- May 4, 2010
- 4
- 10
Hi All,
I am a new smoker from North Carolina! This is a great forum with many great folks and a ton of great info!
My first smoker (that I just retired) was a flower pot smoker made from two huge 18 inch pots and heated with a 1000W single eye burner. I modded the burner to be full on all the time by hot-wiring it straight to the power plug. I managed the temps by adding or subtracting extension cord. It would hold a perfect 220 for as long as I put the power to it :-) Used a cardboard box as a wind break... cheap and worked like a charm in 30 degree weather with snow on the ground!
In that smoker, I only did butts with Hickory. Did as much as 15 pounds of butt at a time between two different butts. All of the butts were cooked to an IT of between 200 and 205 and were fantastic.
Here is a pic of the last butt I pulled off that smoker:
I always serve a finishing sauce with my Butts in the tradition of Eastern Style NC BBQ. Lots of vinegar, a little sweet, a little salt, a little bite, no tomato or mustard of any type. Really really simple. I mopped my first butts but eventually stopped doing that.. no rubs either... I'll try a rub one day, but so far, I tend to like a lot of smoke :-)
Last week, I got a MES 30" for my birthday and have smoked with it 3 times already.
First smoke was 2 butts and a rack of BB's. Here is a pic of the BB's:
Smoked them nekkid for 4 hours @ 220 then for the last hour added on a bottled sauce and let them go till they poked real easy with a toothpick. They were good, but next time, I'll cook them a little longer and will probably foil them and do the 2-2-1 method...
Here is another pic after they were plated with a little slaw:
The slaw is really simple too... Packaged cabbage mix, couple big spoons of Miracle Whip and a little sugar... sometimes I'll add a few squirts of my finishing sauce if I feel like a little more twang....
Smoked a rack of spares next.... sprinkled on a little kosher salt and then smoked them to 160 IT then added sauce and cooked for another hour. Way too much smoke... will definately try the 3-2-1 method next time. I did not do the St. Louis cut on them this time, but will next time for sure!
Here is a pic of the spares:
This pic was shot BEFORE I sauced them for the last hour.
Today I smoked a butt. I used Apple wood for the first time. I really like the taste of the apple wood. I wasn't for sure if I would, but I did. After all, I am from the land of Hickory smoked BBQ...
sorry.. no pics of this last smoke...
Thanks for viewing and again, this is a great forum and I look forward many more posts.
Mick
I am a new smoker from North Carolina! This is a great forum with many great folks and a ton of great info!
My first smoker (that I just retired) was a flower pot smoker made from two huge 18 inch pots and heated with a 1000W single eye burner. I modded the burner to be full on all the time by hot-wiring it straight to the power plug. I managed the temps by adding or subtracting extension cord. It would hold a perfect 220 for as long as I put the power to it :-) Used a cardboard box as a wind break... cheap and worked like a charm in 30 degree weather with snow on the ground!
In that smoker, I only did butts with Hickory. Did as much as 15 pounds of butt at a time between two different butts. All of the butts were cooked to an IT of between 200 and 205 and were fantastic.
Here is a pic of the last butt I pulled off that smoker:
I always serve a finishing sauce with my Butts in the tradition of Eastern Style NC BBQ. Lots of vinegar, a little sweet, a little salt, a little bite, no tomato or mustard of any type. Really really simple. I mopped my first butts but eventually stopped doing that.. no rubs either... I'll try a rub one day, but so far, I tend to like a lot of smoke :-)
Last week, I got a MES 30" for my birthday and have smoked with it 3 times already.
First smoke was 2 butts and a rack of BB's. Here is a pic of the BB's:
Smoked them nekkid for 4 hours @ 220 then for the last hour added on a bottled sauce and let them go till they poked real easy with a toothpick. They were good, but next time, I'll cook them a little longer and will probably foil them and do the 2-2-1 method...
Here is another pic after they were plated with a little slaw:
The slaw is really simple too... Packaged cabbage mix, couple big spoons of Miracle Whip and a little sugar... sometimes I'll add a few squirts of my finishing sauce if I feel like a little more twang....
Smoked a rack of spares next.... sprinkled on a little kosher salt and then smoked them to 160 IT then added sauce and cooked for another hour. Way too much smoke... will definately try the 3-2-1 method next time. I did not do the St. Louis cut on them this time, but will next time for sure!
Here is a pic of the spares:
This pic was shot BEFORE I sauced them for the last hour.
Today I smoked a butt. I used Apple wood for the first time. I really like the taste of the apple wood. I wasn't for sure if I would, but I did. After all, I am from the land of Hickory smoked BBQ...
sorry.. no pics of this last smoke...
Thanks for viewing and again, this is a great forum and I look forward many more posts.
Mick
