New to smoking - any suggestions

[JC in GB]

I like hickory with either apple or cherry added. Pecan and apple is one of my favorite combos as well. I also use oak whiskey barrel chunks with cherry wood. There are many different woods and combinations that will give you a good product. I decide what smoke I want usually as my smoker is coming up to temp. If you have hickory, cherry, and apple wood, you can smoke just about anything. IMHO

JC

 

[banderson7474]

I guess I haven't smoked enough to really get a palate of different smoke wood but I enjoy oak, hickory and mesquite. My neighbor gave me a bunch of pecan from his yard. I should try something different for poultry like apple to see if I can taste a difference.

 

[JC in GB]

I guess I haven't smoked enough to really get a palate of different smoke wood but I enjoy oak, hickory and mesquite. My neighbor gave me a bunch of pecan from his yard. I should try something different for poultry like apple to see if I can taste a difference.

I can taste the difference between different woods. Sometimes I can tell what wood was used if it was only one kind.

I agree with a previous poster that cherry works well for beef.

If I had only one wood type to smoke with, I would most likely go with apple.

 

[Kbsherriff]

I have ordered some apple wood to start, as people have suggested they go well with both pork and chicken and they are what i plan to do this weekend, chicken saturday and shoulder on sunday

 

[tallbm]

I have ordered some apple wood to start, as people have suggested they go well with both pork and chicken and they are what i plan to do this weekend, chicken saturday and shoulder on sunday

Nice! You will enjoy it.
Quick tip on your chicken. If it has skin on it you will get rubbery skin unless you smoke it at a higher smoker temp. Smoking it at 162C (325F) the whole time should give you edible and likely crispy skin.
A great alternative option is to smoke 107C (225F) and when it is like an Internal Temp (IT) of the meat at 57C (135F) you can throw the chicken skin side down on a super hot gas grill to fix the skin up and finish the cook on the chicken.

Best of luck on the smokes this weekend! :)

 

[banderson7474]

Agreed, I did a beer can chicken in a webber indirect between 280-300 and the skin still came out rubbery. I should have took the can out of its azz and threw it on direct for a little to crisp up the chicken.

 

[Kbsherriff]

Agreed, I did a beer can chicken in a webber indirect between 280-300 and the skin still came out rubbery. I should have took the can out of its azz and threw it on direct for a little to crisp up the chicken.

Whats this 'beer can' chicken, ive seen it a few times but not 100% what it means

 

[NormsEgg]

Just relax and enjoy the process. You will nail some cooks and some, well not so much. It's all good we have all been on both sides.

 

[Kbsherriff]

So i gave smoking the chicken a go on saturday, didnt go as well as id like, struggled to get the temp up to 350f i got as high as 314f at time but mainly stuck around 300f was enough to cook it, was on there about 2 and half hours or just over meat came out juicy, juices were clear but sking was abit rubbery as suspected with temp problem but got the the legs and found that some of the meat was quite pink, looked firm not squishy but my partner is a worrier so didnt want that bit eating, probe said the breast reached 168 by time i took it off and all the breast was nice and white with a pink tinge just below skin, any advice or suggestions welcome, with temp problem and pink in legs

 

[JC in GB]

Pink coloration just under the skin is likely the smoke ring. If juices run clear and you are getting an IT of 165, you are golden.

 

[JCAP]

As long as you hit 165, you're good. Color shouldn't be used to judge if poultry is done- trust the IT!

https://www.thekitchn.com/chicken-still-pink-after-cooki-157168

 

[PrairieGeek]

Temp in the breast and thigh will generally not be the same. Thigh usually takes a bit more.

 

[Kbsherriff]

Yeah i had a probe in the breast through the whole cook and one on the grate. One in the breast definately reached 165, i checked the legs after bringing it indoors and they reached 165 also, so will know for next time, couldnt do the pork outside this weekend, the weather just got worse on sunday and it was bad enough saturday hence the umbrella haha but i did do it in the oven with the rub and glaze i made and they did taste delicous

 

[zwiller]

Good points made. Spatchcocking helps with breast/thigh temps. In fact, I go one step further and halve the bird. Much easier to handle etc too. For skin, I fan dry and form pellicle. Not crispy but bite through. Color is much better too.