- Jun 12, 2017
- 67
- 11
This will probably be longwinded, and pic heavy, sorry in advance it's a bad habit. So I got this unit from Home Depot earlier in the week and got it built. Yesterday was the day to season after I got home from work. That all went great. Nice smoke the whole time, once it got going, at the temps they recommended.
Seasoning with a smoke and a delicious beer.
As you can tell in the pic with the door open, I never even tried the stock pan these come with, after reading all the issues here. I went straight for cast iron and a grill wok for a pan rack. It is sturdy as all hell. But I think it's leading to a couple problems. With my smoker turned to the lowest possible setting I'm having problems getting the wood, I'm using chunks, to start smoldering. The work around, instead of starting and trying to get the temps right off the bat. was to crank the burner up, with the smoker box door open so it wouldn't build up a ton of heat, until I started getting smoke then back the burner all the way down to the lowest I could get it and then proceed. I'm guessing that with the burner at the lowest setting that the pan is too far from the flame, because even though I did have smoke after getting the chunks going it was barely there after I backed the burner all the way down. Thinking I might have to do a different grate over the burner, or maybe do the bolt standoffs drilled into the CI pan as I've seen others do, to get the pan closer to the flame.
I'm going to have to pick up a needle valve because even with my burner at the lowest possible setting my temps varied from about 232 a couple of times , with swings all the way up to around 260. And that was just me sitting on the couch watching the remote temps, no fiddling with anything, no flare ups, just some random inconsistencies. This is pretty close to where it sat most of the time, but I was trying to be around 225. I did try the trick I read somewhere during seasoning to turn it past high and almost off, I was able to get down to around 210 for about the half hour I tried it and it held, but today trying that and the burner went out twice on me, so I just dealt with the lowest setting on the dial.
Also found that while my Maverick was reading 244, the junk thermo on the door was reading about 175. So I'm super happy I picked up the Maverick a couple weeks ago.
So on to the experiment. Today was a learning experience, but I turned out a decent product. There was still plenty of smoke flavor, even with the shortcomings. I did a basic pork loin, about 3.5 pounds. Mustard base with a light cherry rub. Smoked it at as low as I could get, took it out at 142 IT, took about 2.5 hours. Threw in an ear of corn with it when I put it on, the corn itself was smallish and just OK , but it was well cooked. The loin was probably the juiciest one I have ever cooked. Just very plain, even with the rub, so next time I do one I will be playing around with different stuffings or marinade injections.
The leftovers. I'm just a single guy, so I think my vacuum sealer will be working a lot with this new found addiction.
Thanks for putting up with my post. Any tips about the pan height or issues with the light smoke, I'm all ears.
Erick
Seasoning with a smoke and a delicious beer.
As you can tell in the pic with the door open, I never even tried the stock pan these come with, after reading all the issues here. I went straight for cast iron and a grill wok for a pan rack. It is sturdy as all hell. But I think it's leading to a couple problems. With my smoker turned to the lowest possible setting I'm having problems getting the wood, I'm using chunks, to start smoldering. The work around, instead of starting and trying to get the temps right off the bat. was to crank the burner up, with the smoker box door open so it wouldn't build up a ton of heat, until I started getting smoke then back the burner all the way down to the lowest I could get it and then proceed. I'm guessing that with the burner at the lowest setting that the pan is too far from the flame, because even though I did have smoke after getting the chunks going it was barely there after I backed the burner all the way down. Thinking I might have to do a different grate over the burner, or maybe do the bolt standoffs drilled into the CI pan as I've seen others do, to get the pan closer to the flame.
I'm going to have to pick up a needle valve because even with my burner at the lowest possible setting my temps varied from about 232 a couple of times , with swings all the way up to around 260. And that was just me sitting on the couch watching the remote temps, no fiddling with anything, no flare ups, just some random inconsistencies. This is pretty close to where it sat most of the time, but I was trying to be around 225. I did try the trick I read somewhere during seasoning to turn it past high and almost off, I was able to get down to around 210 for about the half hour I tried it and it held, but today trying that and the burner went out twice on me, so I just dealt with the lowest setting on the dial.
Also found that while my Maverick was reading 244, the junk thermo on the door was reading about 175. So I'm super happy I picked up the Maverick a couple weeks ago.
So on to the experiment. Today was a learning experience, but I turned out a decent product. There was still plenty of smoke flavor, even with the shortcomings. I did a basic pork loin, about 3.5 pounds. Mustard base with a light cherry rub. Smoked it at as low as I could get, took it out at 142 IT, took about 2.5 hours. Threw in an ear of corn with it when I put it on, the corn itself was smallish and just OK , but it was well cooked. The loin was probably the juiciest one I have ever cooked. Just very plain, even with the rub, so next time I do one I will be playing around with different stuffings or marinade injections.
The leftovers. I'm just a single guy, so I think my vacuum sealer will be working a lot with this new found addiction.
Thanks for putting up with my post. Any tips about the pan height or issues with the light smoke, I'm all ears.
Erick
