Question about pre-heating.

[old sarge]

I own a Cookshack.  Cookshack says there is no need to pre-heat.  I never have and never will.   SmokinTex says there is no need to pre-heat their smokers either. BUT if you do, make sure the rack or racks are out so the meat will not stick.  Cold meat on cold racks. Also, wear heavy gloves when pulling the woodbox to load with wood.  Whether it is SI or CS or ST, all say not to use the smoker without the woodbox in place.  

As for cleaning, I wash my racks after use. As for the interior, after removing the foil from the box lid and the floor, I wipe the floor with paper towels to remove any dripping that got under the foil. If any of the seasoning is peeling at the ceiling, walls or door, I wipe or brush the loose stuff off. This is all done the day after. 

 

[daveomak]

I think preheating is important to kill pathogens, BEFORE you lay your food in the smoker.....

 

[atomicsmoke]

I heat my smoker before putting food in.

But....for killing pathogens: the general assumption is meat is contaminated already with everything from salmonella to botulism spore, ecoli and listeria. How much worse can it get?

 

[bodbob]

Hmmm, all food for thought. Thanks for all the tips Old Sarge. I appreciate it. Good point too Dave. I'm also wondering if a 10 or 15 minute preheat might help create some TBS???? I've done 3 test smokes in the SI 1 and I'm finally going to smoke some baby backs today. I've noticed that when I use the egg there is an initial period of about 15 minutes that all the smoke is heavy and white, but when I get it up to 200 or so it mellows into TBS. My SI 1 seems to just produce TWS.  Will a preheat help?

TIA,

BB

 

[old sarge]

I hadn't thought about pathogens.  I do pre-heat my  gas grill but that is to burn off the last endeavor and I wire brush it. 

 

[smokeyrobinson]

My baby backs turned out okay. Not the fault of the smoker at all. I used the Jeff rub and sauce and it was too spicy for my kids palette. I'm gonna tone down the cayenne next time around. Also too much smoke taste. I used 5oz of apple wood. Gonna use 3oz next time.

 

[bodbob]

Ya Smokey, it is a process...   I did my 1st smoke on the SI 1 yesterday. The ribs were ok. Gary's beans were great again. I was a little disappointed with the results on the ribs because they just didn't have the flavor that I get from my egg. I prepped them the night before just as I usually do. A compound rub of Montreal Spicy Steak seasoning, and Red Barons (a commercial bbq rub). Wrapped in stick and seal and refrigerated overnight. I used 2.4 oz. of almond and 1 smallish piece of lump in the wood tray. Put them in around 1pm and set the temp on the SI 1 at 225. Garys beans went in below them and I started watching the temp climb....for 2 hours. It finally hit 210 at 2 hours in and would go no farther so I took the beans out and put em in my oven to finish them. The temp in the SI 1 went up and down as expected then. Moving from set temp to about 15 degrees below set temp, so I reset it to around 235 and let her rock and roll for the rest of the cook. I started checking for doneness at about 4 hours. Finally pulled them at 5 hours and 30 minutes. The bend test didn't work but a toothpick went into the meat with little to no resistance. It was the 1st time I've actually cooked ribs long enough to get them to the temp required to melt down the collagens and connective tissue, and I found that I don't like em done that well. lol. Lesson learned. There wasn't any, and I repeat any red smoke ring even though I did have smoke coming out of the smoker for at least 2 hours. The taste was ok, but maybe a tiny bit bitter and the texture, as I said, overdone for my druthers. I'm going to use my AMZNPS tube for the next smoke and pull them sooner.

Cheers,

BB

 

[nichiowa]

I have a Smokin-Tex 1400 (pretty much the same as a Smokin-It.) I have read many posts regarding this issue as I was wondering the same thing.  The warning comes from the design of the smoker.  It is very well insulated with a very small inlet for air (at the drip pan) and a little larger exhaust.  The risk is that when it is heating it is an oxygen starved environment and the wood is smoldering.  In the perfect environment for a fire it needs more oxygen which is what happens when you open the door.  The answers that I have read were that it is safe to preheat without the wood box, then once up to temp and putting the meat in you can put the box in.  This has happened to me a few times and frankly scares the ^&% out of you.  I now preheat and just use the AMZNPTS and it is truly an AMAZEN product, lol.  Just thought I would share some of the info that I have collected.