Consensus on Smoking Difficulty?

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wntrlnd

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Oct 18, 2009
283
14
out on the western plain
Any thoughts on this?

With just two smokes (ribs; ribs + ABTs) under my belt, I'd like to start thinking about other meats to smoke.

But when I read about 20 plus hours to finish a stubborn pork butt, I'm a little reluctant to go down that path.

My main question is:  What meats, other than ribs, are relatively easy for those of us without a lot of smoker experience? 

Which are better left until one is more adept at smoking?

(I'm a rookie and I apologize if this has been covered in another thread I haven't yet discovered)
 
meat loaf , moink balls ,chicken  are all easy short smokes.

 But if you can smoke a good rack of ribs you should have no trouble doing a pork butt.

 It's only time. That's why it's called low and SLOW.
 
moink balls?  LOL!  what the heck?

wow, i just looked them up via the search feature.  AW YEAH!  that's the ticket!

ok, moinks, chicken, meatloaf.  yes, yes, and yes.

and i know you are right, eman, it's just a matter of time. 

i'm just going to have to get up earlier and get that fire going.  LOL!
 
A lot depends on what smoker you have.

Some are more finicky and demand more attention.

Regarding butts, I just did a few this past weekend for my mom's birthday. I threw them on my UDS around 7pm Friday, and kept an eye on the temps 'till midnight. After that I went to bed, and checked them around 9 am Saturday morning. At that point the cooking temp had dropped around 5 degrees, so I opened up my valve a touch just to let a bit more air in, kept an eye on temps for a few hrs, then took off to buy some more stuff for the party, and run a few errands. Got back home around 1:30pm and the temp was still at 220. Finally pulled the butts off the drum around 3pm Saturday.

Now, I would never do that on my Chargriller offset because it needs babysitting on a regular basis.
Any thoughts on this?

With just two smokes (ribs; ribs + ABTs) under my belt, I'd like to start thinking about other meats to smoke.

But when I read about 20 plus hours to finish a stubborn pork butt, I'm a little reluctant to go down that path.

My main question is:  What meats, other than ribs, are relatively easy for those of us without a lot of smoker experience? 

Which are better left until one is more adept at smoking?

(I'm a rookie and I apologize if this has been covered in another thread I haven't yet discovered)
 
I just did a few butts that took 8 hours.

Butts were done sooner than I was used to.
At approximately 6.8 lbs each, bone in, it only took about 8 hours (72 minutes per/lb.)


This was my first RF cook and was afraid I messed up.

they were awesome.

Beer can chicken is pretty hard to mess up and about 90 minutes to cook.

cf00b35e_20100821013.jpg
 
Try a pork butt, I did one as my first meat smoke and it came out awesome, follow the directions in some of the other threads on here, I went with the foil at 160 deg then took it out at 200 deg and put it in a cooler wrapped in a towel for about an hour. The total time I think was about 10 hours. I am getting ready to do another later this week.
 
Sounds like a Chuckie may be in order. Don't fear the butt though, they are well worth the wait and hard to mess up.
 
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Now I would smoke a chicken or yes maybe even a chuck roast. Then you can also take the advice that Bob (Eman) gave you and do the meatloaf is also a good smoke. Then you should try some of those moink balls and also Abt's are really good to. You can find alot of good recipes and directions in the wiki section here too.
 
Do some smaller stuff like maybe; chicken thighs, country style ribs, pork tenderloin, beef tri tip (fantastic), ABT's ( jalapeno poppers).

Anything small like that won't take a considerable amount of time but will affort multiple uses of your smoker and after time you will get comfortable with it and the longer smokes will be much easier. Big meats=long smokes, no way around that.. Good luck
 
A lot depends on what smoker you have.

Some are more finicky and demand more attention.

Regarding butts, I just did a few this past weekend for my mom's birthday. I threw them on my UDS around 7pm Friday, and kept an eye on the temps 'till midnight. After that I went to bed, and checked them around 9 am Saturday morning. At that point the cooking temp had dropped around 5 degrees, so I opened up my valve a touch just to let a bit more air in, kept an eye on temps for a few hrs, then took off to buy some more stuff for the party, and run a few errands. Got back home around 1:30pm and the temp was still at 220. Finally pulled the butts off the drum around 3pm Saturday.

Now, I would never do that on my Chargriller offset because it needs babysitting on a regular basis.

 
I couldn't have said it better.

A big oll chub bologna is pretty tasty after hanging out in the smoker for about 3 or 4 hours. Just like it is from the store ( make sure there is no wrapper in it LOL ) make a couple slits end to end an inch or two deep and put a little rub of choice on it.
 
much good advice and suggestions!

many thanks!

i'm smoking on an offset, charbroil silver smoker

no doubt about it, i'm going to step up and smoke the butt as soon as i find a good deal on them.  i didn't have any serious problems i couldn't overcome with a 6 hour smoke, so what's another 2-12 hours?  LOL!

in the meantime, more ABTs. and probably moinks

i mentioned smoked meatloaf to my wife and she said no way.  (huh?  well, i just dropped the subject. i don't know what's up with that)

but chicken is a definite!  i'm torn between beer can, and just doing like quarter pieces or something
 
She may be shocked by the smoked meatloaf I don't like meatloaf out of an oven and generally won't eat it. I decided to make one once in the smoker for my wife and son in law who both really like meatloaf well the daughter and I both tried a little and its now a regular thing I do in the smoker and its enjoyed by all of us
 
thanks, Piney!  i appreciate the meatloaf testimonial.  

i really love meatloaf, i love making it almost as much as eating it.  so i know i'm gonna just have to go for it. 

i think you are right, it just sounded weird to her.  (ok, it sounded weird to me, too, but i got over it really quickly, because so far i've gotten nothing but good advice and recommendations from this forum!)
 
My wife wouldn't usually make meatloaf if I was home for the last 15 years because she knew there was no way I was going to eat it. My daughter was the same way she didn't like meatloaf at all. Once in a great while the wife would make meatloaf for her and the son in law but she knew she had to fix something else for my daughter and I but all that changed the first time I smoked one and its a pretty regular meal around here now as long as I smoke it. In fact after this thread I'm gonna have to do one or two in the next few days
biggrin.gif
 
most meat will average an 1 1/2 to a pound to smoke

why not order for how long your comfortable with?

 for example 3 pound pork butt will be about 4 1/4 hours to

smoke when your comfortable with that then buy the pig
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As with anything good in life time is a main factor, nothing worth while is ever done fast, especially bbq, that being said try doing a spiral ham, that only take a few hours, or a turkey breast, sausages don't take all day and are great out of the smoker, good luck, and keep the thin blue smoke a flowing.
 
solid advice, gentlemen.  thank you!

thx, northern greenhorn.  sausages!!  yeah, boy!  and i hadn't even thought about a turkey breast yet.  excellent suggestion!

good point, dave.   i'm totally cool with anything 6 hours or less, so that covers any butt i'm likely to smoke  (there are only 2 of us here, so i would probably do meats < 5lbs.)
 
I allways smoke big so i buy bone in butts . But you can buy a boneless and cut it in half to do a smaller piece for 2 .
 
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