Recent content by jamiew

Hello from Sioux Falls, Dan! Whereabouts Northeast? My grandparents own a house on Roy Lake, so we vacation up there a couple times a summer. Welcome to the forums, the people here are awesome!

For the price and availability, Royal Oak (briquettes are good, lump hardwood is REALLY good). Stay away from Cowboy brand lump hardwood. The rumors are true, the stuff is junk.

Hello from another South Dakotan!

Ronald, I would like to apologize... I quit responding this morning when you were running this by me in private message. Before I'd had my morning coffee, I read "smoking toothpicks" and took you as somebody trolling for a sucker, and I logged off. In hindsight, I see you've introduced...

Hello from South Dakota! Temps below freezing and I have problems keeping temps up in my vertical charcoal smoker too. I've done a couple quick smokes on single digit days (tri tip and chicken). These folks are wonderful here, and all of us love to see pictures of smokers and what you cook!

I took a close up picture of the tray I cut down, and my temporary "basket". I checked Home Depot today, and they don't carry expanded metal for a proper basket. I'm having a heck of a time finding any here. In the meantime, something like this at least gets it up out of the tray, for much...

That oughta be plenty time in the smoker. Temps and winds have been similar here in South Dakota and I've had some trouble keeping my smoker up to heat as well. I'm going to reposition it to block it from that winter wind.

Your schedule seems about right to have this done for tonight's party... with hopefully at least an hour to let it rest. The only packer I've done wasa 14.5lb. I started it at 3 am and it was ready for serving at 8 pm after a two-hour rest. Anyhow, keep us updated and take a few pictures!

Thanks for the points and compliments guys.  dirtsailor:  I went with your advice from my other post, about doing a tri-tip instead of a brisket for French dips, and boy am I glad I did!  Thanks for the tip as well, about the water pan.  I didn't have too much trouble yesterday, but will try...

It's hard to see, but here is a picture of a "temporary basket" I made. It's just some wire racking, bent at about 45-degree angles. Until I could find some expanded metal, and build a proper charcoal basket, this at least raised the charcoal out of the tray, so it could get some airflow, and...

Good morning from windy South Dakota!  I'm up early because I'm excited to get my car back from the shop...  I broke it one week after buying it, and it has been in the shop for FIVE WEEKS!  Anyway, I thought I'd make a quick post about my smoke yesterday while I wait for the shop to open up...

I have a very similar smoker... you're going to need to do at least one modification to make it hold heat: you're going to need to build a charcoal basket (do a search on the forums for charcoal basket). Ditch that shallow pan that it comes with, or use it as an ash catcher if you raise the...

dirtsailor: I did decide to go with a tri tip... makes more sense. I've had it in the fridge all night with a dry rub of SPOG & montreal seasoning. I wish I had a meat slicer... that's my next toy. I think I can get pretty thin with a filet knife.

Nice! Let me know how it turns out! Do you have a water pan? That goes a long way with keeping things moist. Also, when I did the full packer, I found that resting it in a cooler for a couple hours, wrapped in foil and a beach towel made all the difference in moisture.

Itching to smoke again... tomorrow is supposed to be in the 30's, so it beats the last time I smoked at 7 degrees (-11 with wind chill). I have a small amount left on a gift card to a local store called Meat Lodge. They carry smaller brisket flats which I figured I'd smoke and turn into...