From IA...New to Smoking, New to this Forum.

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outbackk

Newbie
Original poster
Aug 28, 2011
1
10
Urbandale, IA
  I've been lurking for a bit and figured I'd take the plunge and post.

  I'm a newbie from Iowa and just started smoking this summer.  I've always loved the idea of smoking and have some friends that do it off and on.  About a year & half ago my brother-in-law gave me a smoker which most of you know as "El Cheapo Brinkman"...The Smoke n' Grill.  It sat in my garage collecting dust till he asked me about it a couple months ago.  Well, it lit a fire under me and I decided to get to work on it.

 I didn't know much about my smoker so I researched it and found some info on how to modify it for optimal use.  I purchased a little "Smokey Joe" weber grill and used that for my fire pan.  I put the ECB's legs on the out side of the smoker and set them on top of some blocks.  The other mod I made was taking the vent of the Smokey Joe's lid and drilled 4 holes in the top of my ECB.  I installed the vent and combined with the the one in the bottom of my "new" fire pan, I have a lot more control over the air flow.

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First up...Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts.  I used charcoal briquettes & apple wood.  I used a chimney to get it going and then added the wood which I had soaked 30 min prior.  The chicken had a rub I picked up from a store in KC on a work trip and then I wrapped them in 5 strips of thick cut hickory smoked bacon.  I know 5 strips is overkill but I wanted to make sure the chicken didn't dry out.  Besides who doesn't love more bacon?  Smoked them for 4 hours @ 225.  The chicken wasn't quite at temp and we had to eat in 20 mins so I placed them in a foil pan and we baked them to temp.

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The end result was good.  I put too much of the rub on them and yes, the bacon was overkill.  I did learn a ton in the process about what to do and what not to do so over all it was a win for me.  I don't know how you guys feel about using a foil pan or using the oven but at this point in the game I'm fine with it.  I've got a buddy that told me after 5-6 hours the meat stops absorbing the smoke so at that point it's all temperature anyway.

The last two times I've done a pork shoulder.  Steps as follows: charcoal briquettes, soaked apple wood, a rub recipe my friend gave me, a foil pan, 5 hours @ 230 (ish), after my 5 hours covered pan in foil and placed in oven @ 225 overnightn for another 6 hrs, pulled it out the next morning to let it sit for 30 min, shred.

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I'm going to take that 5 day course that someone posted about and keep reading up on what I can do differently.  I realize that I know very little but I'm excited to have started the process.  I'm open to any suggestions/comments/instruction since I'm pretty new to this.  I would love to learn from you guys!    Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll see you all around the forums!
 
Welcome!  

Good looking grub you got there.  

You're gonna enjoy coking on that "ECB."  I've had mine for years and get always great results.   

Sometimes its not the "what" but the "how" and it looks like you've got a good knack for it.

Looking forward to seeing lots more Q-view from you!
 
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