Pork Spares and Cornish Game Hens Q-View!!

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hewgag

Fire Starter
Original poster
Sep 29, 2010
66
10
Chino Valley, AZ
Welp! I finally got my A-MAZE-N smoker the other day and thought I'd take my stainless steel hospital food cart smoker project for a test smoke, even though it isn't quite set up the way I want it to be. But nevertheless I am man, and I MUST smoke something! So I opted for a rack of pork spares and a few game hens halved lengthwise.

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Seasoning was real simple. Kosher salt, pepper, Kirkland no-salt seasoning, a little Bakers rib rub, and a light dusting of Uncle Randy's "Spicy Spicy" seasoning.

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Inside view of the smoker cabinet, Due to the non-insulated cabinet I cant get temps where I need them with this dual hotplate. Also I should add that I read today somewhere here on SMF the issue with these having a device that shuts them off at roughly 175-185F.... mine clicked off at 182F, and back on at 179F... I'll be removing this soon! 

Directly below it and to the right is the A-MAZE-N smoker! You cant really tell from the shot, but it is about a foot off of the floor on a rack. It burned like a dream!

Water pan on the left, drip pan on the right!

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Sweet smoky goodness! It burned beautifully! I noticed I didn't quite fill it full after taking this and took care of that with another handful. 

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Both ends lit, ribs n' hens loaded! Time to smoke!

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You can see the probe thermometer dangling precariously on the far left just above the ribs. Temps never got over 182F. I know, I know! I wasn't too happy about it either. I got plans to remedy this.

Anywho... I smoked them for about 4 hours, foiled them and finished off in the oven at 225-240F, I hate this oven.. impossible to keep a steady temp.

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A few shots of one of the hen halves. Lighting in my kitchen is bad so I placed it in this sliver of sunlight coming through the window so we can see the lovely smoked color! I must say this bird was freekin' DE-LISH! Super moist and fall off the bone tender.

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When I foiled the ribs, I quickly crushed a fresh whole apple through a garlic press for its juice. I placed the juice inside the foil pouch to help braise the meat while it finished in the oven! After about 2 hrs I removed the ribs when the meat temp reached 190F. I let them cool in the pouch until about 160F, removed and sliced. No real deep smoke ring but that's OK They tasted fantastic and were PLENTY smoky and delicious!!

Next up is to reconfigure the cabinet, add seals to the door, look at some insulation options and get this baby to hover at whatever temp I tell it too! Then it is SMOKE-A-THON!!! 
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Great job with your new smoker experiment !!! Both the ribs and the hens have nice color...they look excellent. A test run had to be made, so you know what is needed to improve your smoker. Keep us posted as your build progresses. 
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Looking good, that would make a great cold smoker. 


Yea.... I am seriously considering making this a dedicated cold smoker and saving up for a nice electric model. It is pretty much perfect for cold smoking as it sits. Decisions decisions..... 
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 In all seriousness though it really can be both! It's just finding out the best, cleanest way to go about modding it for hot electric.

I don't want to cut anything until I know exactly what will work best.
 
looks good.....love some game hens.

pretty much anything can be a cold smoker with that AMNS, but, it for sure has the look to be dedicated for that.
 
Yep.. after more discussions with friends and hearing the great feedback here, I have decided to go with the cold smoker application for this box. The stainless steel is a great heat-sink and will easily whisk away any heat the AMNS puts out for perfect cold smokes. Rather than beat my head into a wall trying to overcome this with insulation for a hot smoker application, this box is perfect as-is for cold smoking.

So..... that being said I am going to be looking at buying the MES 40" or equivalent for hot smokes in the near future.

Meanwhile.... I'll be throwin' out some Q-view of my cold smokes in the very near future! Cheese, Fish, Sausage, Bacon, Nuts, Salt, Chilies.... you name it!

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