- Sep 15, 2011
- 4
- 10
After buying an el cheapo Great Outdoors gas smoker on a whim: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Out...0000003260350&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=12429510
I seasoned it up and got ready for my first smoke. I ended up packing it pretty full with 3 butts and a rack of spares. I had to cut the rack in half to make it fit in the smoker. The butts I found at publix were quite small relative to what most folks are doing (which is why i ended up with three). They ranged from 4-4.5 pounds. I used the standard methods I picked up lurking around the forums 3-2-1, mustard coating, finishing sauce etc The food turned out delicious and everyone loved it, but I did have some issues I would like to solve for next time. Process pics first then my questions at the end. Thanks for any advice you could provide.
Pre Cooking:
The Rig
South Florida Bounty
Little Close Up of half the rack
I missed a final product picture of the butts. Now moving on to my Issues:
1) The butts took forever! I put them on at 6am and maintained a steady 225F (based on built in temp gauge) throughout. That is what the smoker settles out at if I have the burner on dead low, which I had it at for the entire smoke. I waited until 160 or so and wrapped in foil for a few hours and the temp barely moved up. I was 9 hours in and I finally pulled and placed in the oven at which point the temps seemed to climb more steadily. I pulled just below 200 after 12 hours as I needed to be somewhere. Remember these butts were no more than 4.5 lbs. I was checking internal temps with a little hand held webber temp gauge. You had to stick it in hit button and remove. I guess i need to get a proper probe that I can just leave in yes? Also the water pan is pretty small and emptied out on a few occasions, does this slow cooking times?
2) My smoke was not ideal. I tried out using both chips and small chunks. Both ended up giving me a heavier white smoke then I would have liked. The smoke also did not last very long (30 minutes or so with either wood chips or chunks) making me have to replenish frequently. Problem is I had the burner on low as it would go the whole time, so i could not turn it down to get a little thinner smoke and longer burn time. I did not pick up any bad taste in the meat but the smoke was definitely thicker and whiter than I would have liked. Could it just be a bad design with too much heat hitting the wood box? FYI I did not really soak the chips. You can see the burner/wood box set up below. Should I get a larger box for longer smoke, try to get some distance between box and burner???
3) Would like more bark on the butts. Think I just need to lay on a bit more rub. Looking back I went a little light. Maybe the temperature thing was an issue too?
Anyways thanks for looking and any advice you could provide.
I seasoned it up and got ready for my first smoke. I ended up packing it pretty full with 3 butts and a rack of spares. I had to cut the rack in half to make it fit in the smoker. The butts I found at publix were quite small relative to what most folks are doing (which is why i ended up with three). They ranged from 4-4.5 pounds. I used the standard methods I picked up lurking around the forums 3-2-1, mustard coating, finishing sauce etc The food turned out delicious and everyone loved it, but I did have some issues I would like to solve for next time. Process pics first then my questions at the end. Thanks for any advice you could provide.
Pre Cooking:
The Rig
South Florida Bounty
Little Close Up of half the rack
I missed a final product picture of the butts. Now moving on to my Issues:
1) The butts took forever! I put them on at 6am and maintained a steady 225F (based on built in temp gauge) throughout. That is what the smoker settles out at if I have the burner on dead low, which I had it at for the entire smoke. I waited until 160 or so and wrapped in foil for a few hours and the temp barely moved up. I was 9 hours in and I finally pulled and placed in the oven at which point the temps seemed to climb more steadily. I pulled just below 200 after 12 hours as I needed to be somewhere. Remember these butts were no more than 4.5 lbs. I was checking internal temps with a little hand held webber temp gauge. You had to stick it in hit button and remove. I guess i need to get a proper probe that I can just leave in yes? Also the water pan is pretty small and emptied out on a few occasions, does this slow cooking times?
2) My smoke was not ideal. I tried out using both chips and small chunks. Both ended up giving me a heavier white smoke then I would have liked. The smoke also did not last very long (30 minutes or so with either wood chips or chunks) making me have to replenish frequently. Problem is I had the burner on low as it would go the whole time, so i could not turn it down to get a little thinner smoke and longer burn time. I did not pick up any bad taste in the meat but the smoke was definitely thicker and whiter than I would have liked. Could it just be a bad design with too much heat hitting the wood box? FYI I did not really soak the chips. You can see the burner/wood box set up below. Should I get a larger box for longer smoke, try to get some distance between box and burner???
3) Would like more bark on the butts. Think I just need to lay on a bit more rub. Looking back I went a little light. Maybe the temperature thing was an issue too?
Anyways thanks for looking and any advice you could provide.