First time... Not so good.

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powersmokin

Fire Starter
Original poster
Mar 24, 2010
51
10
Pleasanton, CA
First time smoking EVER. Around 3, got my brinkmann all put together. Fired her up and sprayed the vegetable oil to cure it... did that for an hour had the thermo pegged on HOT.
I had my baby backs marinading in stubbs pork in the fridge for about an hour. membrane removed.
(keep in mind i have NO IDEA what im doing)
I was using kingsford Comp briquetes in the firebox, and 2 pieces of cal firewood. I dont even know if its oak or what..

let the wood go for like twenty minutes and pulled the meat out.

the temp gauge said, IDEAL. theres no degree reading.. ill need to get a good thermo today.

Tossed them in for mike 45 minutes, and had it on ideal for the 45. and around this time, it was like 7:30PM. so i needed to hurry it up. wrapped it, and boosted the temp for like 30 minutes, took the foil off and let it cook in the hot area for another 20.

When i tok the ribs out, they were uncooked in the middle. had to toss em in the webber gasser for like 10 minutes at 350... These ribs were NOT smoked. just cooked.

Meanwhile, im having continuous problems in the firebox. Coals were touching the side, and burned some of the paint off, the wood chunks fired up, even with the damper closed, and i could smell burning paint.. yum.

had to take some of the wood out.

got too cold.

FML. Im a complete newbb. just signed up for the 5 dayer
 
That doesn't sound very good if you were smelling burning paint.
Go to the main page and look on the left hand side under Jeff's how to articles and read the 3-2-1 method. This works awesome for doing ribs. You will use the 3-2-1 for spare ribs and 2-2-1 for baby backs. How it works is 3 hours on the smoker, then 2 hours in tinfoil with some juice and then a final hour back on the smoker to firm them up a bit. You really need to get a thermometer so you know what your temps are at. Those factory ones are off a lot of times and you want to know if ideal means 225 or 275 it will make a huge difference. I usually smoke my ribs around 225-250 if they get a little above or below for a little while I don't sweat it but I like to keep in in that range. I would suggest getting a dual wireless thermometer that way you will have one probe to monitor the temp of your smoker and another probe to monitor the temp of your meat. And being its wireless you don't have to site right by your smoker to know whats going on. Good luck in the future.
 
Hang in there it gets better.

I have an electric, so can only help you a little.

First you are going to ultimately need two temp probes; 1 for the smoker and one for the food.

With ribs you should search the 3-2-1 or 2-2-1 depending on the type of ribs. You will ultimately adjust these to your needs.

Good luck
 
Sounds like you might have been rushing a bit... next time give yourself some time... and i would def make sure your using a wood that your sure of the type...

On a side note that Stubbs is pretty good... I tried it for the 1st tme like a month ago... I found out about it from a Company I work w/ in TX...
 
Practice makes perfect. Learn from your mistakes and forge ahead. Asking questions here and reading the posts will get you on the right track in no time.
Good luck on your next smoke.
 
Bummer it didnt turn out so good, but hey at least it only gets better from here! This is the right place to be if you want to really learn from very knowledgable folks like the ones who have already given some great tips. I would also have to suggest a good temp probe, or 2, to give you an accurate reading on the temps in your smoker. I have a propane smoker, and will have an electric soon and knowing your temps is what its all about. Low and slow, the 3-2-1 or 2-2-1 methods will give you great results on you next try, especially if you know your temps and can keep the smoker working in that range with some TBS!
icon_wink.gif
 
Do yourself a favor and give yourself some more time. You need a good 5 hours to smoke BB ribs. It's not one of those things you can pull off in the afternoon after work. (Unless you are like me and don't mind eating at 11:00). It sounds like you learned a lot about controlling your temps on the maiden voyage. Just give it a little time and you'll get it down. Don't get discouraged.

And you are correct about that thermo. Can it and get yourself a good one.
 
I'm gonna guess the cal firewood was likely pine
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Type of wood is very important. Make sure you know what wood you have, there is a thread on this site that discusses the various woods that can be used. Read, read, and read. Then read some more and if you still have unanswered questions then start a thread and ask away. You will be up to speed in no time!!
 
Placebo's right - wood type really does matter. Also, you can search Google for your type smoker and some of the mods that have been done. There are a lot of very creative folks in the smoked meat world.
 
If I have time, ill go to a bbq store and get a dual probe wireless thermometer.

I don't know where to get wood. I already know I'm ditching the briquettes and going with lump.

tomorrow I'm trying tri tip. Wednesday ill do the 3-2-1. I'm familiar with the theory, but have yet to put it to practice. Can I use just straight charcoal? Can I use wood chips ontop of the coals? I heard somewhere, soak the chips for a half hour, wrap em in tin foil, poke holes and let it smoke?
 
I wouldn't pitch the briquettes use them until they are gone just mix them with some lump wood. I just recently started mixing my basket with a mixture of lump and briquettes and I am really liking it. To soak your chips or not is a big controversy. Some do some don't. I personally don't ever soak mine and I just throw a mixture of chips and chunks right on my fire basket. It doesn't take a lot.
 
Home Depot or a local store like that should have a basic supply of woods in the BBQ section... than just look around... if you cant find it local there are severl Company's that sell online...
 
And I thought I was the only one that did that. lol Exact samething happened to me concerning the outside coating burning off. I bought one of the "Brinkmann" Smoke n Pit's from Home Depot. Not the real deal I know, but hey, 300.00 cheaper than the real one so I couldn't pass that up. :) Anyway, I'm reading the directions and it clearly states not to let fire or hot embers touch the sides of the grill or firebox area. Ok, so I am thinking not a big deal. Well once you actually look inside the firebox area you will see it isn't that big. It was pretty much impossible to have any decent size amount of charcoal burning and not have it touching the sides. Not to mentiont the fact that as the charcoal burns and gets smaller it falls through the grate and then of course it is now directly upon the bottom of the firebox just burning away. Needless to say the entire bottom and part of the sides of my firebox caught on fire. This was during the seasoning so no food involved. I just let it burn off all of the coating it wanted to and it wanted a lot. Pretty much the entire bottom side of the firebox and the vent/door on the side of it. I could only laugh as I had just done exactly what the manual said not to do. Anyway, no problem. I just took a wire brush to it the next day, wiped it down, let it dry and put some high temp black spray paint on it just to help prevent rust.

Saturday I'll actually be doing my first food on it. I can't wait. :)

Just glad to see I'm not the only one buring the coating of there new SnP.

coroner
 
Also you after you get a temp probe, you may want to start on something easier like pulled pork or chicken, while you learn about how your particular smoker works.

Pork butts are very forgiving, and chicken can cook at a high temp easily. Most people cook ribs at a specific lower temp, like 220-230 range.
 
im heading down to the store in a sec here. lol ima get 4 metal probes. drill holes in the barrel and space them evenly down it to measure the heat in each quarter of the barrel, and getting some wood and a digi therm with probe.
 
Keep reading and learning what you can, there's alot to read on here, hell i learned every thing i know about smoking on here, that smoker will make some good food don't think you need a 300 dollar one, that one is a great starter smoker or even good for ever if you want.
 
Lol I know low and slow. I got a pot roast in there right now. Lol I'm smoking everything I can. I got my old smokey in right above my meat, and my probe in the roast. A 4lb er.. keepin it at 220 and goin till I reach 170
 
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