Last night I finally had the chance to season our new Old Country Smoker. This lasted the better part of 5 hours. I kept playing with adding wood, moving wood, changing the air flow and just in general trying to get an idea how and what I could expect from her. Open the intake vents…and the temps climb rapidly…close them down to about ¼ open and things really seem to settle down. I did find that making small changes each time will help in keeping things stable…rather than large changes and chasing the temps up and down. …Say…I learned that from reading SMF!
While the fire was still cold (did not use coal…just wood) there were huge amounts of white billowing smoke.
However, about an hour after starting the fire, once I had a nice bed of coals starting to form…the smoke mellowed out, the smell changed and I believe I actually achieved TBS! I was able to maintain stable temps in the 225 to 250 range without much problem after things settled down. Should I start with lump charcoal (to provide a hot stable bed, and add wood to maintain and smoke?
I have a few pictures from last night. Sorry about the quality…but they were shot in the dark (on our almost finished deck). One of the shots you can just see a wisp of smoke above the stack.
Today I have prepped two butts using Jeff’s Rub (with extra cayenne pepper) and trying to follow the knowledge of the folks here at SMF. They were first coated with regular mustard. One is 8.8 lbs and the other is 7.2 lbs ( I guess I should expect about a 1.5-2 hours difference between them). They are now wrapped and in the refrigerator. I plan to make smoke around 5:00 in the morning (Friday).
We are planning a gathering for Saturday for a few close friends. I want to have the smoker up and running during that time. I will reheat the pulled pork…but plan to smoke some ABT’s and a couple of Fatties for the benefit of the guests (new toy…must show it off…hopefully I won’t burn the new deck to the ground!). This should allow folks to snack on things fresh out of the smoker.
OK…I’m excited and have gotten long winded (sorry!).
Here are the pictures.
While the fire was still cold (did not use coal…just wood) there were huge amounts of white billowing smoke.
I have a few pictures from last night. Sorry about the quality…but they were shot in the dark (on our almost finished deck). One of the shots you can just see a wisp of smoke above the stack.
Today I have prepped two butts using Jeff’s Rub (with extra cayenne pepper) and trying to follow the knowledge of the folks here at SMF. They were first coated with regular mustard. One is 8.8 lbs and the other is 7.2 lbs ( I guess I should expect about a 1.5-2 hours difference between them). They are now wrapped and in the refrigerator. I plan to make smoke around 5:00 in the morning (Friday).
We are planning a gathering for Saturday for a few close friends. I want to have the smoker up and running during that time. I will reheat the pulled pork…but plan to smoke some ABT’s and a couple of Fatties for the benefit of the guests (new toy…must show it off…hopefully I won’t burn the new deck to the ground!). This should allow folks to snack on things fresh out of the smoker.
OK…I’m excited and have gotten long winded (sorry!).