My first smoke!

[rcg703]

Snatched up a Masterbuilt 40" propane smoker last week and finally got around to seasoning it Friday evening. I decided to try something easy for my first smoke and just did some chicken wings, chicken tenders (for the kids), and some andouille sausage. I have to say I'm HOOKED now and don't think I did too bad for my first smoke. I marinated the chicken for about 3 hours and then hit them with some more rub before being put on the smoker. They went for about 2 hours with sauce being put on for the last 20 minutes or so. My wife made some baked potato salad to go with it and everything was deelish!

 

[meatman72]

LOOKS very good . You for got one thing . You forgot to have me over for some LOL

 

[jaxgatorz]

Looks great !!! First of many smokes , I bet.. :D

 

[meatman72]

Hey RCG you said your from Lowell I have family there also. Well wishes with that new smoker . Nailing the steady temperature is key and with your gas smoker that should be easy enough.

 

[rcg703]

I'm actually in Northern VA. I was able to keep it between 250-260 with relative ease. The outdoor temp dropped a bit that evening so I had to adjust on the fly.

 

[ksblazer]

Glad to hear your first smoke went well and tasted good.

I'm sure there will be many more in the future.

 

[SmokinAl]

That is fantastic!
Everything looks delicious!
Great job on your first try, now your hooked!!
Al

 

[rcg703]

Definitely! Ribs are next on the menu.

 

[tallbm]

Hi there and welcome!

Looks like you are well on your way. Chicken is cheap and comes out very good for the most part. Very good to practice and learn with.

Just a word to the wise. Chicken skin may come out rubbery unless you smoke at a cooking temp of 325F or so.
If you experience rubbery chicken skin it is just the nature of the skin and not something you are doing poorly. Just up the cooking temp and you will have edible chicken skin!

There may be some other techniques to help as well but increasing the temp on a propane smoker would be the simplest way to go. Best of luck on your next smoking adventures! :)

 

[Traeger.Rage.BBQ]

Fantastic first smoke! I had that exact rig for many years. An excellent rig for some great BackYardBBQ...

 

[rcg703]

Hi there and welcome!

Looks like you are well on your way. Chicken is cheap and comes out very good for the most part. Very good to practice and learn with.

Just a word to the wise. Chicken skin may come out rubbery unless you smoke at a cooking temp of 325F or so.
If you experience rubbery chicken skin it is just the nature of the skin and not something you are doing poorly. Just up the cooking temp and you will have edible chicken skin!

There may be some other techniques to help as well but increasing the temp on a propane smoker would be the simplest way to go. Best of luck on your next smoking adventures! :)

That's exactly what I did. I cranked the temp up for the last 20-30 mins which seemed to help. I may smoke at a higher temp the whole way through next time to see the difference. It wasn't really rubbery but yet not quite as crisp as I'd like it.

 

[CajunChris]

Looks excellent, well done! I agree with tallbm about the chicken skin advice. I actually don't care for poultry or turkey if its smoked too low...I find the texture in general is rubbery to my liking. However its all preference! Good work sir.

 

[sauced]

Delicious, it all looks great.....nice job!!

 

[SonnyE]

Definitely! Ribs are next on the menu.

I normally do my ribs on the BBQ. But in the sm00ker, the 3,2,1 Method is a can't fail wonderful smoke.

 

[rcg703]

Looks excellent, well done! I agree with tallbm about the chicken skin advice. I actually don't care for poultry or turkey if its smoked too low...I find the texture in general is rubbery to my liking. However its all preference! Good work sir.

At what temp do you usually smoke your poultry to get the skin to have a clean easy bite with a bit of crisp?

 

[CajunChris]

For poultry I usually go pretty high...pretty much between 300-350 really, I usually don't treat it low and slow like I would other meats. I might throw in a little more wood/chips than usual because obviously it will cook quicker(to get more smoke flavor) at that temp. However, no matter what temp I smoke at I usually crisp it up at the end over direct heat/Coals. That's just how I like it, hope that helps! Feel free to listen to others and check out more ideas as well!

 

[rcg703]

Thanks for the input! I'm already having fun learning the nuances of smoking.

 

[jetsknicks1]

Great start!

 

[meatman72]

There are many good suggestions on this forum . I never knew about high heat for chicken I will try that next time .

 

[dcecil]

Nicely done, great start