- Jul 28, 2008
- 9
- 10
I am new to smoking meat and would greatly appreciate some advice. I got an electric Brinkman for Fathers day. So far I tried smoking (using Hickory) to smoke Ribs, whole chicken, pork shoulder. Ribs and chicken came out good (not great, but good) and the shoulder tasted good, but did not fall apart like I wanted it to. I smoked the ribs for 6 hours, the 5 lb shoulder for 8 and the 5 lb chicken for 3 hours.
I will be entertaining some guests at a block party on Saturday. I have purchased 3 racks of ribs and a 5 lb pork shoulder and what I would like to try is an long all-day smoke..like 12 hours. I also would like to try a diff wood instead of the hickory and I know I dont like Mesquite. Some of the questions I have are:
1 - Is 12 hours too long for the ribs or can I smoke the ribs/shoulder together for the 12 hours without too much worry?
2 - Cannot seem to find apple wood chips here in Albany NY (which I find to be very ironic given all the apple orchards). I found a place that has Cherry and Alder...how are those for pork? I think I recall reading somewhere that Cherry should be balanced by something else..is that true?
3 - Should I occasionally spray the smoking meat with apple juice or apple cider vinegar and oil mix? How often?
4 - The wood chips seem to smoke for 60-90 mins. Should I keep adding chips after that or is that enough smoke? I wrap the water-soaked chips in foil. I have read in some places that the meat doesnt absorb much more smoke flavor after the first 90 mins.
5 - Is there any flavor added by putting the dry rub on 2-3 days in advance of smoking instead of just 1 day?
6 - Whats the opinion on using sand in the water tray instead of water? What about wet sand?
7 - should I brine the shoulder/ribs prior to smoking?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I plan on checking out the threads and the eguide to smoking in the meantime.
Thanks.
Dino
I will be entertaining some guests at a block party on Saturday. I have purchased 3 racks of ribs and a 5 lb pork shoulder and what I would like to try is an long all-day smoke..like 12 hours. I also would like to try a diff wood instead of the hickory and I know I dont like Mesquite. Some of the questions I have are:
1 - Is 12 hours too long for the ribs or can I smoke the ribs/shoulder together for the 12 hours without too much worry?
2 - Cannot seem to find apple wood chips here in Albany NY (which I find to be very ironic given all the apple orchards). I found a place that has Cherry and Alder...how are those for pork? I think I recall reading somewhere that Cherry should be balanced by something else..is that true?
3 - Should I occasionally spray the smoking meat with apple juice or apple cider vinegar and oil mix? How often?
4 - The wood chips seem to smoke for 60-90 mins. Should I keep adding chips after that or is that enough smoke? I wrap the water-soaked chips in foil. I have read in some places that the meat doesnt absorb much more smoke flavor after the first 90 mins.
5 - Is there any flavor added by putting the dry rub on 2-3 days in advance of smoking instead of just 1 day?
6 - Whats the opinion on using sand in the water tray instead of water? What about wet sand?
7 - should I brine the shoulder/ribs prior to smoking?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I plan on checking out the threads and the eguide to smoking in the meantime.
Thanks.
Dino
