Who here has a smoker? Recipes please.

[heathpack]

Went to dinner at a friends house a few days ago and had delicious smoked chicken (and sausages). I was inspired to buy a smoker and ordered one today. I went with an electric smoker.

Now I need tips, recipes, ideas, advice.

Anyone?

 

[Snazzylass]

Went to dinner at a friends house a few days ago and had delicious smoked chicken (and sausages). I was inspired to buy a smoker and ordered one today. I went with an electric smoker.

Now I need tips, recipes, ideas, advice.

Anyone?

Nothing to it! Great investment! I've had one for years and use it mostly for turkey breasts though fish is super quick and easy. It's my "go to" for entertaining. My guests have always loved the turkey. I might coat the skin with a spice rub, but really, it is simple! A pan of water, some smoking chips and plug it in.
Usually, I'd make two - one for dinner and then one to freeze or slice for sandwiches for lunch. I've made them and given with a good loaf of bread when someone passes. Great funeral food

 

[Big Matt]

The easiest thing for you to start with is chicken. Remove the backbone with kitchen shears and butterfly the birds. Season both sides with dry rub and smoke skin side up. I do it at about 250 degrees for two hours. Time depends on size of the chickens. Small smoked turkeys are easy also. Keep the bird whole, put a light seasoning no it and put stuff like onions and herbs in the cavity to keep it moist and tasty. Ribs are easy, but take more attention and basting. Shoulders are simple, but take a long time. Brisket is difficult, but worth it if you don't mind a few attempts before you master it.

 

[RonB]

All the recipes you could (almost) ever want for free over on Amazing Ribs. It used to be in the top ten of all food sites on the internet, but with the proliferation of food sites over the years, it is now "only" the top BBQ site. There is a free side and a paid side - kinda like TUG. (But a kinder site with less animosity than is occasionally displayed here.)

All the recipes and the science behind BBQ are on the free side, as well as product reviews. The paid side has forums where you can ask specific questions and show your cooks if you would like. The discussions are quite often very entertaining...

I am not connected other than being a paid member. There is at least one other TUG member who is also a paid member at AR.

Edit to add recipe:

This recipe is very forgiving and is easy for someone just starting down the smokin' path.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-reci...pes/smoked-and-pulled-beef-chuck-roast-recipe

 

[DrQ]

This is my go to for Brisket:
Steven Raichlen's Millionaire Brisket with Coffee and Beer Mop Sauce

 

[Gypsy65]

We are on our 3rd smoker and use it all the time

We will smoke a prime rib several times a year and what we have found works the best is to mix up a batch of rub
I pretty much use everything in the seasoning drawer, mix it with olive oil and cover the entire roast
Then we put in in the fridge for a day or two
Take it out and let it sit on the counter for a little bit to “ warm “
Add another dose of marinade mix and put it on the smoke
We take it out when it’s still pretty red and let it rest
Slice. Put them on the grill for just a few seconds on each side

Comes out perfect and leftovers still have room for reheating and not being too done

 

[dayooper]

All the recipes you could (almost) ever want for free over on Amazing Ribs. It used to be in the top ten of all food sites on the internet, but with the proliferation of food sites over the years, it is now "only" the top BBQ site. There is a free side and a paid side - kinda like TUG. (But a kinder site with less animosity than is occasionally displayed here.)

All the recipes and the science behind BBQ are on the free side, as well as product reviews. The paid side has forums where you can ask specific questions and show your cooks if you would like. The discussions are quite often very entertaining...

I am not connected other than being a paid member. There is at least one other TUG member who is also a paid member at AR.

I will vouch for Amazing Ribs as well. I’m not a paid member, but the free section is great! I use their Memphis Dust rub on my pork shoulder and it never fails to disappoint. My older kids both ask me to make that for their birthday dinner!

On a similar note, the easiest meal to cook in a smoker is pork shoulder. It’s very forgiving and the temp range is wide (225 - 300 will give a great product). Use the Memphis Rub and it’s a winner.

I will also suggest buying an internal meat thermometer. It takes the guesswork out of cooking the meat. Cook the pork till it hits 203 degrees and it’s perfect! The can be as cheap as $30 or less on Amazon and it’s well worth the price.

 

[RonB]

I will vouch for Amazing Ribs as well. I’m not a paid member, but the free section is great! I use their Memphis Dust rub on my pork shoulder and it never fails to disappoint. My older kids both ask me to make that for their birthday dinner!

On a similar note, the easiest meal to cook in a smoker is pork shoulder. It’s very forgiving and the temp range is wide (225 - 300 will give a great product). Use the Memphis Rub and it’s a winner.

I will also suggest buying an internal meat thermometer. It takes the guesswork out of cooking the meat. Cook the pork till it hits 203 degrees and it’s perfect! The can be as cheap as $30 or less on Amazon and it’s well worth the price.

As mentioned, a leave in thermometer will really up your game. It's the single most important item after the smoker itself. If you know the exact temp that you like your protein cooked to, you have taken the guesswork out of when to pull that hunk o' meat from the smoker.

 

[AnnaS]

I don't have one. My son has one. He had a small one. He now went to buy a bigger one . I can tell you that baby back ribs and chicken have been delicious!!!

 

[heathpack]

I will also suggest buying an internal meat thermometer. It takes the guesswork out of cooking the meat. Cook the pork till it hits 203 degrees and it’s perfect! The can be as cheap as $30 or less on Amazon and it’s well worth the price.

Thevsmoker I purchased comes with a temperature probe, which I understand is going to be the first thing to break.

But no worries, I’m an avid cook and have a meat thermometer in my kitchen drawer.

 

[Passepartout]

I will vouch for Amazing Ribs as well. I’m not a paid member, but the free section is great! I use their Memphis Dust rub on my pork shoulder and it never fails to disappoint.
I will also suggest buying an internal meat thermometer. It takes the guesswork out of cooking the meat. Cook the pork till it hits 203 degrees and it’s perfect! The can be as cheap as $30 or less on Amazon and it’s well worth the price.

I think you meant 'it never fails to please', but the laugh was worth it. I agree with the internal thermometer. It's good to know when to stop.

Nobody has mentioned the wood. I use hickory almost exclusively- 2 reasons. I like the flavor and, I'm too lazy to clean out the hopper of my Louisiana pellet grill to change over to omething else. If I did, it would be alder and I'd smoke salmon in season.

I use a rub of salt, pepper and brown sugar. I don't think you need a lot more than that. And since I'm on a salt restricted diet, I am using Trader Joe's 21 Spice Salute in place of the salt. It's kind of spicy-garlicky and add a different dimension to ribs, pork chops & chicken. One big hit here is smoking chicken hind quarters or boneless/skinless thighs. I rub 'em, and smoke 'em at 225 for 2-3 hours or until I see 165 on the thermometer.

Our Kroger store has a 'bargain bin' for close-dated meats and I raid it for roasts- especially tri-tip to slice in about 1/4" thick slices and use a commercial jerky cure and rub. The jerky is far better than the stuff you can buy- and would give you a good protein snack for those long bike rides. I've also bundled up jerky for christmas gifts. Everybody likes smoked meat gifts.

Jim

 

[dayooper]

I think you meant 'it never fails to please', but the laugh was worth it. I agree with the internal thermometer. It's good to know when to stop.

Nobody has mentioned the wood. I use hickory almost exclusively- 2 reasons. I like the flavor and, I'm too lazy to clean out the hopper of my Louisiana pellet grill to change over to omething else. If I did, it would be alder and I'd smoke salmon in season.

I use a rub of salt, pepper and brown sugar. I don't think you need a lot more than that. And since I'm on a salt restricted diet, I am using Trader Joe's 21 Spice Salute in place of the salt. It's kind of spicy-garlicky and add a different dimension to ribs, pork chops & chicken. One big hit here is smoking chicken hind quarters or boneless/skinless thighs. I rub 'em, and smoke 'em at 225 for 2-3 hours or until I see 165 on the thermometer.

Our Kroger store has a 'bargain bin' for close-dated meats and I raid it for roasts- especially tri-tip to slice in about 1/4" thick slices and use a commercial jerky cure and rub. The jerky is far better than the stuff you can buy- and would give you a good protein snack for those long bike rides. I've also bundled up jerky for christmas gifts. Everybody likes smoked meat gifts.

Jim

Lol, Yeah, they love it, not disappointed. I used peach and cherry with pork. It blends so well.

 

[lockewong]

I had an electric smoker and it was great to learn beginning techniques. A dry rub and a pan of water is all you need to do. Soak the chips first. Our ACE hardware has all manner of chips and chunks. Chips are best for chicken because it will smoke quickly depending on temperature. We live in Northern California and depending on the weather, I have smoked a whole turkey in as little as 8 hours or as much as 12 hours for Thanksgiving. Cherrywood or applewood is best for the mild flavor. Hickory or Mesquite is better for beef/tri-tip or brisket, IMHO. I have a Thermoworks MK4 probe but recently purchased a remote thermometer from them as I added an offset barrel smoker where the smokebox is attached so the meat smokes undisturbed. The Thermoworks website has great tips and recipes as well as videos if you register with them. A neighbor pointed me in their direction about five years ago. Also, I agree that pork Shoulder is good to experiment with denser meats and the fat content self-bastes so the meat is very juicy and tender. The smoked flavor is amazing. Have fun!

 

[chellej]

Another vote for amazing ribs. I make the katz pastrami and DH says He's ruined...he can never eat store-bought pastrami again. I bought the meathead book...its great

 

[easyrider]

I have two smokers and I use the electric and charcoal smokers depending on what is going to be smoked. For salmon and oysters I use the electric. For everything else I use charcoal because charcoal will cook faster. For me its mostly salmon in the electric smoker. It takes about 90 to 120 minutes depending on thickness.

The trick to smoked salmon is dry it after the brine and then to let it dry in the fridge for a few hours until the salmon gets a gloss or glaze. Most of my brine is a simple 1/2 cup brown sugar and a 1/2 cup of sea salt in a quart of water.

My brine is kind of basic and depends on whats in the house when I make it. In a quart jar I mix 1/4 cup sea salt, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2 cups soy sauce, 1 cup of whatever wine I find, 1 squirt of whatever hot sauce I find, usually saracha, a teaspoon of onion and garlic powder and then finish the jar with water so the qt jar is full. Shake it up.

When I don't have time to brine I rub brown sugar and sea salt onto the salmon and throw it into the smoker. I like this because its fast.

I use soaked alder chips for salmon.

Bill

 

[wackymother]

We have one! Next project: smoked duck!

Thevsmoker I purchased comes with a temperature probe, which I understand is going to be the first thing to break.

But no worries, I’m an avid cook and have a meat thermometer in my kitchen drawer.

We have one that has a leave-in probe and then a separate unit that you bring inside. When the target temperature is reached, outside by the smoker, the thermometer sends a message to the indoor unit via Bluetooth and it beeps so you know it's time to go out and check the smoker.

 

[wackymother]

The easiest thing for you to start with is chicken. Remove the backbone with kitchen shears and butterfly the birds. Season both sides with dry rub and smoke skin side up. I do it at about 250 degrees for two hours. Time depends on size of the chickens. Small smoked turkeys are easy also. Keep the bird whole, put a light seasoning no it and put stuff like onions and herbs in the cavity to keep it moist and tasty. Ribs are easy, but take more attention and basting. Shoulders are simple, but take a long time. Brisket is difficult, but worth it if you don't mind a few attempts before you master it.

Hi, Matt, I want to make smoked chicken. Do I have to butterfly the chicken? It's been tough and overcooked the couple of times we've done it.

 

[RonB]

Soak the chips first.

Here's an article on the myth of soaking wood chips:

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/myth-soak-your-wood-first

 

[heathpack]

Hi, Matt, I want to make smoked chicken. Do I have to butterfly the chicken? It's been tough and overcooked the couple of times we've done it.

The chicken that inspired me to buy to smoker was cooked whole. It was super moist and delicious. Spice rub, no brining, cooked for 6 hours I think at 225F. Vinegar and onion added to the drip pan to keep the chamber moist.

 

[wackymother]

The chicken that inspired me to buy to smoker was cooked whole. It was super moist and delicious. Spice rub, no brining, cooked for 6 hours I think at 225F. Vinegar and onion added to the drip pan to keep the chamber moist.

Thanks! But I think six hours is a long time, and in fact I think that's the mistake we've been making. I think chicken is not "long and slow," like pork or brisket, but relatively hot (like 225 or 250) and fast (like two hours-ish? Three?). We hadn't thought of vinegar, but that seems like it could work!

 

[dayooper]

We have one! Next project: smoked duck!


We have one that has a leave-in probe and then a separate unit that you bring inside. When the target temperature is reached, outside by the smoker, the thermometer sends a message to the indoor unit via Bluetooth and it beeps so you know it's time to go out and check the smoker.

That’s the type I have. You can get units that will connect with your WiFi and send data to your phone!

Here's an article on the myth of soaking wood chips:

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/myth-soak-your-wood-first

When I first cooked a big hunk of meat, the stall freaked me out! This article on Amazing Ribs taught me how to handle this phenomenon.

https://amazingribs.com/more-techni...rstanding-and-beating-barbecue-stall-bane-all

I love making my own sauces, but the most popular is the Lexington Dip. Vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, black pepper and hot sauce. So good!

 

[buzglyd]

Buy the book Meathead on Amazon. You'll learn more from that than anything.

 

[Beachclubmum]

Now I want a smoker. Thanks a lot, TUG.

 

[wackymother]

Now I want a smoker. Thanks a lot, TUG.

They're amazingly affordable! https://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-...570314080&sprefix=masterbuilt+,aps,152&sr=8-6

 

[RonB]

I highly suggest visiting Amazing Ribs before buying a smoker. There are lots of smoker reviews on the site.