Smokin' newbie

[b harris]

Finally got a smoker from my family for Father's Day and I'm very excited! Preseasoned it and smoked a Tri-tip and some ribs Sunday evening that turned out pretty good for a first try! Especially the tri-tip. I got a Masterbuilt Pro two door gas smoker. Like I said, fairly successful first try but did have a bit of an issue keeping the temp down. Also didn't expect to have to replace the chips after an hour and a half. Any tips? I did soak them. I have read to use a cast iron skillet to prevent flaming up so I will try that next time. Figuring that's what caused the flare up and possibly that high temp. Any tips or advice for a newbie are welcome.

 

[jcollins]

Welcome to the forum tons of info here. I would say your woodchips flaring up is what made your smoker run hot and id say if you have it sitting in the sun that will cause the temp to rise as well. and your smoker may not do what you want it too until you get to know it better. took me a couple of smokes to get mine where i want it.

 

[b harris]

Didn't even consider the sun factor! The instructions recommend a 10' clearance on all sides which makes it rough without being in the sun... Do you think there is a little give in that?

 

[gary s]

  Good afternoon and welcome to the forum, from a nice sunny day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything. 

Gary

 

[jcollins]

I am not 100% on your clearances on your smoker because it has to have breathing room and you defnately don't want it against a combustible surface like wood or siding on your house I would say that the sun would probably run it 10° higher than normal but ambient temp could affect it as well a lot of factors can contribute to your smoker running hot and also if its new it may just have to build up a season before it will level out I know my wsm ran really hot and was slightly unpredictable my first few smokes

 

[millerbuilds]

Welcome aboard!

Couple of things, the points about keeping it out of the sun is very important (as is out of the wind) I almost always put a ez-up over my smoker, which keeps the easy up smelling good :)

The other thing, I highly recommend not soaking wood chips, they steam which carries the creosote onto your cold meat causing a bitter taste in the meat.  The meat is takes on the most flavor at the beginning of a smoke.

Good luck, spend a bunch of time reading on this site, the info that this great group brings to the table is priceless!

Smoke ON!

 

[b harris]

Thanks for the tips!