Hey all. I am a newbie on the forum. For Father's Day ,my wife got me that nice looking MES 40" model w/ window at Sam's. I have used it twice and am ready for 3rd time tomorrow. Here is my experience so far:
Father's Day - Smoked Ribs n Chicken thighs
Method: smoke temp 225-235, soaked hickory woodchips and added as manual directed. Did soak in water & apple juice mxiture which imparted some appple flavor. (thought of this my self, figured it couldn't hurt)
Ribs were darn near perfect. Pros: Cooked to perfection,follow Chatham Artillery method, flavorful. Cons: No smoke ring, very little smoke flavor
Chicken was pretty good. Good flavor, skin not that crispy but not rubbery. Did chicken 2 ways, one brined, the other injected & marinated. Did not notice mositure difference, both moist. To combat the rubbery skin, I pulled chicken off smoker when temp hit 150, put in convection oven (flavorwave) to crisp up, then glazed n back in smoker.
Pros: cooked well Cons: not much smoke flavor, skin not crispy but better than the rubbery that I have heard about.
Week 2 - Smoked Pork Butt for pulled pork
Method: Injected not brined. smoked at 225-240. After reading here I wanted to attemp the elusive smoke ring. I soaked some hickory chips and hickory chunks and got soem hardwood lump charcoal. Started with 2 large chunks of charcoal and 2 soaked hickory chunks and 1/2 C soaked hips. Added chips n chunk every 40 minutes or so along with some small charcoal.
Pork Butt: The pork butt stalled for 3 hours when it hit 152 degrees so I hade to pull off smoker at 194 degrees instead of 200 as I wanted as it was 7:30pm n family was still waiting to eat. I will say it was one of the tastiest pulled prok we ever had. Left overs have been even better. I tried a couple of finishing sauces (vinegar based) and they ruined the flavor, best wihout any mixed in. Great smoke flavor. Oh and about the smoke ring..........not a hint, sigh.......
Pros: Excellent flavor, perfect smoke flavor, good bark Cons: no smoke ring, long stall
4th of July Plan - Ribs 2 Ways
Method: Replicate 1st ribs from Fathers day with minor variant, aslightly sweter finihing sauce based upon feedback. Try to get more smoke flavor & smoke ring. 2nd rack will be a new twist and I'll mak it up as I go. Planning to do an asian rack. Homemade rub with ginger and finish glaze with hiosin,honey, and sriacha chili sauce (for a small bite)
smoke method: will smoke at 225, will add 4 charcaal briquettes and 2 soaked woodchuncks and some soaked woodchip while heating up, then add a briqutte, chunk, n chips once per hour. See if I get more smokiness in meat and the smoke ring. Will also put ribs on cold from fridge as I heard that may help.
Well, hope you have enjoyed my adventures so far as I have loved reading yours. If anyone has some feedback or help on some of my issues please reply. If you have any more questions on my methods or story I'll be glad to answer. Thanks
FM
Father's Day - Smoked Ribs n Chicken thighs
Method: smoke temp 225-235, soaked hickory woodchips and added as manual directed. Did soak in water & apple juice mxiture which imparted some appple flavor. (thought of this my self, figured it couldn't hurt)
Ribs were darn near perfect. Pros: Cooked to perfection,follow Chatham Artillery method, flavorful. Cons: No smoke ring, very little smoke flavor
Chicken was pretty good. Good flavor, skin not that crispy but not rubbery. Did chicken 2 ways, one brined, the other injected & marinated. Did not notice mositure difference, both moist. To combat the rubbery skin, I pulled chicken off smoker when temp hit 150, put in convection oven (flavorwave) to crisp up, then glazed n back in smoker.
Pros: cooked well Cons: not much smoke flavor, skin not crispy but better than the rubbery that I have heard about.
Week 2 - Smoked Pork Butt for pulled pork
Method: Injected not brined. smoked at 225-240. After reading here I wanted to attemp the elusive smoke ring. I soaked some hickory chips and hickory chunks and got soem hardwood lump charcoal. Started with 2 large chunks of charcoal and 2 soaked hickory chunks and 1/2 C soaked hips. Added chips n chunk every 40 minutes or so along with some small charcoal.
Pork Butt: The pork butt stalled for 3 hours when it hit 152 degrees so I hade to pull off smoker at 194 degrees instead of 200 as I wanted as it was 7:30pm n family was still waiting to eat. I will say it was one of the tastiest pulled prok we ever had. Left overs have been even better. I tried a couple of finishing sauces (vinegar based) and they ruined the flavor, best wihout any mixed in. Great smoke flavor. Oh and about the smoke ring..........not a hint, sigh.......
Pros: Excellent flavor, perfect smoke flavor, good bark Cons: no smoke ring, long stall
4th of July Plan - Ribs 2 Ways
Method: Replicate 1st ribs from Fathers day with minor variant, aslightly sweter finihing sauce based upon feedback. Try to get more smoke flavor & smoke ring. 2nd rack will be a new twist and I'll mak it up as I go. Planning to do an asian rack. Homemade rub with ginger and finish glaze with hiosin,honey, and sriacha chili sauce (for a small bite)
smoke method: will smoke at 225, will add 4 charcaal briquettes and 2 soaked woodchuncks and some soaked woodchip while heating up, then add a briqutte, chunk, n chips once per hour. See if I get more smokiness in meat and the smoke ring. Will also put ribs on cold from fridge as I heard that may help.
Well, hope you have enjoyed my adventures so far as I have loved reading yours. If anyone has some feedback or help on some of my issues please reply. If you have any more questions on my methods or story I'll be glad to answer. Thanks
FM