Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: midnight Target on February 28, 2006, 09:54:27 AM
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Just got me one of these babies..
(http://www.farmerselectric.org/images/meco_smoker.jpg)
Any suggestions for a 1st attempt at nirvana?
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Careful kid, you'll shoot yer eye out with that thing!
:aok
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For a "maiden voyage" you can't go wrong with ribs.
Easy to cook, don't take very long and they're bone-suckin' good!
Since you have two grates though, I'd put a brisket on the lower grate, let it get goin' real good. (This site is EXCELLENT for water smoker recipes/techniques. I use their "overnight" method for brisket all the time now: Virtual Weber Bullet (http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html) )
Then I'd start my ribs, timing it to finish simultaneously with the brisket.
Get yourself a good "instant read" thermometer so you know when to quit cooking. Polder makes a good one that is relatively cheap.Polder Instant Read (http://www.improvementscatalog.com/product.asp?product=272195zz&dept_id=10311&cm_ven=Froogle&cm_cat=MeasuringHotpadsUtensils&cm_pla=Polder174_InstantRe&cm_ite=272195zz&code=macs=MP6WFGL&).
Another thing that is really "foolproof" is Pulled Pork. Get a pork butt; I like the bone in for flavor and it's easy to tell when it's done... the bone pulls out easily. Then you shred it and serve.
All of them great choices.
Be glad to help in anyway I can.
Enjoy! (Burp!)
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What is that, moonshine distillery?
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Looks like a pretty fine smoker to me.
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Thankee.
I have cherry wood and mesquite, prefrences?
The wife calls it R2.
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Is that like a Stainless steel ECB?(elcheapo Brinkman?) I want to get a nicer one myself.
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Actually I was talking to my boss about BBQ and such and he said he had a smoker in storage that he never used. He gave it to me yesterday. He said it was around $200 but no matter, free to me. It's pretty cool. Electric too BTW.
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Pork and cherry wood are a VERY nice matchup. So, pork ribs, pork butt, pork tenderloin.
Mesquite is strong, best for beef, venison, etc.
In either case, you don't need to oversmoke. Smoke is a seasoning, just like salt or pepper. Too much isn't necessarily better.
I looked at that one on the Web and it seemed to have a lot in common with a Weber Smokey Mountain. Looks significantly better than an ECB. It'll work fine.
Can't beat the price either! ;)
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Originally posted by midnight Target
Actually I was talking to my boss about BBQ and such and he said he had a smoker in storage that he never used. He gave it to me yesterday. He said it was around $200 but no matter, free to me. It's pretty cool. Electric too BTW.
Everything I've learned about cooking ribs from trial, error, tibulation, and bliss.
Get yourself:
Stubbs Rub
2 Racks of ribs
cherry and mesquite are good
coke
plastic baggies
foil
what ever sauce you like
two rib racks
Take the ribs and trim them as described on the link toad gave ya (basically cut the breast bone off, trim the skirt, and pull the membrane.)
once trimmed put them in a big bowl or baggies and soak them in coke overnight in the fridge.
The next morning pull them out pat them dry and rub them down good with the stubbs
once rubbed put them in the ribrack and cover them with paper towels. Put them back in the fridge and pull them out 45 minutes before you are ready to start cooking.
Get the smoker up to about 250 with a nice wisp of smoke coming from it. Put the ribs on and let the temp settle at about 225. cook them for about 2 hours adding new wood ever 30-45 minutes or as needed. After about 2 hours pull the ribs out and cover them with foil. (optional: BBQ sauce is optional when using a dry rubb, it's all about preference but when/if you foil them up you can cook them in the sauce.)
The foil lets them cook in their own juices. Check them again in about an hour or two, when you can pull the bones out by hand (using a twist and pull) they are good and done
cook time should be 3-4 hours
Make sure you don't let the water pan dry up keep it filled with water or beer.
also while my ribs cook I baste them down with apple juice that I put in a spray bottle. Swap the ribs around on the racks every so often so they cook evenly.
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R2 lol!
You going to invite LePaul over for dinner? :D
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Where it is electric, keep it on a side of the house where the temp won't fluctuate as much, it takes awhile to change the temp and get it where you want it with the electric.
I have the great outdoors smokey mountain series gas smoker, I think it's great and would buy it again. Got mine at ace hardware for about $160.00, it sells at walmart for about $100.00. (http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=11659888&search=great+outdoors+smoker)
It bums me out we can't have a BBQ sticky, there was a recipe for a rub that someone posted awhile back that was fantastic, I lost it.
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Originally posted by Sixpence
Where it is electric, keep it on a side of the house where the temp won't fluctuate as much, it takes awhile to change the temp and get it where you want it with the electric.
I have the great outdoors smokey mountain series gas smoker, I think it's great and would buy it again. Got mine at ace hardware for about $160.00, it sells at walmart for about $100.00. (http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=11659888&search=great+outdoors+smoker)
It bums me out we can't have a BBQ sticky, there was a recipe for a rub that someone posted awhile back that was fantastic, I lost it.
I got the same one, it cooks GREAT ribs in about 6 hours. Using the foil method in those things is a must. The only thing that sucks about those is the door thermometers need to be replaced with an internal polder like the one Toad mentioned. I use one on each rack stuck in a potato.
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Originally posted by Gunslinger
I got the same one, it cooks GREAT ribs in about 6 hours. Using the foil method in those things is a must. The only thing that sucks about those is the door thermometers need to be replaced with an internal polder like the one Toad mentioned. I use one on each rack stuck in a potato.
You must have watched the video that came with the smoker, the foil trick works great, and it keeps the meat from getting the burnt outer crust. I have done without the foil too and the ribs with the foil come out better, imo.
I have not had a problem with the thermometer yet, what's the potato thing? Can I just get an oven therm and hang it from a rack?
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After one smoking, the hang on oven therms get "smoked" and hard to read in my experience.
I like a good "through the wall" therm to monitor cooker temp and an "instant read" to poke the meat and check temp when it's getting close.
Polder has ones that do both but they have been a bit fragile for me.
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Very Nice MT!!
Toad knows better than I on the BBQ stuff, and I agree that the cherry and pork are a great combination.
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Apple Wood + Pork = ROXERS
And MT being the Califonia dude you are - Salmon + Alder = the yymmy, serve a slightly chilled pinot from the Sonoma coastal appelation.
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Originally posted by Sixpence
You must have watched the video that came with the smoker, the foil trick works great, and it keeps the meat from getting the burnt outer crust. I have done without the foil too and the ribs with the foil come out better, imo.
I have not had a problem with the thermometer yet, what's the potato thing? Can I just get an oven therm and hang it from a rack?
What you can do is take a wired thermometer and run it to the inside. You stick a potato on the rack and run the thermometer all the way through it so a good portion is sticking out the other end of the potato. This way you can tell the temp of the smoker at the rack.
I've used the oven rack hanging one and it worked for me for a couple of runs but then as toad said the glass get's all smokey and hard to read. I've also rigged a "candy thermometer" to the vent on the top. I like those because they are actually accurate compared to a metal one.
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Aces High Cook Book.
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Originally posted by lasersailor184
Aces High Cook Book.
With as many Euros like Dowding who post here the Aces High **** (think male chicken)((no not in that way you sick ****s, chickens are for eating not ****ing)) book would prolly sell better :D
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Originally posted by ygsmilo
, serve a slightly chilled pinot from the Sonoma coastal appelation.
Snooty midwesterners and their snooty wine ways...
:cool:
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Originally posted by Gunslinger
What you can do is take a wired thermometer and run it to the inside. You stick a potato on the rack and run the thermometer all the way through it so a good portion is sticking out the other end of the potato. This way you can tell the temp of the smoker at the rack.
I've used the oven rack hanging one and it worked for me for a couple of runs but then as toad said the glass get's all smokey and hard to read. I've also rigged a "candy thermometer" to the vent on the top. I like those because they are actually accurate compared to a metal one.
I remember seeing a show on TV
Was one of those BBQ cookoff competitions
This guy had
Two thermometors.whose guages were both on the outside of the grill One told him how hot the soker was and he had another thermometor that the probe end went into the meat and the guage was located on the outside of the smoker so you could tell the temp of the meat without ever opening the door.
Would love to find one of those
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Polder Dual Sensor Thermometer/Timer (http://www.qvc.com/asp/frameset.asp?aol_refer=false&msn_refer=false&nest=http://www.qvc.com/scripts/detail.dll?item=H114090!tpl=DETAIL!ref=GOG&ref=GOG&cm_ven=GOOGLEFEED&cm_cat=COOKING%20%26%20DINING&cm_pla=KITCHEN%20TOOLS&cm_ite=H114090)
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Originally posted by Saintaw
R2 lol!
You going to invite LePaul over for dinner? :D
Ha ha...if he's planning on cooking the feast he's talking...I'll pretend to agree with his politics for the food!
Boy, does look about the same size as ole R2-D2. Still working on the fella.
(http://www.checksix.net/mvc-006f.jpg)
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Originally posted by midnight Target
The wife calls it R2.
Really!!?? That's what my wife calls mine!
... but she an't talkin 'bout the BBQ.
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Originally posted by Toad
Polder Dual Sensor Thermometer/Timer (http://www.qvc.com/asp/frameset.asp?aol_refer=false&msn_refer=false&nest=http://www.qvc.com/scripts/detail.dll?item=H114090!tpl=DETAIL!ref=GOG&ref=GOG&cm_ven=GOOGLEFEED&cm_cat=COOKING%20%26%20DINING&cm_pla=KITCHEN%20TOOLS&cm_ite=H114090)
Cool!
I was hoping to find one I could just bolt to my Brinkman like the current low tech one I have. But that will due too
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Dred, treat it gentle. I've had two of 'em so far and both quit working in a short time. I babied them too. Not sure what actually went wrong. Probably the probes, which can be replaced.