# Spring is smokin' !



## Spanky (Mar 21, 2001)

Decided to do a lil beef.









about 19.54 lbs of it................Chuck/ shoulder

The I figured, gotta have something to munch on..................you guys know what time it is? It's FATTY Time!









It has been so long since I have done any ribs, so I filled up a rack, and set it in there between some Fatty action, and some Chucky action. Startin to get a bid more crowded! I think I am gettin hungry. I got up at 4 to get the Beef on by 5. Ribs went on at 8, they will be ready about 12-1 or so, Beef is gonna take awhile, probably come off around 6-7, maybe have some sammies around the bonfire tonight!










I'll get a pic of some of the grub a lil later! Anyone wanna come over for a beef sandwich around 7 ish?


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## Spanky (Mar 21, 2001)

ribs are lookin good!


















Fatty pic turned out blurry, bout 5-6 more hrs on the shoulder clod yet!


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## Soup du Jour (Sep 19, 2007)

Spanky- thanks for the q-view. That looks great. I just smoked some venison and elk jerky friday. It came out wonderful. I think it is time for me to step up and try something else like ribs or a roast. I would love to try a pork roast for pulled pork sandwiches. Keep the photos, updates, and information coming.

Soup


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## Spanky (Mar 21, 2001)

Thanks, Sorry about all the empty posts with the same title, had somekind of site glitch or something yesterday. I have a couple pics of the finished chuck, but they are kinda blurry!

After a 2 hr rest in the cooler after 12 hrs of smoke, this section of the shoulder clod was sliced.










and an hour later this one came off the cooker at 205, rested for over an hour and was pulled, almost pulled itself.










this pulled chuck is the most tender beef I have ever done, it actually pulled easier than pork, not nearly as much fat, but still plenty juicy! Got alot of sandwich material to vac pack!

Soup, no time like the present to get on with the more ambitious menu items for the smoker. You might just suprise/impress yourself!:bouncy:


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## Slick fishing (Sep 25, 2002)

Hey Spanky that looks awesome, if you where going to buy a smoker what would you buy, is there any one kind you like over another? Cya Slick


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## Spanky (Mar 21, 2001)

Thats a loaded question slick! It depends on a few things. 

Where ya live and what they allow! apt. close neighborhood,2nd floor ect.

What ya wanna spend, you can get smoked food from a 40 dollar cheapo, or a 4 thousand dollar towable!:evil:

What do ya want to do for fuel, have access to wood, want to but charcoal, natural gas for fast recovery. or electricity for the "set-n-forget" convenience.

If I was to want to smoke some stuff ocasionally for myself, or a few friends, and not babyset the fire all day, a masterbuilt electric, or cookshack electric would be a good choice. 3-8 hundred bucks.

Don't know much about gas,but there are a few good ones out there.

I personally like my stickburner, and there is nothing better than the taste of food cooked over wood. There are dozens of different stickburner manufacturers in this country, along with hundreds of folks who have made their own. But you have to have access to trees and wood. It would be silly for me to fire up this









to do a couple racks of ribs, so I have this one!









I can send ya some links to smoker manufacturers, if you tell me what you are lookin for, or what ya want to cook with!


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## DangerDan (Mar 10, 2005)

Spanky said:


>


Damn Dan, your _old_ smoker is starting to look a little like your boat...:lol:

That thing needs a scrubbin..

Hey, do you got a set of bibs covered in captain morgan & sauce that you BBQ in?


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## Spanky (Mar 21, 2001)

hehe, yep she is gonna get a sandblastin and a paint job when the OSB shack comes down in a couple weeks! Needs new boards for the shelf too. This smoker is gonna become a charcoal grill, a long one for the summer anyways. I use a propane grill for the weeknight dinners and quick cook outs, but ya jaust can't beat a steak, burger, or sausage cooked over coal/wood.


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## DangerDan (Mar 10, 2005)

Spanky said:


> I use a propane grill for the weeknight dinners and quick cook outs,


Propane? :yikes:

Getta Rope Boys!!!
There's gonna be a lynchin...:lol:


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## InTheRiver (May 15, 2006)

Whens dinner at spanky's ? I have also been enjoying the nice smoking weather, this past week I have done Salmon, Pork Ribs, Jerky, Venison steaks, and today I am going to get a pork roast all rubbed up.


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## Slick fishing (Sep 25, 2002)

Sorry I havent replied sooner but I dont get e-mail notification anymore because of ATT long story.. I have that smoker the small one you use and I have trouble because it does not seem to wanna keep the heat up, I guess I should start from scratch with my questions..

I like to use charcoal with wood to smoke with, could you give me some pointers on your procedure you use to get started with like soaking your wood in water and do you wait till the charcoal is white before you put the wood on and so forth.. I really want to get good at smoking but just havent had the best of luck yet, I have done salmon and it came out pretty good but would love to make pulled pork or that pulled beef you got there looks awesome.. I am going to make it my mission this summer to get good at this because there is nothing better then smoked food:corkysm55..Cya Slick

PS..By the way I have plenty of room for any kind of smoker I want, but I dont think I need to go with the big one you got LOL


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## Spanky (Mar 21, 2001)

well slick, that charbroil silver is  a good charcoal smoker, but you have to do a couple modifications to it. The manufactures of these type os smokers don't go the extra mile when it comes to making a good useable product IMO.

First thing you need to do Is switch to lump charcoal, burns hotter, a whole lot less ash, and none of the crap in it like starch, binders,clay, and who knows what else. I use Roayal oak, walmart, menards, GFS has it. Stay away from cowboy brand from Lowes.

Next thing is tomake a heat baffle plate. In this pic, you can see the baffle plate attached to the end of the smoke chamber near the fire box. This directs the heat over and down, so it doesn't scorch the meat that is next to the firebox. Then you se some tuning plates. These help carry the heat across the smoking chamber.









I have experimented with a couple different types of plates. These are the best for this smoker I believe.









You see the plates with the holes in them. smaller holes and less of them near the firebox, larger and more holes farther away, and finally no plate at the end of the line where the smoke and heat can finally exit through the stack. Ose a piece of flashing or dryer vent tubing to extend your smokestack exit point, down near the grate, it will keep the heat and smoke from blasting straight through the chamber.In this pic, you can see the extension down to within 3/4 inch of the grate!










Now while this smoker is made for charcoal, it is advertised as a wood burner. I have found that to burn just wood in this smoker, will be too strong of a smoke flavor, and too much creosote, so if you want to burn just wood, you have to pre-burn it to coals first.Better to just use the lump. I use chunks of wood to flavor the smoke, 2-3 inch chunks of maple, cherry, or apple are great, as well as hickory. If you want to soak them, just put the chunks in a ziplock bag full of water and squeeze out the air and seal. Let it sit overnight. It will only soak in about 1/4 inch, so I don't bother with soaking chunks, or chips. You can also put the ground up chips in a foil pouch and poke 1 or 2 small holes in the top. Toss it near the hot coals, and it will smolder for awhile. The smoke you are looking for is just a faint bluish wisp, not a belching white, or black smoke. If you can smell smoke, it is smoking, you don't have to see smoke.

One last thing to add. The dial on the door of your smoker is not accurate, it will be as much as 50 degrees off. Buy a cheapo oven thermometer and set it on the grate next to your food. try and keep your temps around 225, but 215-250 will work, for chicken , I would advise 250-275,especially large ones or turkeys. In the lasy pic, you can see the "puck" style therm, and I took a marker and drew on a line that I wanted to stay around, because the smoke clouds the display, plus I don't see as well as I once did, and you want to glance quickly and then get the door closed, so you don't loose all the heat.

I hope this helps ya slick, or any others who want to get on track making some tasty smoked food!


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## Slick fishing (Sep 25, 2002)

Thanks I apperciate the help, I will be in touch as I get further along, thank you..Cya Slick


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