Hi guys,
Just wanted to report on my first-ever smoke. I used an ECB I bought at Home Depot for $39, and performed some mods as described on the "Modifications" linke of "RandyQ's Barbecue Ramblings":
* Added legs to the charcoal pan so I could lift the ECB off of it
* Improved airflow by drilling holes in bottom of charcoal pan
* Added a movable cover over the airholes for temp modulation
* Put a charcoal grill from a Smokey Joe in the bottom (supported by 3 little rocks) to provide about an inch of room for the ash to fall
In the picture below, you can see the charcoal pan mods (note the little handle sticking out from the bottom to cover / uncover the airholes):
Then I filled the charcoal pan up with Home Depot's finest "Cowboy hardwood lump charcoal" ... I had NO IDEA how much to put in, so I filled it almost level to the top, and then put what I estimated to be the remaining amount of charcoal to fill it flush to the top inside of my chimney starter:
I forgot to pre-soak the wood chips overnight, so they were in boiling hot water for about 20 minutes before I tossed them in at the last second; then I fired up about 1/3 a starter-chimney-full of coals until they were white-hot (~15 minutes), and carefully poured the lit coals on the very middle of the unlit coals.
I used a 3.7LB free-range organic grain-fed (this is Santa Cruz ok?) chicken I bought from our local Hippie Food Store, "Staff of Life", for $2.99/lb. I have never bought a whole chicken before -- I grill tons of chicken, but I always get the boneless skinless breasts because I'm lazy, but man what a price difference! The night before, I made Shooters Snake Bitten Chicken and Seafood Rub and patted down the bird, and also applied the suggested injection. Here is a picture of the chicken on the smoker at the very beginning. Note my fancy thermometer holder:
Newbie move: I assembled the smoker and water pan (full of boiling water) and chicken and all, and placed it on top of the charcoal tray as soon as I had poured the lit coals onto the unlit coals, rather than waiting for the temp to stabilize. As luck would have it, the temp jumped up to 325 (ideal for chicken, as I understand it) right away... but for most other meats I guess that's way too hot and 225-250 is better.
20 mintues into it, I closed the bottom vent on the charcoal pan, causing the temp to drop very slightly from 325 to 320. Then 37 minutes into it, temp was at 312.
One hour into it, the temp was at 310, and it started to smell awesome. Here is a pic at 1-hr mark when I sprayed some olive oil on it:
2 hours into it, the temp had gone from 325 down to 234 and the charcoal was looking a little low. I tossed a few unlit briquettes in, figuring it only had about an hour to go, and opened the bottom vent on the charcoal pan.
3 hours into it, an internal read of the chicken at breast and inner thigh agreed at about 175, damn too hot! I was hoping for 165, but whatever. Here is a pic right before I pulled it off:
The chicken was done a lot faster than I thought! It was only 4PM, and we usually eat dinner around 9 or 10 pm (no kids), so I reluctantly put the bird in the fridge so it wouldn't sit out at room temperature for 5 hours. 30 minutes in the oven at 200 warmed it up nicely. Then I let it sit for 10 mins, and carved it. I was amazed at how easily the bones pulled out of the sockets, and the meat just kind of fell right off so I had to be careful to keep the pieces intact (unfortunately the thighs pretty much fell apart on me as you can see):
The end product was very good! Overall, I was quite happy with my first smoke. To be critical, the meat was very tender and juicy, but some parts of the darkmeat were almost mushy, which I wasn't used to... strange. The breast meat was good, and even though I injected it the night before, it came out slightly drier than I like -- maybe a brine instead of a rub, and/or taking it out at 165, would mitigate this.
I think next weekend I'm going to try and grill up ribs, with the following changes in my procedure:
* Instead of creating a 1" space for ash to fall in the charcoal pan, more like 2"; and instead of using rocks to support the grill, drill 3 horizontal bolts into the side of the pan to hold the grill up.
* Slightly more unlit charcoal, since it only burned for 3 hours before temps dropped below 200 degrees.
* Soak woodchips overnight, rather than for 20 minutes (forgot to do this). I don't know that they flared up, but I figure it couldn't hurt.
Well, that's my first smoke. Hope you enjoyed reading it! I'd love to hear any tips or comments on my technique! Especially amount of lit / unlit charcoal, that was a mystery to me.
Thanks!
-Jeff
Just wanted to report on my first-ever smoke. I used an ECB I bought at Home Depot for $39, and performed some mods as described on the "Modifications" linke of "RandyQ's Barbecue Ramblings":
* Added legs to the charcoal pan so I could lift the ECB off of it
* Improved airflow by drilling holes in bottom of charcoal pan
* Added a movable cover over the airholes for temp modulation
* Put a charcoal grill from a Smokey Joe in the bottom (supported by 3 little rocks) to provide about an inch of room for the ash to fall
In the picture below, you can see the charcoal pan mods (note the little handle sticking out from the bottom to cover / uncover the airholes):
Then I filled the charcoal pan up with Home Depot's finest "Cowboy hardwood lump charcoal" ... I had NO IDEA how much to put in, so I filled it almost level to the top, and then put what I estimated to be the remaining amount of charcoal to fill it flush to the top inside of my chimney starter:
I forgot to pre-soak the wood chips overnight, so they were in boiling hot water for about 20 minutes before I tossed them in at the last second; then I fired up about 1/3 a starter-chimney-full of coals until they were white-hot (~15 minutes), and carefully poured the lit coals on the very middle of the unlit coals.
I used a 3.7LB free-range organic grain-fed (this is Santa Cruz ok?) chicken I bought from our local Hippie Food Store, "Staff of Life", for $2.99/lb. I have never bought a whole chicken before -- I grill tons of chicken, but I always get the boneless skinless breasts because I'm lazy, but man what a price difference! The night before, I made Shooters Snake Bitten Chicken and Seafood Rub and patted down the bird, and also applied the suggested injection. Here is a picture of the chicken on the smoker at the very beginning. Note my fancy thermometer holder:
Newbie move: I assembled the smoker and water pan (full of boiling water) and chicken and all, and placed it on top of the charcoal tray as soon as I had poured the lit coals onto the unlit coals, rather than waiting for the temp to stabilize. As luck would have it, the temp jumped up to 325 (ideal for chicken, as I understand it) right away... but for most other meats I guess that's way too hot and 225-250 is better.
20 mintues into it, I closed the bottom vent on the charcoal pan, causing the temp to drop very slightly from 325 to 320. Then 37 minutes into it, temp was at 312.
One hour into it, the temp was at 310, and it started to smell awesome. Here is a pic at 1-hr mark when I sprayed some olive oil on it:
2 hours into it, the temp had gone from 325 down to 234 and the charcoal was looking a little low. I tossed a few unlit briquettes in, figuring it only had about an hour to go, and opened the bottom vent on the charcoal pan.
3 hours into it, an internal read of the chicken at breast and inner thigh agreed at about 175, damn too hot! I was hoping for 165, but whatever. Here is a pic right before I pulled it off:
The chicken was done a lot faster than I thought! It was only 4PM, and we usually eat dinner around 9 or 10 pm (no kids), so I reluctantly put the bird in the fridge so it wouldn't sit out at room temperature for 5 hours. 30 minutes in the oven at 200 warmed it up nicely. Then I let it sit for 10 mins, and carved it. I was amazed at how easily the bones pulled out of the sockets, and the meat just kind of fell right off so I had to be careful to keep the pieces intact (unfortunately the thighs pretty much fell apart on me as you can see):
The end product was very good! Overall, I was quite happy with my first smoke. To be critical, the meat was very tender and juicy, but some parts of the darkmeat were almost mushy, which I wasn't used to... strange. The breast meat was good, and even though I injected it the night before, it came out slightly drier than I like -- maybe a brine instead of a rub, and/or taking it out at 165, would mitigate this.
I think next weekend I'm going to try and grill up ribs, with the following changes in my procedure:
* Instead of creating a 1" space for ash to fall in the charcoal pan, more like 2"; and instead of using rocks to support the grill, drill 3 horizontal bolts into the side of the pan to hold the grill up.
* Slightly more unlit charcoal, since it only burned for 3 hours before temps dropped below 200 degrees.
* Soak woodchips overnight, rather than for 20 minutes (forgot to do this). I don't know that they flared up, but I figure it couldn't hurt.
Well, that's my first smoke. Hope you enjoyed reading it! I'd love to hear any tips or comments on my technique! Especially amount of lit / unlit charcoal, that was a mystery to me.
Thanks!
-Jeff
