please help!!

[baxjacob]

I recently smoked a whole chicken..however, it didnt smoke very much when i put apple chunks in my side fire box...also when i opened the lid the wood was flaming and not smoking...cam someone please help and tell me what im doing wrong!!

 

[jarjarchef]

Welcome to SMF! :welcome1:

Need a bit more info to better help you.

What type of smoker?
What type of fuel?
Was the chunks straight on the fuel source?
What cook temp were you running?
Was the thermometer calibrated?


I have a char griller with side fire box. I run with charcole and small oak logs. If I add chips I place them in a smoker box then on the charcole. If you put chips or chunks straight on the fire they will most likely flare up.. .. I will leave my stack damper open 100% and use the air intake on the fire box to control my temps. My target cook chamber temp for chicken is 275-300 and I cook to an internal temp of 165, some will cook to 175. The reason for the higher cook chamber temp is to get a crispier skin, otherwise the skin can feel almost rubbery.......

When you have your smoker running correctly you will see only a slight smoke. It will have a blue tint to it. That is where the phrase of Thin Blue Smoke (TBS)comes from. If you have a billowing white smoke allow it to settle down to a TBS. It is natural for the white smoke when you add some wood, but it should settle down after about 5-10 minutes. If it is still white smoke after that look at your air intake, you may need to close it slightly.

There are just a few things to work with. I would suggest sign up for the 5 Day E-course and practice, practice, practice...........

 

[baxjacob]

I have a chargriller too. I was putting the chunks directly on top of the charcoal...i was running my temps between 225 to 250...thanks for the info...i was doing some reasding about TBS and i did have that.. I was thinking that we needed a white billowing smoke

 

[handymanstan]

So what did the chicken taste like???   any pics??

Stan

 

[baxjacob]

The chicken tasted good....no i dont have pics...im going to start sending pics...this weekend i wanna smoke a pork shoulder..any suggestion...will be my first gime

 

[mvincent42]

Just did a quick search for pork shoulder. Found some good pics on this link:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127073/first-pork-shoulder-w-q-view

There are a lot so pick and choose the way you like.

Before I had a smoker I would marinate overnight with dr. Pepper, warchestershire sauce, garlic, onions, and whatever seasoning I felt like using then slow cook in crock pot then pull and put in skillet and fry while adding juice back in. Then back in crock pot. I haven't tried one in the smoker yet but I am thinking about marinating overnight and then smoking slow and low and pulling.

 

[baxjacob]

Thanks for the help...ill add pics this weekend

 

[handymanstan]

Thanks for the help...ill add pics this weekend

Looking forward to the Qview.

Stan