned from the good folks here that it's not about cooking time but about internal temp of the food.

 

[mballi3011]

First off welcome to SMF. You'll really like this place for there are a bunch of really good folks here that would just love to help you with just about anything to do with smoking meat. Then if you have any questions you just post them here or yu can try in chat for a faster answer. If you are really new to all of this I would recommend that you look up and take the e-course. It is free and it will also give you the basics on smoking. So with all that said now go and get something to smoke.

Welcome To Your New Addiction

 

[ecto1]

Welcome to SMF glad you can join us.  We are big on Pics and love to help everyone out.  Remember the only question that is dumb is one not asked.  You will not find a friendlier place to talk Que on the web.

You are going to fit in just fine.