- Jul 20, 2008
- 2
- 10
Well I decided to try my hand at smoking meat. I would like to apologize up front for this lengthy post, but I would like to know how to get different results from my first smoke.
Using a GOSM propane smoker purchased from Walmart and a book (Smoke & Spice, by the Jamisons) I tried my hand at smoking a 7 lb. pork butt and some salmon. From reading here, I gathered the thermostat on the smoker was unreliable, so I purchased a simple oven thermometer to place inside. Sure enough, it registered about 20 degrees cooler then the one in the smoker. Using some small hickory chips, I began the smoke at 9 AM. Living in So. Cal, the temperature that day got to about 90, and I was having trouble keeping smoker temp down, so I had opened the top vent fully. Still, the temp was at 220 in the morning, but climbed slowly and steadily to 250 later in the day. The soaked chips I put in the smoker box would start smoking a little after about 30 mins, then really take off about 10 mins later and smoke profusely for about 20 mins, and then die out. I would then add more and repeat, doing this about every hour and a half. After 7 hours I checked the pork temp with a digital insta read thermometer and it was just over 160, not sure what to do (because in my past experience, 160 is when pork is done) I took it out and wrapped it in aluminum foil to sit while I put the salmon in to smoke for about an hour.
The results? The pork was fantastic! Incredibly moist and silky smooth, but essentially no smoke flavor and it wasn't "pulled pork". More like the best pork roast I've ever had. The salmon, too, had essentially no smoke flavor, but delicious nonetheless. So, I am looking for some advice on what to do different next time to get a "truer" barbeque, and how I can get the temp of my smoker down. The propane tank was only open a quarter turn and the burner was on the lowest it could go.
Using a GOSM propane smoker purchased from Walmart and a book (Smoke & Spice, by the Jamisons) I tried my hand at smoking a 7 lb. pork butt and some salmon. From reading here, I gathered the thermostat on the smoker was unreliable, so I purchased a simple oven thermometer to place inside. Sure enough, it registered about 20 degrees cooler then the one in the smoker. Using some small hickory chips, I began the smoke at 9 AM. Living in So. Cal, the temperature that day got to about 90, and I was having trouble keeping smoker temp down, so I had opened the top vent fully. Still, the temp was at 220 in the morning, but climbed slowly and steadily to 250 later in the day. The soaked chips I put in the smoker box would start smoking a little after about 30 mins, then really take off about 10 mins later and smoke profusely for about 20 mins, and then die out. I would then add more and repeat, doing this about every hour and a half. After 7 hours I checked the pork temp with a digital insta read thermometer and it was just over 160, not sure what to do (because in my past experience, 160 is when pork is done) I took it out and wrapped it in aluminum foil to sit while I put the salmon in to smoke for about an hour.
The results? The pork was fantastic! Incredibly moist and silky smooth, but essentially no smoke flavor and it wasn't "pulled pork". More like the best pork roast I've ever had. The salmon, too, had essentially no smoke flavor, but delicious nonetheless. So, I am looking for some advice on what to do different next time to get a "truer" barbeque, and how I can get the temp of my smoker down. The propane tank was only open a quarter turn and the burner was on the lowest it could go.
