Smokin-It Model 2 - First Smoke

[chs4]

Well I promised a little documentary of my first smoke with the Smokin-It Model 2, so here we go.

For the sake of clarity this will be my first smoke, of any kind, ever. Good or bad I'll lay it all out here and hopefully learn a thing or two.

I'll be smoking a 7-3/4lb. pork butt (for PP) and two racks of spare ribs. Rubbed and wrapped all tonight using Bilbo's rub...

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• chs4
• Apr 12, 2013

...and will also be whipping up a batch of Bilbo's sauce. Finishing sauce for the PP will be SoFlaQuer's recipe. (Thanks to both!)

Butt will be going on tomorrow night around 10:00pm, and I'll update my progress in this thread. Thanks to everyone here who has helped get me to this point, even if you don't realize it. :)

 

[geerock]

Wish you the best on your maiden smoke. I'm sure things are going to turn out great. And then you'll be hooked.

 

[bdskelly]

Looks like you made a good selection on the PB. How about dem ribs? 

 

[old sarge]

Looking forward to your story and the results.  It is all good.

 

[smoke happens]

Good luck, looks like a great start! Get lots of Q view!

 

[chs4]

Seasoned, foiled and ready to go...

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• chs4
• Apr 13, 2013

Sauce is simmering...

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• chs4
• Apr 13, 2013

More to come!

 

[chs4]

And we're off!

Butt went on around 9:30pm:

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• chs4
• Apr 13, 2013

One chunk of hickory and one chunk of apple in the box. About a cup of apple juice in the drip pan.

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• chs4
• Apr 13, 2013

I'm keeping a log for my own benefit, but for those who might care to know:

Smoker set temp: 225F
Ambient temp: 54F

That's all for now. Unless something goes crazy temp-wise I don't plan on opening the smoker again tonight, so no more Q-view until tomorrow. I'll post another update tonight if anything interesting happens, but I'm hoping nothing "interesting" happens!

 

[old sarge]

Happy dreams!

 

[chs4]

Quick observation. When I seasoned the smoker the other night the the temp shot up to 316F after about an hour and a half, even though I had it set at 225F. It then dropped back down and hovered around 235F for the rest of the seasoning smoke.

Tonight, again set at 225F, it went up as high as 265F an hour in and has now settled back at 234F. I'm guessing that the other night when the smoker was empty the temp shot up faster than the smoker's internal t-stat could handle and by the time it caught up and kicked off the element it was well over 300F. The meat and juice in the drip pan tonight seems to have slowed the temp rise to the point where the internal t-stat could react and kick off the element to maintain a temp closer to the set temp. That's my theory anyway!

 

[chs4]

Looks like I'm well into the stall. Woke up at 4:00am and glanced at the ET732 monitor and IT was at 161F. At 7:30am IT is now 167F.

Smokin-It #2 has been maintaining temps between 220F and 240F for the past 9 hours. Overall very pleased with the performance. My only gripe (and probably because I'm new to smoking) is not being able to visually see how things are going. I need a small hi-temp remote camera in there so I can keep an eye on things...lol "If you're lookin' you ain't cookin'" is easier said than done!

 

[chs4]

Finally came out of the stall and IT made its way up to 192F:

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• chs4
• Apr 14, 2013

Just before triple-foiling, towel-wrapping and into the cooler to rest:

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• chs4
• Apr 14, 2013

Trimmed my spares St. Louis style and just hit with a little more rub:

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• chs4
• Apr 14, 2013

(one of two racks, and I needed to split them to fit them in the SI#2)

Ribs went on at 12:30pm and will be cooked 3-2-1 or until they're done.

More updates and some final Q-view to come.

 

[smoke happens]

Looks great, well done!

 

[chs4]

Thanks!

Ribs at the 3hr mark:

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• chs4
• Apr 14, 2013

Into foil with about a 1/4c of apple juice per half rack and back on the smoker for round 2.

 

[chs4]

Final update for my first smoke...

Pulled pork, ready for serving:

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• chs4
• Apr 14, 2013

And the ribs:

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• chs4
• Apr 14, 2013

I ended up not saucing any of the ribs during the smoke since we have a combination of adults and kids with different tastes, so I figured it was better to let them sauce themselves if they wanted to.

All in all i think it was a pretty successful first smoke. Pulled pork was tender and juicy, and the ribs were tender yet had just the right amount of bite for my taste. I may shy away from tomato-based sauces in the future though. While it was tasty and definitely flavorful I just can't seem to find a tomato-based sauce that I like. I guess I'm just a "sweet BBQ" kinda guy.

Probably have a few small smokes over the next few weeks, then try my hand at brisket. :)

 

[turnandburn]

Looks like a delicious success.

 

[smoke happens]

Well done.

 

[chef willie]

Congrats on a successful first smoke in the SI-2...all looks delish. I, as well, don't sauce the final few minutes on ribs....just served on the side works for me and usually 2-3 different styles if I'm having company. Good luck with the brisket....have fun & enjoy......Willie