first try today!

[jdomep]

today i am going to try and smoke this chick and this pork shoulder in my smoker. this is a first for me. if you see something i am doing wrong. please dont keep it to yourself. thanks!! i am shooting for 240 for cooking temp. 

 

[tjohnson]

The chicken will be done much faster than the pork butt.  Keep this in-mind when you're planning to serve

Todd

 

[fpnmf]

Good luck and have fun!!

  Craig

 

[eman]

And as a rule poultry allways goes under anything else you are cooking.

 

[jdomep]

thanks!! they were small enough i could keep them on seperate sides. is an one and a half really all the longer the chicken will take?? also do you keep the damper on top of the smoker closed or open? i have it closed to try and keep the heat in because its like 30 here today. but i dont want to get the meat too smokey if i am to let it vent more.

 

[ellymae]

Not familiar with your cooker but the rule of thumb is to leave the exhaust open and contol your temps with your intakes.

As far as how long the chicken will take - what temp you cooking at? I like to do my chickens a little hotter then eerything else to crisp up the skin.

When it comes to placement I use this - chicken on the bottom, beef aboe that, pork above everything - cause what doesn't taste better with pork fat dripping on it???  This assumes the pork is going on the same time the beef is - you don't want anything raw above anything that has been cooking for a while.

There is a school of thought that it's OK to put chicken on top as long as it's all cooking at the same time and it all gets to 160 and there is part of me that sees the logic there but I still go with chicken on the bottom.

 

[jdomep]

does anybody recommend turning chicken over in a  1 1/2 hour through cook? i am one hour into it now.

 

[jdomep]

i have the temp at 240 right now. the pork shoulder is around 5 pounds. should i turn the temp down to finish up the shoulder on the pork after i pull out the chicken?

 

[jdomep]

i also have an 20 inch sausage link i could through in when i check the chicken. i could move racks and put raw sausage on bottom. i cant find anywhere how long to cook links of sausage on line .

 

[fpnmf]

Dude!! Stay calm..

I put "long to cook links of sausage  " from your post into our handy dandy search tool up there at the top of the page. ^^^^

Have fun reading..your answer is here.....

Craig

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=how+long+to+cook+links  

 

[jdomep]

thanks, i am nervous about this. i really want my first one to come out right.

 

[jdomep]

too cold today. smoker isnt reaching the 240 set point. its up to 225. i just need to add cook time. hopefully we dont have to order pizza for the big game. i just added the sausage link and the chicken looks so freaking awesome right now. :)

 

[ellymae]

Relax - this should not be stressing you out - it's supposed to be fun. Even if it's not perfect it will still be good.

I don't turn my chicken.

225* is perfect.

Sausage will take an hour or 2

if you have a fattie throw that on too!!

Deep breath in - you are doing fine.

 

[jdomep]

whats a fattie?? also i have some red bell peppers i want to throw on at the end. how much time should i give them??

 

[ellymae]

Veggies are not my strong suite so I can't help you there.

A fattie is a one pound sausage chub - you know the kind - Jimmy Dean, Bob Evans etc that you would slice and try for sausage patties.

You take it out of it's plastic wrap, and in it's purist form you just toss it on the cooker till it's about 160 degrees - about 2.5 - 3 hours. Some folks like to give it a rub dust and some like to stuff them and enrobe them in a bacon weave. All are delicious. I would encourage you to try a naked fattie at least once to get a feel for the wonder that is a fattie.

BE WARNED - NEVER, and I mean NEVER cook just one fattie. You will be sorry.

 

[fpnmf]

Try using the search tool...really.... it works.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=whats+a+fattie  

  From the home page ...http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/fo...time-with-q-view-update-here-s-the-money-shot  

 Craig

 

[SmokinAl]

It sounds like you have received some very good advice already. Just don't stress out over this. Grab a beer & relax. It always comes out good. You can't get food like this in a restaurant.

 

[jdomep]

chicken came out after three hours it was at 188. chicken meat was great but the skin was not edible. is that standard for the course?

 

[ellymae]

Not edible as in rubbery? Yep - depending on what temp you are cooking at - low and slow makes for tasty chicken but not great skin. I like to cook chicken hotter- 275 at least.

 

[jdomep]

yes, rubbery couldnt chew through it and very very smoking flavor. i used hickory. maybe i should have tried another flavor.