Smokin’ Screw-Ups

[pit 4 brains]

Ohhhh, so you are supposed to use HARDWOOD to cook meat ehh? My first smoke was a pork loin in my first Brinkman Smoke-n-Pit. I just built a fire out of some split 2x8 doug fir and used whatever I had in my woodpile for the fire ( I think it was citrus). Did i mention I put the loin in the chamber before I built the fire...? The loin never got done, as if it would ever have anyway, and I almost quit then. I went back to grilling and slowly started to move the food away from the fire until I self-learned myself about indirect cooking. The side firebox began to make more sense then!
Even now that I know what I'm doing, I can still ruin a rack of ribs like I did a little while back when when I ran out of lump and tossed in a big chunk of split mesquite. White smoke and a good creosote soak sent them to the trash can...

 

[smokingohiobutcher]

Ive had my share of cooked jerky batches when I had a gosm,but when I got my big smoker done I just had to make my own slabs of bacon. Ordered the brine mix,the fresh bellies,and soaked them good.put them in the smoker and started the gas burner I had in my keg smoker box and when in the house. A couple of buddys stopped a while later and we were shootin the shots and I said "Hey lets go see how the bacon is coming along" went out to ths smoker to find thick white smoke just billowing out of it. the gas burner's supply pipe had a rusted hole that opened up and the flame was about 2 inches tall and yellow! what a nice sooty creasote flavored batch of bacon I made. Threw away $55.00 dollars worth of bacon...yep just had to make a huge batch fo my first try

SOB

 

[sawyerrt10]

My first whole hog (with no assistance from anyone) Was cooking it for a unit party. Called up my cooking buddy back home to verify the recipe for the sauce we use. He gave me the measurements the way his kin folk used to make it. (Called for a pound each of red and black pepper plus a 1/2 pound of white pepper. The cook itself went fine, but the BBQ was way too hot for normal folks! They would come up for another plate sweating from the heat, saying man this is good but it sure is spicy!

 

[grillin_all_day]

Almost chopping my thumb off before my first smoke. Well, I over embelished a bit. I was chopping my larger chunks down for my first smoke using a dull hatchet when the blade glanced off the chunk that I was holding (and not paying attention) hit my thumb and took out a huge chunck of skin that bleed for awhile. To this day, that scar is a nice reminder to pay attention (and not to hold a piece of wood)......especially now that I use a reciprocating saw!!!!!!!

 

[culturedhick]

I had just finished building my homemade stick burner and decided it was time to smoke my first brisket. I stuffed the fire box full of wood and lit the fire. Once the fire got to burning well, I put on the brisket. Then I closed the vents almost all the way and man look at all the smoke. Those great clouds of bellowing white smoke sure are going to make the brisket taste good. Man I couldn't wait to try that smokey tasting brisket!!

You can guess the result. The brisket tasted like I was chewing on a creosote telephone pole. Tough and nasty. I have come a long way since then, and thanks to ya'lls, help I am getting better every time.

 

[pit 4 brains]

"Let no lesson be forgotten when a scar is born."

-Me