# Driveway smoker



## nickyb (Apr 29, 2011)

Heyas,

  I am from Fort Walton Beach, FL and right now I am using a http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/products/char-broil-offset-smoker-american-gourmet-deluxe-grill  as my smoker and I have had it for about 3 years now.  I have been actually trying to smoke stuff since the Superbowl in 2010 (it also happens to be my birthday) and I have to say I did outstanding then.  I just did some ribs and weren't perfect but then some of the folks told me they hadn't ever had better so it makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

I only moved to Florida when the USAF moved me here in Nov 07 but I am married to a Texas girl and she was always talking about BBQ which I have come to find out is Brisket.  For myself for years I though she was talking about BBQ as is a gas grill some burgers, dogs, and chicken getting cooked, I am from upstate (and I mean really upstate (no seriously I don't think it should be a part of the US upstate NY (I mean Alaska calls and asks us if its cold upstate))) and I hadn't really ever been exposed to smoking much more than some hams, bacon, and sausages.  I had seen some things on it and for some reason I convinced the wife that the house we had just bought needed a grill.

So I bought the above grill saying I wanted a charcoal grill and I didn't even know what the firebox was for other than if maybe you wanted to cook something else :-/  So I used it as a normal charcoal grill for a while when I decided I wanted to cook some ribs for a superbowl/birthday party.  So I bought some ribs from Sam's Club and came home and said "What the hell and I supposed to do with these now?"  So I sat down and started searching, and searching, and more searching reading and eating everything I could up on this topic.  Man there is a ton of information out there.  So I found some advice and followed it.  From there I have been hooked.  I love smoking meat.  I keep looking at either building my own smoker or upgrading mine.  I have a current plan for a cooking arrangement of using some stuff I have but heat management is my biggest issue.

For this past Easter much to my delight I was asked to deep fry a turkey and smoke a brisket for some friends.  I happily complied and it turned out almost perfect.  The 10 lb brisket got a little heat attack at about 5 hours into cooking and for the next two kept having to get balanced.  Part of it was because I threw in a chuck of wood I had burned down quite a bit and knocked off large chucks.  These chunks were a little hotter than I planned and got some flames going once exposed to the air flow.  

But I still managed to control the cooking of the brisket though for those 2 hours it was sitting at around 270 - 300 instead of the nice steady 220 that I had been managing before that.  Still it turned out quite tender and led to a lot of the people there saying it was a damn good brisket.  Actually after a week now and running into some people they are still talking about it.  So it makes me pretty happy.

I am glad I have found this spot.  I have found other places to read from but no where has there been interaction and discussion that I have found.

I am definitely addicted.  I keep dreaming of being able to setup and just smoke meat and serve to people.  Along with some beans and a big pile of my Macaroni Salad.

Some of the things I am looking to learn more on is rubs, heat management, and some foundations to making some sauce as that is one thing I haven't done yet.  Not that I mind eating some Sweet Baby Ray's Sauce by any means but I would like to work on making my own sauces.

Well now I think I have typed enough to have bored you all so I guess a picture from this weekend.








Just after pulling them off within minutes of each other.  I left them alone to settle a little.  19 lb turkey and 9 lb brisket.


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## SmokinAl (Apr 29, 2011)

Welcome to SMF. Glad to have you join us. The bird & the brisket both look good, wish you would have cut into them so we could see how tender & juicy they were. How'd they taste?


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## adiochiro3 (Apr 29, 2011)

Welcome to the SMF family!  Looks good -- how was it??


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## nickyb (Apr 29, 2011)

The brisket was a little dryer than I wanted but it still melted in your mouth.  For the turkey I used a Creole Butter injection.  That was pretty good.  A whole lot of food though.  I deep fried two other chickens as well one with the Creole Butter and one with hot sauce.  Those were damn good.  

This weekend I will be doing a brisket and a Picnic Shoulder (my first try at pulled pork) and I might run to Sam's and get some Ribs.  It surprises me how good the meat is from Sam's but I am trying to find a good butcher around and see if I can get some even better cuts of meats.

By the way thanks for the welcomes!

- NickyB


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## nickyb (Apr 29, 2011)

So in an adolecent pique I must ask does Smoking Meat (and other things) now sound like it can be wrong in several different ways?


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## meateater (Apr 29, 2011)

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge.


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## fife (Apr 29, 2011)




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## tyotrain (Apr 30, 2011)

Have fun and Happy smoking


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## nickyb (Apr 30, 2011)

Thanks guys!


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## porked (Apr 30, 2011)

Looks like you're hooked, don't worry, it happens to all of us.


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## Bearcarver (Apr 30, 2011)

Welcome Nicky!

Good to have you with us, and nice job on the Turkey & Brisket!

Like Al said, maybe next time you could slice into the brisket, so we can take a "peek".

Bear


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## tjoff (Apr 30, 2011)

If you are looking for a good rub and sauce you should look into buying Jeff's recipes.  I bough them a few weeks ago and love them.  I will probably never buy a sauce from the store again.  My kids even love the sauce.  My olds puts it on what seems like everything.


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## nickyb (Apr 30, 2011)

tjoff said:


> If you are looking for a good rub and sauce you should look into buying Jeff's recipes.  I bough them a few weeks ago and love them.  I will probably never buy a sauce from the store again.  My kids even love the sauce.  My olds puts it on what seems like everything.




Cool I might have to look into that.  I experimented a little last night with making a rub of my own but I need more seasonings for what I was trying to do and a little more chance to experiment.  As for sauces I am really looking for the different basic ingredients and is really only something I need to do a little looking on to get an idea of the different kinds I want to try.

I also added to my collection.  I bought a charcoal chimney yesterday and this morning I picked up a Brinkmann 19-3/4 in. Vertical Square Smoker







So today I am just seasoning it and I am liking how it only needs a little lump charcoal and a few chunks of wood and it has been staying right around 220 - 250 range for a couple hours now.  Tomorrow I will see how it does with a couple BBs in it.  As for today I am making a brisket and I am going to try smoked mac and cheese with bacon in it as a side.  My neighbor called over she is going to make a salad and dessert (I kept telling her I wasn't sharing but she didn't seem to believe me).


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## beer-b-q (Apr 30, 2011)

Welcome to SMF, Glad to have you with us.

This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.

For those of you new to Smoking, be sure to check out *Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse*.

Click Here it's *"FREE"* ... 5 Day eCourseE

*[font=Arial,sans-serif]Tips for New Members:[/font]*


Be sure to put a general location on where you are located in your profile this helps us when answering questions you might have.

When posting your smoking adventures be sure to post plenty of *Qview* (Pictures).

Get a good Probe Thermometer as *We Smoke By Temperature NOT TIME*.

A good choice for a remote dual probe thermometer is the Maverick ET-732

If you are wanting to get into curing meat, there are many members here more than happy to help and give good advice.

If you are unsure of a procedure ASK, don't ASSUME, It will make your Smoking experience much more pleasant...


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## africanmeat (Apr 30, 2011)

welcome nicky it looks yummmy


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## hardslicer (May 1, 2011)

wow....you are into it deep brother....welcome!


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## scarbelly (May 1, 2011)

Great looking smoke -


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## fpnmf (May 1, 2011)

There is a small group here from upstate.

Me and Pops are from Adams Center (south of Watertown).

Dan is from up a little from Syracuse.

Tyotrain is from Potsdam.

Craig


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## sqwib (May 2, 2011)

Welcome Nicky


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## nickyb (Jul 22, 2011)

And I actually just made it worse... take a look at my post under wood smokers.  :-D


hardslicer said:


> wow....you are into it deep brother....welcome!


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## alelover (Jul 22, 2011)

to the addiction Nicky.


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