SmokinAl
SMF Hall of Fame Pitmaster
Original poster
Staff member
Moderator
OTBS Member
★ Lifetime Premier ★
I bought myself a new Smoke Vault a couple of weeks ago. I got a great deal on it. $225 + $40 shipping, no tax. I was planning on using it when I just wanted to smoke something small & didn't want to bother with starting a fire in the WSM. So I have been experimenting with it. I did ribs, wings, boneless breasts, prime rib, ABT's, beans, mac & cheese, a fattie, & yesterday bone in skin on thighs, whole garlic, & a potato, cheese & onion casserole. The only mod I made was replacing the chip box with a veggie wok. I fill the wok with chunks & they burn almost like a wood burner. I get TBS for about 2 hours then need to add more chunks. I keep a sheet of aluminum foil in the bottom of the wok so the ashes don't fall on the burner. It's giving me a deeper more pronounced smoke ring than I get with my WSM. The ribs I smoked were pink all the way to the bone. It must be because the chunks are actually burning, not just smoldering. I am just falling in love with this smoker. It is producing great Q. Here's a shot of it.
Here's a photo of the inside. You can see the wok I'm using for the chunks.
Here it is with the TBS flowing.
OK enough about the smoker. Lets get on to the thighs. I brined them for 8 hours in a zip lock bag with:
4 qts. water
1/4 cu kosher salt
1/4 cu turbinado sugar
1/4 cu Montreal chicken seasoning
Then I put them on the grate without rinsing & dusted them with more Montreal seasoning.
Put them in the smoker set at about 325, with the garlic. I just cut the top off the garlic and drizzled EVOO on top with a little S&P. We put the potato, onion casserole in the oven to get the potato's done, then in the smoker for about 45 minutes.
At 325 the thighs only took about 1:45 to get to 175 IT. They came out great. The skin was crispy with a nice crust on the outside.
Here's a close up for Bear!
Now cut open you can see how juicy they were. The light is not so good, but they are pink all the way through.
Another close up for Bear!
The garlic came out great too. We smashed it & spread it on toasted Italian bread.
The casserole came out good as well.
A look inside.
Here's dinner, I apologize the plate is not all clean, but I forgot to take a pic when I first plated it and this is the second helping.
Thanks for looking guys!
I have to say that for the over night or long smokes I will still use the WSM, but I really like the way the Smoke Vault works & will probably use it more than the WSM. I'm as surprised as can be that it's such a good smoker, and the Q it produces is so good.
Here's a photo of the inside. You can see the wok I'm using for the chunks.
Here it is with the TBS flowing.
OK enough about the smoker. Lets get on to the thighs. I brined them for 8 hours in a zip lock bag with:
4 qts. water
1/4 cu kosher salt
1/4 cu turbinado sugar
1/4 cu Montreal chicken seasoning
Then I put them on the grate without rinsing & dusted them with more Montreal seasoning.
Put them in the smoker set at about 325, with the garlic. I just cut the top off the garlic and drizzled EVOO on top with a little S&P. We put the potato, onion casserole in the oven to get the potato's done, then in the smoker for about 45 minutes.
At 325 the thighs only took about 1:45 to get to 175 IT. They came out great. The skin was crispy with a nice crust on the outside.
Here's a close up for Bear!
Now cut open you can see how juicy they were. The light is not so good, but they are pink all the way through.
Another close up for Bear!
The garlic came out great too. We smashed it & spread it on toasted Italian bread.
The casserole came out good as well.
A look inside.
Here's dinner, I apologize the plate is not all clean, but I forgot to take a pic when I first plated it and this is the second helping.
Thanks for looking guys!
I have to say that for the over night or long smokes I will still use the WSM, but I really like the way the Smoke Vault works & will probably use it more than the WSM. I'm as surprised as can be that it's such a good smoker, and the Q it produces is so good.
