Hello, My name is Kevin and Im from Northern Florida and recently got the "smokin'" bug .. the BBQ kind. I love to cook in general but had never tried smoking anything and dont even Grill very often other than the occasional steak.
So after a little research I quickly found out I couldnt afford to buy a smoker .. at least from the wife's perspective. So I decided to make one. After doing some research and at least getting the basic concepts down I set about converting an old garage tool cart into a makeshift smoker. With things i had around the house and garage i used some plywood some old gutter pipe some oven racks to make the body of the smoker.
I converted an old Cuisinart Indoor grill to be my heat source and smoke generator. This is all new to me but I do have some electrical and woodworking experience. Although this thing aint pretty to be sure. But I mainly wanted to see if I could do it.
After Building testing, modifying, testing etc. Seems to work pretty well heats up to 220 and I can keep it there steady by adjusting a couple vents.
I still have a lot more to do to improve it but I just couldnt resist the urge to test it on some leg quarters today. I figured if I was gonna ruin something I'd rather ruin those than a rack of ribs or a nice peace of meat.
This site was very helpful to me who 3 days ago knew "nothing" about smoking or grilling really. I used Tip's brine recipe for the most part tweaked a little for my taste and what i had to work with. Brined the Chicken overnight prolly about 10 hours. While smoker was heating up I decided i needed to make some sort of a rub from what i gathered from the site. I ended up kindve using a combination of things I saw based on what i had available.
I did learn a very important lesson about cayene pepper. Easy does it .. I made small batch of rub from recipe that had good amount of the cayene pepper in it and put it on first batch of chicken THEN decided i should taste it ... LOL rookie mistake number 27.
I determined this would definately not work for my wife who doesnt like very much heat. So I made up another rub omitting the cayene and just adding a little red and white pepper ... tasted BEFORE applying and was happy with it. Lubed up the chicken with some EVOO sprinkled patted rubbed and decided it was time to put em in the smoker. I was using hickory chips BTW in a chip pan on electric heat source. Wanted Apple or Pecan but only had mesquite or hickory to choose from and no "chunks" only chips. But I had a pretty good smoke going put the chicken in. Inserted thermometer probe into thick part of thigh on larger quarter .. after about 4 hours and a few chip changes later the IT of my chicken was 165. So I took it out of the smoker wrapped it in foil and let it rest for about 30 to 45 minutes. Not sure if this is necessary or not.
I was actually very surprised and happy to see that the chicken looked nice smelled great and when I pulled a piece off it was soooo juicy and a nice smoky pink. Tasted really good although the one batch with the cayene was pretty spicy. But not so bad with the skin removed.
So all in all not as
scary as I thought. However while I was pretty pleased overall I would like to learn more about rubs (how to make them better) Also how to get the skin a little crispier.
Also about the temperature. As I mentioned i pulled em at 165 IT and let em rest for 30 to 45 minutes and everything seemed done and very tasty but near the joints/bones on some of the larger pieces there seemed to be a little blood ... Any tips or help on temperature would be greatly appreciated.
I did use water in my drip pan ive heard some say do this others say dont do this. I didnt put any sauce or do any basting while smoking.
Anyway thats about it for my maiden voyage looking forward to learning a lot and making some new friends.
Thanks,
Kevin
So after a little research I quickly found out I couldnt afford to buy a smoker .. at least from the wife's perspective. So I decided to make one. After doing some research and at least getting the basic concepts down I set about converting an old garage tool cart into a makeshift smoker. With things i had around the house and garage i used some plywood some old gutter pipe some oven racks to make the body of the smoker.
I converted an old Cuisinart Indoor grill to be my heat source and smoke generator. This is all new to me but I do have some electrical and woodworking experience. Although this thing aint pretty to be sure. But I mainly wanted to see if I could do it.
After Building testing, modifying, testing etc. Seems to work pretty well heats up to 220 and I can keep it there steady by adjusting a couple vents.
I still have a lot more to do to improve it but I just couldnt resist the urge to test it on some leg quarters today. I figured if I was gonna ruin something I'd rather ruin those than a rack of ribs or a nice peace of meat.
This site was very helpful to me who 3 days ago knew "nothing" about smoking or grilling really. I used Tip's brine recipe for the most part tweaked a little for my taste and what i had to work with. Brined the Chicken overnight prolly about 10 hours. While smoker was heating up I decided i needed to make some sort of a rub from what i gathered from the site. I ended up kindve using a combination of things I saw based on what i had available.
I did learn a very important lesson about cayene pepper. Easy does it .. I made small batch of rub from recipe that had good amount of the cayene pepper in it and put it on first batch of chicken THEN decided i should taste it ... LOL rookie mistake number 27.
I determined this would definately not work for my wife who doesnt like very much heat. So I made up another rub omitting the cayene and just adding a little red and white pepper ... tasted BEFORE applying and was happy with it. Lubed up the chicken with some EVOO sprinkled patted rubbed and decided it was time to put em in the smoker. I was using hickory chips BTW in a chip pan on electric heat source. Wanted Apple or Pecan but only had mesquite or hickory to choose from and no "chunks" only chips. But I had a pretty good smoke going put the chicken in. Inserted thermometer probe into thick part of thigh on larger quarter .. after about 4 hours and a few chip changes later the IT of my chicken was 165. So I took it out of the smoker wrapped it in foil and let it rest for about 30 to 45 minutes. Not sure if this is necessary or not.
I was actually very surprised and happy to see that the chicken looked nice smelled great and when I pulled a piece off it was soooo juicy and a nice smoky pink. Tasted really good although the one batch with the cayene was pretty spicy. But not so bad with the skin removed.
So all in all not as
scary as I thought. However while I was pretty pleased overall I would like to learn more about rubs (how to make them better) Also how to get the skin a little crispier.
Also about the temperature. As I mentioned i pulled em at 165 IT and let em rest for 30 to 45 minutes and everything seemed done and very tasty but near the joints/bones on some of the larger pieces there seemed to be a little blood ... Any tips or help on temperature would be greatly appreciated.
I did use water in my drip pan ive heard some say do this others say dont do this. I didnt put any sauce or do any basting while smoking.
Anyway thats about it for my maiden voyage looking forward to learning a lot and making some new friends.
Thanks,
Kevin
