New Smoker Success but with a few questions

knotquiteawake said:

I just smoked my first big hunk of meat of my new Smoke Hollow Gas Smoker.  It was pretty good.

Here was my process for the 7lb bone in pork shoulder.

Rubbed the pork down with a pork rub.

Preheated the smoker.

I put in 1/2 of applewood chips that had been soaked for about 15min in water.  From reading around here I'm seeing thats not really necessary. Correct...soaking just delays the onset of smoke until after the excess water has evaporated.

Setup the temp probe right above the pork to get the smoker temp.  I will be relying on my thermapen for taking actual internal meat temps. Temp probe should be just beneath, or along side at grate level for the most accurate readings.

I was able to pretty quickly get it up to and maintain 220-230degrees.

Within 1.5-2 hours the chips seemed to have burnt out so I added another 1/4lb.  I repeated this process two more times after that and then just let it sit sealed up until 10 hours total had passed.

The temp outside was in the 50s, smoker was in the shade.

After ten hours it was only at 165.

11 hours 175, 

Wife was hungry so I wrapped it and increased temp to 275 for another 30min. Should still keep chamber temp the same, as foiling increases convection efficiency and produces faster thermal convection into the meat.

After 11.5 hours the temp only made it to just barely 180,  not the 203 I was shooting for.  It was still delicious! Shredded easily, very moist, pretty much awesome to me. If it needed shredding with forks it could be more tender at higher finished temps, and should pull apart easily by hand, giving nice sized tender chunks of pulled pork.

So for next time, I was wanting to use chunks, I am hoping with chunks I could just set it and forget it better?  I know I lost 75+ degrees every time the door opened. Yes, opening the chamber looses a lot of heat, and recovery time can take from several minutes to more than ten minutes. A mix of chips and chinks will give a faster onset of smoke from the chips and a longer smoke from the chunks...larger chunks smoking longer than smaller ones.

Lots of smoke leaked from the door.  I am thinking of buying a oven gasket, is that worth it? Vertical cabinet smokers require being level, and the legs pulled apart evenly for the best operation of the door. If the door doesn't seal well after doing this, you can check it for damage or defective manufacturing...fixes are pretty easy in most cases, with a little bending here and there to get a better fit. A lot of folks fuss over lost heat and smoke, but the heat loss is not really an issue unless you're having low temp problems...then, you want to contain all the heat you can in the smoker. Smoke loss is probably not as much as we think, considering the density of the smoke in the chamber during normal operation. I don't sweat it much, and I have several smokers with the same issue...look for ways to get a better fit without making mods first..if that is not successful, then consider gasket mods, etc.

I only have the one vent up top, it mostly stayed open.

Any other tips for a new guy?  

You can see the smoker box below, It looks like with that lid most chunks might not fit unless I break them down a bit, is that ok to do?  Next time maybe a mix of chips and chunks?  You can play some tricks with the smoke box to control the burn of the smoke wood, also. That cover has rather large vent openings, so if you reduce the amount of air getting into the box, you can reduce the burn rate of the smoke wood. A foil cover with holes poked in it can do wonders for burn-rate. With the large gap between the water pan and wood box, you could even put a burnt-out tin can in the box and put your wood in the can. If the smoke wood burns too fast, just drop the lid to can on top of the wood to slow it down. There's lots of tricks for smoke wood burn control, depending on the smoker's configuration (measurements and internal components). I used to get 6+ hours smoke time from the little stock smoke box with chips in my old 3405-GW GOSM vertical gasser, so even with that rig, long smokes didn't require much tending inside the cabinet.

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• knotquiteawake
• Jan 7, 2013

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knotquiteawake said:

That is just the information I was looking for.  Thanks for taking the time to respond!

Today's menu was going to feature a smoked meatloaf but due to rain and no covered patio (Its on the list for summer projects) we'll be having pineapple cashew pulled pork bbq pizza. Unless it's hazardous to out in the weather, especially with your rear vent, rain won't get into the smoker much. It will suck some heat from the cabinet and cause some temp swings and more fuel use, but I have smoked in hail-storms with high winds with my Brinkmann Gouurmet charcoal smoker before...had a few tense moments with gusty winds, but made it out alive, and dinner was great, too.

Next week I'll be doing my first Turkey.  Probably sneak some ribs in sometime between now and then! Be sure to read up on a couple turkey help threads in the poultry forums, so you have a good idea what to expect and how to get it to temp (through the danger-zone) safely. Ribs are a fun smoke, I think...pretty easy, not an all day adventure, and great eats.

So on second thought I guess the door not sealing completely is not that bad a thing, there is plenty of smoke inside and I know once the summer hits I'll probably be doing all I can to keep the temps down inside the smoker. Yeah, just give it some time and you'll know if you want to make some improvements or not...I wouldn't worry about it this early in the game, though. High temp issues may or may not become a reality...depends on the smoker...wait and see what happens.

Thanks for the tip on the therm placement and meat placement.  I'll try that next time. No problem!

Where do you guys get your wood?  While I am perfectly capable of going to the store and buying some I generally dislike going out if I don't have to.  Do any of you order wood online?  I saw Amazon has a 5lb bag of applewood chunks for  $13.77.  Good deal or no?

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