New smoker here in LA

[acs2653]

Hello everyone,

My name is Adam and I am stationed at Fort  Polk in LA. I just got a new MES40 BT at Basspro on Blackfriday. It is the 2.5 GEN and I only paid $199.99! I just smoked my first meats yesterday. It was chicken breast and wings. It turned out pretty good, but I think I may have had a little too much smoke. They still tasted pretty good, but mldly overpowering. I will smoking a 14lb turkey fro christmas, so I am going to try to practice a much as I can over the next few weeks. If anyone has any pointers for me, feel free to PM me

 

[one eyed jack]

Welcome to the site Adam and thanks for your service.

Congratulations on your new smoker.

There are a lot of folks here with electric smokers.  If you wind up with specific questions you could post them at the electric smoker forum, here.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/110/electric-smokers

 

[HalfSmoked]

Welcome Adam to Smf you can ask just about any question you can think of about smoking here and there will be help for you on this sight a great bunch of guys here that will help you. Enjoy the sight and keep smoking it all works out with practice.

 

[acs2653]

Thanks! I smoked some wings the other day. I brined them for 3 hours in a maple bourbon brine and then smoked them for 1.5 hrs with hickory and put a mix of beer and maple bourbon (trying to get rid of the maple bourbon. Great to cook with but horrible to drink) they were really good but I may have given it too much smoke. I didn't really have a good idea on how to smoke and did it without reading. Ended up with really thick smoke for a while. I bought the amnps and bought a maverick 733. I bought my FIL one too! My next smoke will be this weekend when I attempt to do some ribs. I am practicing as much as I can because I have a 14lb bird to do for xmas.


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[bauchjw]

Welcome! Great price for the MES! Congrats! I'm surprised you're having problems with smoke? I just got a new MES 40 BT too and I feel like smoke is light, but I'm used to horizontal offset with wood chuncks. Maybe try a lighter wood like pecan? Otherwise are you getting enough oxygen for a clean burn?

 

[foamheart]

Welcome Adam.... LOL saw that LA and was wondering if it was Los Angeles or Lower Alabama.....

Do some searches on Chicken first, you should have at least two smoked chickens before Christmas. Do it nekkid, you don't need all those enhancements to make a great smoked bird. But you will need a bit more experience.Find a good step by step you think you'd like and copy it. remember a turkey is just a big chicken

Everyone here will be glad to help you, thats what we enjoy. You'll get plenty of advise, so I'll just say howdee. And glad to meet yas. 

 

[acs2653]

I am from Louisiana. I may try some more chicken next week. Maybe an entire bird. The plan for the turkey is to inject Tony's cajun butter, probably a simple rub on the outside, stuff the cavity with celery/onions, and let it smoke at 275* until IT is reached. Here are my upcoming smokes:

Sunday 12/12: Ribs- still waiting on my AMNPS and Maverick. Figured I can do some ribs since I don't need to monitor the IT and can cook to time

Thursday 12/17 (AMNPS /maverick should be here by then): Volunteered to do Pulled Pork for an office christmas party. Pretty straight forward on this one. 8-10lb butt with a rub for 12-15 hrs. what is a finishing sauce and do I need it?

Saturday 12/19 or Sunday 12/20: Prime Rib. Still looking for one to cook.

Saturday 12/25: The Bird!

 

[joe black]

Welcome from SC, Adam. It's good to have you on this great site. Thank you very much for your service.

Please, please smoke some whole turkeys before you try the 14# bird. You can come back to the other stuff later. The ribs or the prime rib would be excellent for New Years. The chickens and the turkey would be special if you spatchcock them. They get done a little sooner and more even. Don't worry about the celery and onions. Smoke them in an aluminum pan with a little chicken broth.When you get ready to prep your birds, look at Jeff's buttermilk brine recipe. It's absolutely great. Then use a little SPOG on the bone side and some butter and Jeff's rub on the skin side.

 

[one eyed jack]

 
I am from Louisiana. I may try some more chicken next week. Maybe an entire bird. The plan for the turkey is to inject Tony's cajun butter, probably a simple rub on the outside, stuff the cavity with celery/onions, and let it smoke at 275* until IT is reached. Here are my upcoming smokes:

Sunday 12/12: Ribs- still waiting on my AMNPS and Maverick. Figured I can do some ribs since I don't need to monitor the IT and can cook to time

Thursday 12/17 (AMNPS /maverick should be here by then): Volunteered to do Pulled Pork for an office christmas party. Pretty straight forward on this one. 8-10lb butt with a rub for 12-15 hrs. what is a finishing sauce and do I need it?

Saturday 12/19 or Sunday 12/20: Prime Rib. Still looking for one to cook.

Saturday 12/25: The Bird!

Here is a link to Cheff JJ's finishing sauce.  It gets rave reviews around here.  I have not made it, yet but do plan to.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/122319/jjs-finishing-sauce-awesome

I figure 2 hours per pound for butts and have had a few go longer than 2 hours per pound.  Remember that they will stay quite warm for at least 2 hours if double wrapped in foil, old towels, and held in a cooler.  Schedule plenty of time.

Smoking ribs by time works pretty well.  I prefer the "bend test" and, even more often I use a probe, (Toothpick works good), to test done - ness.

Bend test,

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/165426/bend-test

Bend test and probe test with some discussion about cooking by time.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/219820/rib-bend-toothpick-test

Best luck.