I'm on a mission this summer/fall to run my smoker every weekend. Why? Because I can.
Anyways, Saturday morning I finally got around to building an upper rack (only took 2 years to build something that took me less than an hour) and wanted to season and test it out.
Knowing that my smoker runs somewhat top hot, I wanted to monitor the upper rack while it was empty to see just how much hotter. Results aren't worth adjusting cook temps. I placed 6 probes throughout the grates and checked every half hour throughout my 4 hour cook. With the exception of the probe closest to my exhaust (reverse flow), every probe read within 10 degrees. Surprisingly the probe closest to the exhaust ran 25-40 degrees warmer depending on how recently I stoked the fire. Not a huge deal, but makes me aware that items placed here will cook faster.
So, since it's a sin to run a smoker without food in it, my local market had a great deal on beef shanks. Not being one to pass up a smoke'ortunity, I thought why not?!
Salt & Pepper, 2 hours at 285 on the grate. Made up a simple mirepoix with carrots, celery and shallots, sauteed until slightly softened, then deglazed with red wine. Placed the shanks into the mix, foil, and returned to the smoker for another 3 hours at 285.
The results speak for themselves. I plated this on top of some horseradish cheesy polenta. Man oh man.
Anyways, Saturday morning I finally got around to building an upper rack (only took 2 years to build something that took me less than an hour) and wanted to season and test it out.
Knowing that my smoker runs somewhat top hot, I wanted to monitor the upper rack while it was empty to see just how much hotter. Results aren't worth adjusting cook temps. I placed 6 probes throughout the grates and checked every half hour throughout my 4 hour cook. With the exception of the probe closest to my exhaust (reverse flow), every probe read within 10 degrees. Surprisingly the probe closest to the exhaust ran 25-40 degrees warmer depending on how recently I stoked the fire. Not a huge deal, but makes me aware that items placed here will cook faster.
So, since it's a sin to run a smoker without food in it, my local market had a great deal on beef shanks. Not being one to pass up a smoke'ortunity, I thought why not?!
Salt & Pepper, 2 hours at 285 on the grate. Made up a simple mirepoix with carrots, celery and shallots, sauteed until slightly softened, then deglazed with red wine. Placed the shanks into the mix, foil, and returned to the smoker for another 3 hours at 285.
The results speak for themselves. I plated this on top of some horseradish cheesy polenta. Man oh man.