At 62 and recently retired, I thought learning how to smoke would be a good way to kill some time. Over the years I've gottne pretty good at wok cooking and although I can't really see a connectioin between wok and smoking, I thought I'd give smoking a shot.
So for Christmas my darling bride of 40+ years got me a MES 40.
I started by assembling and seassoning according to directions and that all went pretty well. But that's where everything went south in a hurry.
I had some chicken wings that I thought would be a good first time sacrifice. I seasoned them according to the MES recipe for the "Smoky, Spciy Wings" and placed them on the preheted 250 smoker. Put in a half of a cup of soaked apple wood chips, a half of a pan of apple cider and closed the vent and set the timer for 1.5 hours just like in the recipe.
About a half hour into the smoke i noticed moisture on the inside glass of the smoker and I thought "hey the meat is staying nice and juicy." I opened the smoker and turned them just like the video said to.
At an hour, when I went to take them off to put them in the aluminum pan with sauce, just like the recipe, I noticed they were as mushy as if I put them in a pan of boiling water. But I sauced them anyway for the last 30 minutes.
Took them off at 1.5 hours and not only were them soft and mushy, but they tasted like they had an oily film on them.
Then I stumbled on your blog and found out that the top vent should always stay full open and what I was actually seeing was condensate and not moisture from the meat. At least the trash can was well fed last night.
So I guess I have a lot to learn and its not as simple as Myron makes it out to be on TV. But I have to admit that making a mistake with a smoker is alot safer than making a mistake with a 60k btu wok full of oil!
Thanks for letting me join your blog and be assured from now on I will "read first and cook second."
Happy New Year to All!
PapaBob
So for Christmas my darling bride of 40+ years got me a MES 40.
I started by assembling and seassoning according to directions and that all went pretty well. But that's where everything went south in a hurry.
I had some chicken wings that I thought would be a good first time sacrifice. I seasoned them according to the MES recipe for the "Smoky, Spciy Wings" and placed them on the preheted 250 smoker. Put in a half of a cup of soaked apple wood chips, a half of a pan of apple cider and closed the vent and set the timer for 1.5 hours just like in the recipe.
About a half hour into the smoke i noticed moisture on the inside glass of the smoker and I thought "hey the meat is staying nice and juicy." I opened the smoker and turned them just like the video said to.
At an hour, when I went to take them off to put them in the aluminum pan with sauce, just like the recipe, I noticed they were as mushy as if I put them in a pan of boiling water. But I sauced them anyway for the last 30 minutes.
Took them off at 1.5 hours and not only were them soft and mushy, but they tasted like they had an oily film on them.
Then I stumbled on your blog and found out that the top vent should always stay full open and what I was actually seeing was condensate and not moisture from the meat. At least the trash can was well fed last night.
So I guess I have a lot to learn and its not as simple as Myron makes it out to be on TV. But I have to admit that making a mistake with a smoker is alot safer than making a mistake with a 60k btu wok full of oil!
Thanks for letting me join your blog and be assured from now on I will "read first and cook second."
Happy New Year to All!
PapaBob