SMOKING Question...

[sargeny1]

HI YA ALL...How do YOU keep your charcoal fire going long enough to smoke your favorite meats..????? Most smking recipes say to smoke meats for 3,4,5 or more hours...!!??
Pete

[wills]

Electricity, sounds like heresy, but just put the meat in, turn it on and ignore.
http://servicesales.com/grills/redi-smok/redi-smok.html
http://www.oldsmokey.com/0220ES.html
http://www.oldsmokey.com/0701manuals/OSES/ESbeef.pdf
Use Mesquite chips in it.

[44woody]

first of all :castmine: some of you know I build my own smokers out of lp gas tanks here is how I do it I build a fire out of oak and orange wood let it burn down to coals get a good bead of them then I add one more peace of wood usually and let it get started to burn then I close the lid and the fire on the last peace of wood goes out that is the one that gives me the smoke in my grill then I put on what ever I am cooking 44Woody

[fatnhappy]

I'm like woody, I get a good bed of coals from hickory and apple wood, then stick a good sized log on the bed to smolder. I like apple wood, and there are literally tons of it, available locally. I've made a smoker with an electric element and sawdust pan, but it takes longer in my experience. I believe the convection associated with a real coal bed promotes drying, coloring and "bloom" in the sausages I smoke.

Woody is a real guru on smoking. I'm sure he could help you with any advice you need.

[Ivantherussian03]

I think you need do some research on smoking techniques, and find one that appilies your situation. You can be very low tech or high tech. I dont know much about it, except like most things there is more to it than meets the eye. I did some research, and built my own box with racks, and electric plate. I use store bought wood chips, but i am the oddity here; most people green alder wood. I just keep loading up the wood chips, and I am fine. The native people around me smoke and dry the meat simulataneously for days on end. Both ways seem fine, but may not usable to you for many reasons.

Good Luck with it:-D

[Ed Barrett]

first of all :castmine: some of you know I build my own smokers out of lp gas tanks here is how I do it I build a fire out of oak and orange wood let it burn down to coals get a good bead of them then I add one more peace of wood usually and let it get started to burn then I close the lid and the fire on the last peace of wood goes out that is the one that gives me the smoke in my grill then I put on what ever I am cooking 44Woody

When you say "orange wood" do yo mean Osage Orange?

[fatnhappy]

When you say "orange wood" do yo mean Osage Orange?


Wow. talk about regional distinctions. He's from Florida. Orange trees. I'm from NY, the apple belt. You're from Missiouri, the home of the most beautiful wood for pistol stocks and knife handles around, Osage.

[Ed Barrett]

Wow. talk about regional distinctions. He's from Florida. Orange trees. I'm from NY, the apple belt. You're from Missiouri, the home of the most beautiful wood for pistol stocks and knife handles around, Osage.

We think it makes great fence posts, it never rots.

[hivoltfl]

I am a native of Oklahoma now living in Florida, we had lots of Osage Orange there, hard wood, difficult to work with, gorgeous when done with great color and grain, the fruit, we called hedge apples is poisonous, I wouldnt want to use it in my smoker, it was planted along the county roads by farmers and used for living fence posts. Had a kid in woodworking shop make a long bow out of it, took him all year and he had a one of a kind trophy when done, my favorite wood for use in the smoker is Pecan but make sure it has dried for about six months after being cut because the smoke is oily and has a foul taste if not cured. Rick

[DLCTEX]

There is a custom long bow maker here who uses Osage Orange, great bows. The key to smoking is controlling the air so that the burn rate is slow, cool and smokey. Fruit wood, hickory, or mesquite are my favorites. Dale

[sargeny1]

AHH..I see that I have only scratched the surface of the mysteries of smoking meats....yes..am a rank beginner and am sure its fun to keep trying and enjoy all the wonderful flavors of your own smoked meats...!! Thanks to all for the help..
Pete

[kodiak1]

Jeez up here in the Great White North we get stuck with Cherry. Saskatoon, Willow or Maple.
We don't have a lot of surplus Fruit Trees here. If we want to get exotic we have to BUY that fancy stuff that you guys get to use. Once saved up a bunch of hammer handles Hickory and I think it was to dry and to small seemed awful hot.
Ken.

[DLCTEX]

The parts of Oklahoma I've lived in called Osage Orange by the name Bois D'Arc (say bo-dark). Also Hedge, Hedge apple, Post Hedge. The oldest tree on the Texas high plains is an Osage Orange, planted near Panhandle, Tx in the 1870's. Prior to that, there were no trees on the high plains. Dale:mrgreen:

[hivoltfl]

I realize this is a little off topic but my mom used to use hedge apples in the house to control bugs, Dale I had forgot the proper name thanks for jogging the ol brain cell for me, I hate this CRS crap hehehe

Rick

[wiljen]

Here in TN the most common wood for smokers is hickory, as a Texas transplant I'm having to import mesquite if I want it to taste like what I grew up on.

Wiljen

[Navahojoe]

green hickory and dried pecan
NavahoJoe

[Wayne Smith]

To answer the original question, you need a smoker that allows you to add wood/charcoal without opening the smoke container. Many grills have a low door that opens to the heat grate without opening the top. I use a New Braunfels smoker with a separate fire chamber. I usually use wood, not charcoal.

[MT Gianni]

I got a smoker for a 20 year work aniversary that arrived last week. I smoked a roast yesterday with charcoal and bagged mesquite chunks. 2 lb roast had a nice smoke ring. I smoked for 2 1/2 hrs and cooked for 2 hrs in an off and on again snow storm. The meat was good, with a nice smoke ring and not too dry. I used 2 chunks of mesquite soaked in water for a couple of hours and the meat had a rub with chopped garlic and olive oil on it. The camera is still dead or I would include pics. Gianni.

[piwo]

We smoked 47 lbs of kielbasa yesterday: 2.5 hours in the smoker. I guess 1 hour was more cooking then smoking, but the last 1.5 hours was pure smoking. We used oak during the cooking portion, then apple wood for the smoking. Turned out very nice! My basement still has a wonderful aroma from the hanging when I got my portion home.

[fourarmed]

Osage orange is fine for smoking IF it is well seasoned. By that, I mean so old that the bark and sapwood are long gone. Old hedge posts make excellent smoke. Make sure that no poison ivy was growing on them.

[fatnhappy]

We smoked 47 lbs of kielbasa yesterday: 2.5 hours in the smoker. I guess 1 hour was more cooking then smoking, but the last 1.5 hours was pure smoking. We used oak during the cooking portion, then apple wood for the smoking. Turned out very nice! My basement still has a wonderful aroma from the hanging when I got my portion home.

Did you shower your kielbasa with water when it came out of the smoker?


My first experience smoking kielbasa was in a "clean" 55 gallon drum with holes cut in it for the sausage sticks, the bottom cut out and a piece of steel plate over the top to control the draft. I dug a 5' long trench in the ground to an upwind fire pit, and covered the top of the trench with concrete tiles to make a tunnel. I got a fire going, then tossed chunks of water soaked applewood on to smolder.
It worked suprisingly well.

[piwo]

Did you shower your kielbasa with water when it came out of the smoker?


No, and I learned from my host not to ask any questions about something we were NOT doing.... :-D If I asked him for an explanation about what we were doing, everything was fine and the answer informative. If I asked about something we weren't doing or what someone else did,, well, different story...:shock:

These ole Poles have their way of doing it, and THATS IT! And it's gonna take me some time to translate from Kilo's and grams to lbs and ounces :confused:


It's really good kielbasas.. no dominant taste, just well blended! :drinks:

[Hunter]

Here is how I smoke a pig. I get about 40 pounds of Kingsford charcoal and soak hickory chips overnight in water.
I usually start with about 10 pounds of charcoal and like to keep the temperature around 180 to 190 degrees. As the temp approaches 190 I use the wet hickory chips to cool the coals down. I do keep a small grill so as the temp starts to drop I can start another pile of coals and add them as the temp gets to about 180.
Keep that up for about 14 hours and that will cook a 120 pound pig. You can also use a stainless steel bowl full of water in the center of the coals and that will keep plenty of moisture in the cooker as will the wet hickory.
The first 12 hours or so cook skin side down then flip (carefully) for about 2 hours. Flip again and check to see if it is supper time. Do not cut deep in the back hams untill you are almost sure it is ready.

[kodiak1]

Damn Hunter that sounds tasty!!!! Just drooled all over my keyboard.
Ken

[Hunter]

Thanks Ken they usually do turn out pretty good if I do say so myself. The trick is the BBQ sauce.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=11009
We usually have a pretty good time at the pig pickins.