Failure, failure, failure!!!!!

[joann mantych]

hi,
I have tried all suggestions. I have tried EVERYTHING! Today I monitored the temp of both the smoker and the meat. It STILL turned tough and dry. I honestly do not know what else to do!!! i have a Bradley controller on order andwill install it onto the smoker. If this doesn't work, I will take the whole dammed thing, controller and all to the dump and never try to smoke any meat again. this is simply NOT worth the agravitation and stomach burn, let alone the grief from my husband !!!
I simply do not know what else to do!
JoAnn Mantych

 

[rw willy]

Where are you?  Maybe you can ask another member to stop by for some real time advice?

Good luck to you.

 

[mrsb]

RW gave you a great suggestion

Can you tell us what it is you tried today?

The meat, the preparation, the temps, everything.

As long as you've been a member you know all the folks here are ready and willing to help

Don't give up!

 

[tjohnson]

Hey JoAnn

Don't give up so easy!!!

What are you smoking?

What Temps are you smoking at?

How Long are you smoking for?

What's the internal temp of your meat?

What thermometer are you using, and is it accurate?

Take a deep breath, and you'll get thru this!!!

Todd

 

[culpepersmoke]

JoAnn - Don't give up. My first few smokes were ...well... Failure, Failure, Failure (actually my dear wife used other words

). Asking direct questions and giving details of what I tried got me some great advice here. I'm now turning out some great Q. My wife who never has been a huge fan of smoked food is now turning in requests and talking up some of my smokes with her friends.

You'll get there.

 

[chefrob]

doesn't gary (scarbelly) have a "smokin tex"...............he should be able to help you on yer smoker. i really can't see why the ribs would come out dry if they were wrapped. i just run mine dry on my fuel hungry sfb and they come out great. have you tried spares or are you using baby backs and havy you always done ribs in the oven "foiled" til they were fall off the bone, if so maybe yer not used to bbq smoked ribs.

 

[les3176]

We've all been there,we've all had things that didn't turn out! Keep your head up and try again! Remember we are all here to help!

 

[jirodriguez]

JoAnn - I went back and read your Ribs post. Couple ideas:

• There was a suggestion about putting a pan of water in the bottom. This is a great idea in that it will help even out the temps a bit, and it will keep the heat from hitting the ribs directly and cooking them to fast and hot.
• Find out what the temperatures are at the middle of each grate level, not just coming out of the smoke stack. There can be a large differance between the two areas.

Unfortunately I have never used a smoker like yours, but it sounds like there is somewhat of an issue with them regarding steady temps. You might want to look in your local craigslist or want add's and see if you can find cheap gas or charcoal smoker. A lot of the cheap charcoals smoakers can be modded to make some really good BBQ.

 

[chefrob]

i just put out a call for gary to check in here.............for some reason i think he has a "tex".

 

[smokermark]

I'm not familiar what smoker you are using JoAnn. Are you wrapping? I might suggest wrapping in foil with juice earlier and then finishing off unwrapped again before resting. I agree the addition of a small water pan may help. It sounds like maybe you're experiencing quite a bit of temperature fluctuation? It could be as simple is that you are using too much fuel or that adjustments are causing a great deal of temperature fluctuation. A couple of things that have helped me considerably is to spend a little more time allowing my cooker to stabilize into the desired temps prior to putting meat in and to only make minor adjustments incrementally to vents if any. A lot of the time it is when we "over correct" that we experience temperature swings.

Tell us more about your smoker, the procedures you're implementing, what you have been cooking, ETC. Remember, there are no "failures"! Have to learn how to walk before you can learn how to fly. You'll get there.

 

[SmokinAl]

JoAnn, No matter what, just don't give up! We are all here to help. Just give us more info & keep asking questions. You'll be a master of the pit in no time!   

 

[beer-b-q]

hi, I have tried all suggestions. I have tried EVERYTHING! Today I monitored the temp of both the smoker and the meat. It STILL turned tough and dry. I honestly do not know what else to do!!! I have a Bradley controller on order and will install it onto the smoker. If this doesn't work, I will take the whole dammed thing, controller and all to the dump and never try to smoke any meat again. this is simply NOT worth the aggravation and stomach burn, let alone the grief from my husband !!! I simply do not know what else to do! JoAnn Mantych

I have 2 questions:

1. How do you plan on using a Bradley Controller on a Smoking Tex?
2. Why Would you want to use a Bradley Controller on a Smoking Tex?

 

[chefrob]

i was wondering that too...........

 

[chefrob]

bump for gary..........

 

[scarbelly]

Hey guys I am in Florida at a meeting - JoAnn - call Scott at SmokinTex. He is very helpful and I am sure he can solve your problems to your satisfaction. I would be happy to talk to you when I get back at the end of the week - send me a PM with your # if you want to chat.  I really hope you will call Scott as he really cares and wants his customers to be happy. He designed these for restaurants and has lots of happy customers

 

[chefrob]

that's what i'm talkin' 'bout!

i see they still got ya on parade to the other side gary...........

 

[tjohnson]

Hello!!!

JoAnn, You There!

Todd

 

[dougmays]

i think she went to the dump pre-maturely

 

[joann mantych]

Ok,
I am back, after hibernating in a dark cave to lick my wounds and feel sorry for myself. But I am stronger than that and am now ready to start over.
I honestly haven't read everything that was sent to me but read enough that I need to do some responses.
My smoker is a Smokintex 1400. Shortly after I bought it the therometor or thermostat failed. I contacted smokintex people and they sent me another theromostat to do a replace, which I did. their instructions were clear and exact and for a while, things worked ok. then tjen temps started to go crazy and I was having the first really bad failures. that was when I gave the forum my cry for help.
I received a lot of suggestions, some I used, some I considered and some I rejected.
One suggestion was to install a different temp monitor and theroostat. I have to agree with this as the temps varied wildly with this smoker. while I now have the new setup, I have yet to install it. Call this licking my wounds time. now that the weather temp is warming up I will plan a day to work on it.
I would like to talk with someone in the local area about this, preferatability someone with a Smokintex. My closest city is Albuquerque, NM I am located approx 20 miles north in Placitas. The smoker is available at the Sportsman Wherehouse near Costco and Samsclub. i bought it there.
as far as handling the meat, I used Jeffs rub ( even tho the meat didn't turn out tender, it was still tasty). I put the ribblets in the crock pot for about 8hours and made rilletes from it. I used the 2-2-1 method reccommended by you all. and I watched the temp of the smoker as well as the temp of the meat. CAREFULLY.
tomorrow I will read in detail everything everyone has suggested. I want all to know that I really appreciate all of your concerns, suggestions and help.
I am ready to try again.
in the smoke,
JoAnn Mantych (JAM)
Placitas, NM

 

[tyotrain]

JoAnn Don't give up you will get it.. Hope it all works out for you. Happy smoking