New to Smoking Questions

[jjp2]

Thanks for the huge welcome on my Roll Call post, it was very impressive and gives new people the feeling of being welcomed and they've come to the right place (even though I got chidded for no qview of my 3 first smokes with my GOSM)

I'm planning my next smoke for a get together on March 6th. Yes, I will have qview to post after it. I have some questions I'd like to get input on...

1. Since smoking takes a long time, it seems it would make sense to smoke as much as possible without hindering the air flow, instead of 1-2 slaps of ribs. In the GOSM, I have the 4 racks at 24x14 so can fit a good deal of meat in it.

Does this make sense?
Is this what most do?
Does it affect time greatly or only slightly?

2. What have people found to be the best all round wood that has a mild/medium flavor (need to know its been smoked), but not over powering for brisket, ribs and chicken?

3. Should I cut a 14lbs brisket into 2 chunks and cook both at one, leave it whole or cook it whole or get 2 8 pounders to cook?

4. In cooking a large brisket (14lb whole), it estimates to be 21 hours. My GOSM keeps a very constant temp after the first hour which I fiddle to deal it in. Pro's and con's on cooking this overnight while napping?


Thanks,

John

 

[rbranstner]

Its always a good idea to fill up the smoker when firing it up. You might as well put the heat to some good use. I can't help you with the brisket since I have yet to smoke one. When you ask about wood type are you talking about regular wood stick pieces or lump wood?

 

[jjp2]

My GOSM is propane so I'm using wood chunks

 

[travcoman45]

1. I run mine full, freeze what I don't need fer later.
Better use a yer fuel.
Minimal affect on time.

2. 3 totally different meats there. Beef will handle heavier smokes such as hickory an mesquite easilly where it would over power chicken. Pork will take a heavier wood then poultry.

A good all round choice is maple which I use fer all my commercial smokes.

3. I don't, but ya can, it gives ya a bit more surface area an could speed up the smoke. I just don't bother cause it's smokin, it ain't spoused ta be fast.

4. Nothin wrong with that. Just be aware an safe, yer leavin a gas appliance alone an opperatin, things do happen, keep a fire extinguisher handy, keep the smoker away from combustibles an such. I'd check on it ever hour er two my self.

 

[grillin_all_day]

1. If you're going to load up your smoker, just remember that you will probably see a decent drop in temps due to all the meat going into the smoker. You will need to adjust your heat accordingly. On a good note though, once everything starts to come up to temps, you can dial back the heat.

2. If you're looking for wood that will not be overkill on the chicken, but goes well w/ beef and pork, look into cherry. I smoked a pork butt w/ it the other day and it had a nice mellow smoke flavor to it that wasn't over kill. It will go great w/ beef as well. If you're looking to only do the chicken, I've used alder w/ great success. Also, if you head into the woods for smoking room, there's a great sticky on a bunch of different woods with smoke profiles and what they can be paired with.

3. As far as the brisket, I've only done one, but I kept it whole. Check out the beef sticky for great information on prepping and smoking. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't come out as well as you had hoped. Mine was a valuable learning experience. I learned a ton on what NOT to do.

4. On a 14 lb brisket (that was the size of mine), start it way early. If you want to have it for dinner the next night, start it around at least 6 pm the day before. I started mine at 8 the previous day and just barely made it in time for dinner (thanks to an assist from foil and the oven!). Remember, should it get done early, you can put it in foil, throw a couple of old towels around it and put it into a cooler. You should get into the practice anyway to let your meat rest and redistribute all your juices into your meat. If you cut it right away, you will loose all of them and your meat will be dry. The pros of smoking over night? You're smoking, making delicious food; gives you plenty of time to catch up on your thinking

, you can put away a few beers to help the process; and it's just plain fun. The cons? You're a zombie the next day; if you fall asleep for too long, you forget to spritz your meat (briskets can be forgiving as long as it's not too long); and you're either hungover or still drunk if you have too many drinks! I spritzed my brisket every 2-2.5 hrs, so I was able to get some little naps in. I did sleep past my timer one time and it ended up at 3.5 hrs before I spritzed it, but no harm was done.

Sorry for the long post! Hopefully everything will help you out.

 

[jjp2]

On my first brisket, a 7 pounder, I trimmed, scored the fat, rubbed it and through it in with 4-5 chunks of Hickory and let it go till it hit 185, which was 9 hrs. Was very tender, juicy and very rich flavor. Maybe beginners luck as it came out so well.

 

[richoso1]

1. Remember that you may have different smoking temps at each rack level. But fill the racks and smoke on.

2. Go easy on mesquite or hickory.

3. Cutting it in half is fine if you're going to pull it.

4. Keep in mind that you'll probably need to add some wood during those hrs. and add water to the pan. Sleeping through the whole smoke isn't a safe thing, as many things can change like temps, run out of fuel, better to check it every ciouple of hours. Besides, your ribs will be done much sooner than a brisket. Good luck my friend.