I’m Now A Smoker

[Habitual Smoker]

Hi all! This is my first post. I received an MES smoker for Father’s Day and had never smoked before, but always loved smoked foods being born and raised in Texas. I was going to wait until the fall to buy a smoker after I built a new deck, but my father in law surprised me a bit early and now I’m hooked! Here is what I’ve made so far, with much reading from this forum. I have smoked pork ribs, two pork butts (only pictures are of the first as my second son was being born when the second butt was finishing up and being pulled two weeks ago), and ABTs! So far all of my taste testers have been really impressed, and I am by no means good at cooking. Thanks for looking and I can’t wait to learn and share more!

Drew
The Woodlands, TX

 

[The Butt Man]

Looks like you are on the right track and you are definitely in the right spot for advice to take your new hobby to the next level. Welcome.

 

[oddegan]

The one with little man chomping the big old piece of meat is fantastic! Welcome to the forum!

 

[Habitual Smoker]

The one with little man chomping the big old piece of meat is fantastic! Welcome to the forum!

Thanks! He ate two ribs that night! More ABTs, half with Argentinian red shrimp and half with lil smokies, my first fatty with ground sausage, eggs, American cheese, and spam, as well as two racks of ribs will go on tomorrow! Pictures to follow!

 

[chopsaw]

Yeah ,,, love the family pics !

 

[flatbroke]

Congratulations on the baby and smoker. Nice job so far

 

[one eyed jack]

Hey; You'r supposed to take the wrappings off those ribs before ya put them in the smoker.

Sounds like you've got a keeper Father in law. Welcome to the hobby / passion.

The young-un is going to grow up big and strong if you keep feeding him like that.

 

[gmc2003]

Welcome to the site. It looks like your off to a good start. I agree don't forget to take the plastic off the meat before smoking it. :)

Chris

 

[illini40]

Congrats and welcome! Keep up with introducing your son to it. Our oldest (he's 3) thinks it's pretty cool when we are smoking meat.

 

[Habitual Smoker]

Hey; You'r supposed to take the wrappings off those ribs before ya put them in the smoker.

Sounds like you've got a keeper Father in law. Welcome to the hobby / passion.

The young-un is going to grow up big and strong if you keep feeding him like that.

Lol! That was the day I opened the box and assembled the smoker! I wanted to see how the racks would lay in there as my dad has the MES 30 inch and things get a bit tight. I am very happy with the MES 40 so far.

 

[Habitual Smoker]

Bacon wrapped sausage fatty went in 45 minutes ago at 250 F. I know I’ve read on the forums that it usually takes about 2.5 hours at this temp to cook, but what should the final internal temp be?

Edit: Plastic was removed prior to placing in smoker. ;)

 

[gmc2003]

165* for the innerd's.

Chris

 

[SmokinAl]

That is some darn good looking Q there my friend!
Great work!!
Al

 

[Habitual Smoker]

165* for the innerd's.

Chris

Thanks Chris! I pulled it and am letting it cool now. It hit 166 on the MES internal thermometer and 164 on my thermopen.

 

[Habitual Smoker]

That is some darn good looking Q there my friend!
Great work!!
Al

Thanks Al! I have been reading up on a lot of your posts, specifically regarding brisket. I will be trying out one of those in the next few weeks.

 

[Habitual Smoker]

Quick picture of the the fatty resting. Ribs have now gone in for the 2-2-1 method and will be adding the shrimp and lil smokie ABTs the last two hours of smoke!

 

[ab canuck]

Hello and welcome, Looks like you are getting addicted, Food looks great, Enjoy!!! Like

 

[Habitual Smoker]

Hello and welcome, Looks like you are getting addicted, Food looks great, Enjoy!!! Like

Thanks ab canuck! I’m am so addicted! My outside freezer is piling up with ribs and pork butts! I love that with the AMZN tray I can let it go all night long and pork butts are ready to start pulling in time for lunch the next day and is so amazing! My wife is asking for a pork butt each weekend so we can eat it throughout the week!

 

[Habitual Smoker]

So... The ABTs turned out awesome as usual! The shrimp, cream cheese, and cheddar were the favorite of the group we had over but the lil smokies were a close second.

The ribs... ugh the ribs. The first and only time I made baby back ribs they were the exact way I like them; fall off the bone. These were tough and completely stuck to the bone. I am guessing they were severely undercooked, but I followed the 2-2-1 method exactly as I had done before. Is it possible that these ribs were tougher than normal from the get go? Also, the first time I did ribs that is all I did and each slab went on it’s own rack. This time I had the ribs side by side on the same rack since I added several more racks of ABTs later in the smoke. Maybe this caused the ribs to not reach temp quickly enough? Also lost heat a few times opening the MES to add the ABTs... any thoughts? Maybe when I wrapped them in foil for 2 hours it wasn’t tight enough? I’m in need of some constructive criticism!

I threw the second rack of ribs back on for about 2 hours after the initial pull to see if that would make them fall off the bone, but they still seem tough.

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

You have s bunch of fantastic looking Q. Keep it up and enjoy the new smoker. Best wishes to your bundle of joy.

George