Another Young Guy Trying to Learn How to Smoke!

[smokingn00b]

Hi, my name is Kyle and I live up in Kenosha WI. I just bought myself a smoker about a month ago and with the cold weather up here I've only had one chance to use it. I smoked my first rack of ribs and man they were good. I'm going to try my hand at a couple whole chickens tomorrow (they're brining right now). I bought a Brinkman electric water smoker. I know I took the easy way out with electric but I'm learning and hope to move up and on. I have one quick question though. Can you use a smoke box on an electric smoker? If so do I just set it on the coil? I'd like to use some fruity woods but I can only get them in chips and I don't know if it's the best to spread them amongst the coil. Thanks for the help. It's greatly appreciated.

 

[salmonclubber]

hello kyle

you can put a cheap alluminum pie pan on top of the burner and fill with chips it should work fine it helps sometimes to dampen the chips a little bit before putting in the smoker welcome to the site and good luck with the chickens cherry wood works good on chickens
salmonclubber

 

[salmonclubber]

hey kyle

its me again sorry i gave some bad advice you need to skip the part about dampening the chips being a new smoker you might get the chips to wet and instead of a nice blue smoke your chips will just sit there and boil till all the water is gone i dont want to ruin your chicken for ya so skip the part on dampening the chips again i am sorry
salmonclubber

 

[smokingn00b]

Thanks for the advice, I greatly appreciate it. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[tbloomingdale]

Glad to see another newbee from Wisconsin. This site is excellent with all kinds of info. I've deffinately learned some new things by reading here!!

 

[jlloyd99]

Welcome Kyle. So glad you've joind our little smoking family. This is a great place to learn and share.

 

[Dutch]

Greetings, Kyle-glad you found us here at Smoking Meat Forums. This is a great site and it holds a wealth of information for those willing to learn. The folks here are great at sharing tips and tricks and answering your questions so ask away!

 

[smokingn00b]

Alright, my first chickens were okay. I used cherry wood and I don't think I liked it. Also, I sort of made up the brine and might have messed that up too. I'm hoping to smoke another chicken tomorrow. Does anyone have wood suggestions or maybe a good starting brine recipe? I appreciate all the help.

 

[jlloyd99]

Hey Kyle, here is a basic brine to get you started and then you can play around with the flavors you add.
1 quart cool water
1/2 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
1/2 cup sugar
Mix in a non-reactive container until dissolved. Substitute 1/4 cup + 2 TBSP Morton Kosher Salt or 1/4 cup table salt for Diamond Crystal.

Make 1 quart of brine for each pound of meat, not to exceed 8 quarts (2 gallons). Soak meat for 1 hour per pound, but not less than 30 minutes or longer than 8 hours. If brining multiple pieces, base the brining time on the weight of an individual piece.

I actually don't brine my chicken, mainly because we always use the beer can chciken method which adds all of the moisture and flavor I'm looking for. If you've never done a beer can chicken check out the thread in the poultry section about it, you'll get some great ideas. As far as the wood goes we like a mixture of Hickory and Maple on ours. Hope the next batch turns out more to your liking.

 

[smokingn00b]

I have done beer can chicken but never on a smoker. I'll check out that thread, thanks for the advice.

 

[larry maddock]

yo 00b dude,
i use a electric water smoker all the time.
--its my only smoker.

its so easy to use--it works good!!
its great when the thin blue smoke
wisps up to the sky.

welcome to the place to be.

 

[hothead]

For chicken ive found apple wood to work the best control the amount of smoke you use on chicken mix in some lump charcoal and smoke your whole chickens for first 15 to 20 min then switck to lump chicken takes smoke quickly if you like it smokier try to bump it 15 min each time smoking takes practice try not to over smoke in begining work your way up to find what you like good luck my friend and good smokin :D