First cook with the new smoker.

[fishfactory]

Hi everyone, new to this forum..checked in in the introductions page, but just have a few questions regarding my first cook.  I just finished building my new smoker, its a medium sized reverse flow stick burner.  My plan is to use just wood.

Tried some ribs the other night, they turned out ok but seems to have too much smoke.  I smoked them at 225 for 4 hours to get them to 165 degrees.  I used smooth bark hickory (as I have a ton of it from my last load of logs).  Something just didnt feel right though....the smoke smelled a little strong...kinda sooty and creosote smell to it, not that sweet hickory smell.

What went wrong?  I did a test burn the other day and it worked great, made me hungry just smelling the smoke...but that was apple mixed with maple.  Any suggestions folks?  The picture in my avatar is the smoker I built.

 

[daveomak]

FishFactory, evening and welcome to the forum....  That is a fairly common problem.... the creosote....  Retired Lawman just experienced the same situation.... I am linking his thread here ..... There was a lot of good advice and solutions.....   When you get smoking, please take pics for others to see.... We love pics....   And pics of the smoker you built would be really cool....   Dave

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127786/how-to-question-s

 

[diggingdogfarm]

A good bed of coals and well seasoned wood.

Smooth bark (swamp) hickory is one of my favorites.

It rots readily, so make sure it's dried out fairly quickly or it'll lead to problems.
You don't want logs that have sat around for a while

~Martin

 

[fishfactory]

Thanks for the advice guys.  Ill definitely try it.  Looking forward to the next cook, thinking of doing a pork butt for some pulled pork, any suggestions?  Anyways, you wanted some pics of my smoker, so here it is.  Its a work in progress, took about four weeks to build a few hours here and there and about four cases of beer...LOL.

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• fishfactory
• Sep 26, 2012

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• fishfactory
• Sep 26, 2012

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• fishfactory
• Sep 26, 2012

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• fishfactory
• Sep 26, 2012

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• fishfactory
• Sep 26, 2012

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• fishfactory
• Sep 26, 2012

 

[fishfactory]

Not sure what happened to the pictures...doesnt take you to them....Did I do it right?  I did it the same way as another forum I'm on.

 

[fishfactory]

There, got it.

 

[daveomak]

FF, evening....  Smoker looks good....Nice design....... Your pics went to jail temporarily... they were frisked and all was OK.... We do that with all new folks here.... stops a lot of spam....   On the firebox door, is that an air diverter or something like that ??? How does it work....   

Dave

 

[sound1]

Nice build, a child of labor to be sure.

The "too much smoke" thing you were talking about, did you just get it up to temp then close it down and throw the meat in OR wait for coals, stabilize the temp, add the smokewood and start the project??

First dates, it's hard to control the flame.  

 

[rtbbq2]

Nice looking smoker.....

 

[smokinhusker]

Nice smoker!

 

[fishfactory]

FF, evening....  Smoker looks good....Nice design....... Your pics went to jail temporarily... they were frisked and all was OK.... We do that with all new folks here.... stops a lot of spam....   On the firebox door, is that an air diverter or something like that ??? How does it work....   

Dave

I put that baffle on the back of the door to let the air in below the fire grate, figured I would get a better burn that way, also gives something to weld the all thread to for the dampers to work. 

Thanks for the compliments guys!!  It definitely turned out nicer than I imagined, just took my time with the fabrication and thought things out on each step before the torch was fired up...LOL  FYI-  tacking  peices in place before solid welding is a must!  Major PITA if you glue it too much...LOL