djbrown

Are you letting it 'heat soak' for a bit before attempting a longer cook? I've had a Visions grill for about 6 months and have done numerous butts, briskets etc..

Start with a full load of lump. Start the fire, leave lid open for 10 minutes
Close lid, open vents full until you get within 25-50 degrees of your target temp.
start shutting the vents and let temp stabilize for 30-45 minutes.

After that, it's pretty much set it and forget it.

Timber

I'm skipping that leave the vents fully open step. I always heard that adjusting from overshooting your temp takes much longer so I start with the vents mostly closed after I close the lid.

Deftones

So anyone ever have this happen before? I've got an almost 9 pound pork shoulder, bone in. I put it on the smoker at 6:30 am, since I've run anywhere from 8 to 12 hours for these. If it's done earlier, I just put it in cooler for a few hours. Well, I just temp'd this thing with 2 different thermometers at numerous places and it's almost to temp. 5 hours. I did it on 275, which is a bit higher than I usually do, just to ensure it's done for this party I am having. Anyway, it's like there was no stall at all. Just went all the way up and got to temp. Thing is, I tried to wiggle the bone and it's still firmly lodged in there. So I am in a quandary. I don't want to overcook this thing, but I also don't want it undercooked to where it's not tender. Help?

Abob Teff

What was the result Deftones?

Deftones

Surprisingly one of the best ones I have done. I have zero idea what happened. Never had one that bypassed the stall. Everyone enjoyed it so won't complain.

pyro383

Well I snagged the Camp Chef Pellet SE from Walmart $169 and pellets 40lbs/$10

Sdallnct

Well that's why slow smoking is as much an art as a science.

I have absolutely stone cold down how to do pork. I get amazing results every time. Mainly based on keeping everything the same I can.

However, I've had a heck of time with brisket. Which is disappointing for a Texan. Its so inconsistent, I rarely make it. As winter rolls around, I might try it again.

story

I figured this is our all-purpose BBQ thread and I'd ask here.

We bought a house in May and we want to grill at least a little this summer for our family of four (two adults, two little kids who are big eaters).

Money is tight and we're thinking something smaller to get us going this year, maybe invest in something nicer down the line (or at end-of-summer clearance). What's a good size grill? Were thinking meals like a couple racks of ribs, or brats and dogs, steaks or burgers, some veggies, that sort of thing.

Also thinking gas is the way to go because by the time we get home from work we need to get dinner on the table asap for our girls. Since they're so young, they have a pretty early bed time. My assumption is gas is quicker than charcoal, yes? Will we get char on a brat, either way?

How much are propane tanks, does that add up more than charcoal? We happen to have 2 big bags of charcoal from a friend gathering last summer, are those briquettes still good? Are those Gas2Coal hybrid models any good?

I see Menards has a Char-Broil 3-burner on sale for $99 this week. Does this fit what I'm looking for? Thanks.

parrotheads4

I’ve decided to get a smoker. It’s been a while since this thread started, so I was hoping someone could recommend a smoker I could find in a store in the next few weeks.

Deftones

I am a big fan of Green Mountain smokers. Have one and a few friends do as well. Solidly built and reliable as hell.

Bluelitespecial

The Big Green Eggs are amazing.

Abob Teff

Damn story ... you killed this thread for almost two years! What did you end up with?

I can’t believe it went that long without a post. None of us posted here last year?!

That might explain the terror I found today. Was going to smoke a chicken. Picked it up two days ago, started the brine yesterday. Went out to pull the smoker out (despite the buckets of rain) ... and the inside was covered with mold.

My wife said replace it. I read online cleaning it is fine (cook it, clean it, cook it). I figured I’d take it to the car wash and power wash it. Good idea/bad idea? (It’s electric ... no good/bad on that please.)

whotony

I don’t know what kind of smoker you have but if you can get it going with some high heat 600-700+ For 10 minutes that should clear out anything growing in there.

whotony

story

I’ve been using an Akorn from Char-griller for about five years now.
Relatively inexpensive compared to something like a big green egg.
Can be used as a smoker and a grill.

Walmart almost always has them on sale.

There’s even a small table top version.

parrotheads4

Thanks!

parrotheads4

What charcoal do you guys use?

Nick Danger

Looks at the first page of the thread.

I miss those guys.

Tom Banjo

I’ve had that happen, it’s the worst! I ended up spending hours scrubbing each part and spraying, then reassembling. Then I cranked it up as high as it would go and just let it run for several hours. The food I cooked after didn’t kill me. Mine is electric, too, and spraying water in it didn’t do any damage. Ever since then though when I’m done smoking something I’ll spray it out good and cook out all the moisture. It hasn’t happened again.

emanon

Hey, I'm still here!

(not that anyone would miss me if I wasn't)

story

Ah, the suspense, the suspense!

I remember at the time, I absolutely couldn't believe the thread was killed with my post. All you grillmasters just went away! Thanks for aAbob Teff , and thanks for the recommendation, whotony . I actually swore to myself I wouldn't buy until I received responses here. My family has gone hungry and it has ruined my marriage. But, you know. Principles.



Anyway, a day after I posed the question, I went to Menards to check out that Char-Broil model and saw the whole range of offerings. Of course, that's how they get you: lure you in with the cheapest models, get you to look around, and notice the next model up is a whole lot more and not for a whole lot more money. And that's what happened to me!

I went with the Char-Griller® Stealth 3-Burner Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner at Menards for just under $150 and it's been the perfect fit for our family. Not a big name brand, but wow, as a first-time grill owner I'm impressed.

I know many of you are charcoal fans, but speed is king when cooking for little kids in that brief window between work and bedtime, so gas it is. And it's been great! We use the side burner all the time to cook up some rice or macaroni and cheese while brats or whatever are on the grill. That's a fun added bonus that gets used more often than I thought it would. Really, it's nice cooking all in the same place. I also wanted a model with a "table" wing for prep and I'm glad I found that. It doesn't fold down but it's fine. The whole item was simple to put together, that I liked. I also got one of those gas gauge attachments after a night of cooking and running out of gas halfway through, and it seems accurate.

Plenty of room for meats and veggies like sweetcorn for our family of four, and we've grilled out for people and still end up with lots of room for our needs. Top row is perfect for mushroom caps, onions, and so on. I will say one burner seems to get hotter sooner and more consistently than others but it still works out. Really easy to put together and it's held up very well the last two years. I can see buying something a little bigger when the kids are teens and presumably appetite and metabolism increases. Even if it only lasts another season for some unexpected reason, we'll have gotten our money's worth for sure.

I probably make brats the most often, plus occasional burgers, chicken, and pork chops, the kids love pork chops. We only do some steak, it isn't a favorite for the kids. We live 3 blocks from Aldi and the meats are well-priced and taste great. It's across the bridge of the highway and not easy to walk to unless you've got time and energy to be a mindful pedestrian so we usually drive but wow, it's right there and excellent.

For ribs, I usually cook them in the Instant Pot and finish them up on the grill to get that nice carmelized barbecue sauce texture and taste. My six-year-old's favorite food is ribs so she's pretty excited when I take the time to make them.

Nefarious

I always use all natural lump charcoal which you should be able to pick up everywhere these days. As a plus, if you burn only all natural lump charcoal, you can take the ashes and sprinkle them on your plants, garden, or even lawn. Don't do this if you use briquets or anything else with chemicals added.

X

Don't use mesquite for smoking, it burns too hot.

bralph

When the stay at home orders were first starting out, I ordered the Masterbuilt 30" Digital Electric Smoker and I have been very happy with it. Whenever it dies, I will probably replace it with a pellet smoker, but as an intro model it works great. Easy to control the temp, which was the most important thing to me as a newbie. I've already made pulled pork and wings a couple of times, as well as ribs. I've heard brisket can be tricky, so I haven't tried that yet. Having to "feed" it wood chips regularly is a bit of a nuisance, but since I'm home all the time anyway, it gives me something to do...

Chrisedge

I love my large Weber Smokey Mountain. I use Charcoal and Wood Chips and it maintains good temps. I have friends with Big Green Eggs and while they do more (Pizza, grilling, etc) I think the Smokey Mountain does a better job at SMOKING than the BGE does.

Nefarious

As someone who owns both, I would agree. The biggest problem I have with the egg is loss of temperature on long smokes. It is much easier to add additional fuel to the Weber.