Things You Wish You Knew

[sandyut]

As others have stated. no magic to 225! man I wish I knew that at the start. 275 for briskets and butts, 250 for ribs.

I would have had it easier if I started with a pellet grill, but I also learned more with a WSM. so I suppose starting at the beginning.

Pre-brined/salt solution added turkeys work great and can be brined at home.

thats my three top "wish I knew earlier" thoughts today

 

[OldSmoke]

It takes practice.But hey, even failures can make great soup or chili.

 

[forktender]

225 degrees is not the golden rule. Dont drive yourself crazy to achieve it. Most of what we cook/smoke can cook at most temps and turn out great. Learn your smoker and see where it likes to settle in at. The smoker in my avatar was built by @seenred on here. I take about an hour get my coal bed built and see where it settles in at temp wise. A lot of time its dependent on environmental conditions. As long as its between 225 and 300 degrees I let it ride. And you will have temp fluctuations. Dont fight them. Go for the average.

I wish I knew that temp swings weren't an issue 90% of the time.
I spent way too many hours chasing steady temps on my first offset smoker, many moons ago. Now if it's with in 60* side to side I'm good with that.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I wish I knew that temp swings weren't an issue 90% of the time.
I spent way too many hours chasing steady temps on my first offset smoker, many moons ago. Now if it's with in 60* side to side I'm good with that.

Agree, my first backyard offset, I was overly concerned with side-to-side temps. I don't even check them any more.

It seems all these new entries into the backyard offset smoker market, are searching for that holy grail of even temps across the cooking grate and being able to use the entire grate. I rarely, if ever need the entire grate and I wouldn't sweat a temp diff if I did.

There was a time I thought that, if I'm gonna run the smoker I want to get as much meat as I can on it. But I've learned I'd rather have a small amount of meat cooked right.

 

[Torch&Tone]

I don't know that I automatically would have wanted to know all the things I know now when I started out, as learning is a big part of the fun. Where there is no growth, there is boredom.

Some minor, but memorable, "discoveries," like the value of having a mini-fridge for smoked cheese (and deck beers) separate from the main fridge. Relatedly, more things can benefit from smoke than you think, but far from ALL the things! More fundamental lessons like figuring out what is worth trimming from the meat before cooking (versus after, or not at all), which is something that just takes practice.

Perhaps a bit more philosophical, but Respect the Meal means many things. Patience, in that each piece of meat is different; it will be done when it is done, not necessarily when you want or expect it to be. Context, in that the broader background of a dish and the sourcing of your particular ingredients both deserve your consideration. Also, no matter how impressive the main is, do not neglect the sides, sauce, or presentation. Lastly, food is food, but people make the meal.

 

[fxsales1959]

Self constraint is a virtue. There's a difference in want and need. and there's no such thing as set-it and forget it
Except on Ronco

 

[clifish]

Self constraint is a virtue. There's a difference in want and need. and there's no such thing as set-it and forget it
Except on Ronco

I don't seem to have the below trait

There's a difference in want and need.

Not by some of the Ryobi 18V tools coming in this week...lol

 

[sandyut]

the value of having a mini-fridge for smoked cheese (and deck beers) separate from the main fridge

Oh yeah! I have a second full size freezer/refer in the garage. Not quite sure how I got by before I got it, must have been sufferin! Its nice have a large stash of brews, a place to put a prepped brisket on a sheet pan, papa murphs pie etc. Priceless convenience.

 

[Astralogics]

Self constraint is a virtue. There's a difference in want and need. and there's no such thing as set-it and forget it
Except on Ronco

Bwahahaha. Welp, I think that's on us. Signs pointing out that we're walking into the enabler zone, yet we wander into it while looking the other way

 

[Astralogics]

Perhaps a bit more philosophical, but Respect the Meal means many things. Patience, in that each piece of meat is different; it will be done when it is done, not necessarily when you want or expect it to be. Context, in that the broader background of a dish and the sourcing of your particular ingredients both deserve your consideration. Also, no matter how impressive the main is, do not neglect the sides, sauce, or presentation. Lastly, food is food, but people make the meal.

This in itself is an invaluable lesson, especially your last point. Can't say how many times I've had a delicious dish, but having that same dish with good people around you elevate it to an experience that just cannot be matched.

Quality of the ingredients definitely shows how much you actually care about what you're turning out. Only food I'll serve to another person is one that I am proud of, otherwise down the bin (my stomach). This led to my mindset of "Cooking good food is easy, but being a good cook is not". I've had many people disrespect the craft because they mindlessly follow recipes online and tell me it's not hard to do.

 

[DougE]

I wish I knew that temp swings weren't an issue 90% of the time.
I spent way too many hours chasing steady temps on my first offset smoker, many moons ago. Now if it's with in 60* side to side I'm good with that.

Same here. Spent a ton of time chasing temps trying to hold as close to 225° as possible and chasing temps resulted in greater swings.

Now I know that it was a fool's errand. 225° isn't some magic number to shoot for and swings of 50 or 60° on either side of the temp I choose to run at are not a problem at all.

 

[chef k-dude]

Wish I had known up front to not try to smoke with the MES30 in 95 degree ambient temps.

Yea, yea, I know, dust smoker..mailbox mod...nope, I just stay the heck indoors...its too freaking hot!

 

[ajbert]

I wish I knew that butter could be smoked when I first started. If I had known just how good a pat of smoked butter transforms a steak I would have been doing it from the get go.

 

[philpom]

I'm sure this has probably been discussed somewhere, though I can't seem to find a thread (apologies if it does exist).

Jeff's eCourse is mighty helpful and really sets you on the right path with a good foundation. But looking back on your own journey, what are somethings you wish you knew/did when you first started out?

For me, and it's such an obvious thing and I'm disappointed I didn't accept it earlier on (could be the stubbornness LOL), but BTUS are BTUs. The oven is your bestfriend on long cooks, especially if you like/need your sleep. If I had started using it early on, I would have saved myself many cranky mornings, and a lot of money on fuel.

I see your point and I know a number of folks that finish in an oven. Different strokes for different folks and that's great. I personally compare it to boiling ribs and then seasoning and finishing on the grill. It has a place, folks do it and enjoy their ribs, I may have eaten some prepared that way in my life. I'm sure I enjoyed the meal!

I can run my Primo for 15 or more hours at 225-240°f unattended for a brisket cook easily, no P.I.D. required. It's amazing and I sleep well. At the same time I also enjoy watching a fire and having a few cold beverages over the course of the day. I only hope my wife doesn't catch on....

Smoke on!

 

[Astralogics]

At the same time I also enjoy watching a fire and having a few cold beverages over the course of the day. I only hope my wife doesn't catch on....

This is exactly why I don't mind tending a fire all day. Though, I'm not sure starting the day with a cold one at 4am is the greatest of ideas... Well, if the food turns out good no one's complaining right? LOL

For me, the oven is nice since I can't really justify using more fuel once wrapped. But again, only really happens when I'm doing something overnight.

 

[philpom]

This is exactly why I don't mind tending a fire all day. Though, I'm not sure starting the day with a cold one at 4am is the greatest of ideas... Well, if the food turns out good no one's complaining right? LOL

For me, the oven is nice since I can't really justify using more fuel once wrapped. But again, only really happens when I'm doing something overnight.

Ha! The am/pm barrier vanishes when I'm working the smoker.

 

[Astralogics]

Ha! The am/pm barrier vanishes when I'm working the smoker.

Hey, a wise man once said, "It's 5PM somewhere in the world."