What's in your smoker?

[T.G]

Cooked some burgers last night and rather than grill them, I decided to put them in the smoker with a bunch of lemon wood and let it run with all the vents wide open (300-350F ish).

Topped with brie, salted super thin cucumber slices and red onion.

Wow. Delicious.

(no photos, sorry, was too hungry)

[jwintosh]

got a tri tip waiting for me!! 3 hours at 225...

You guys are killing me here! lol... I want to fire up my smoker, just have not had a chance since deer season. Here is a pic of a whole brisket that I did back around thanksgiving time.

[Chainsaw13]

I like the idea Jeff for the other temp probe, using a potato. Oh yea, the brisket looks good too.

[OLS]

Originally Posted by Hondo

You guys are killing me here! lol.

That is the actual goal of this thread: To KILL......and to MOTIVATE.

Originally Posted by OLS

That is the actual goal of this thread: To KILL......and to MOTIVATE.

lol it works too!

[cricky101]

Made a 12-pound packer brisket on my Weber Performer on Saturday. Smoked with maple and a little mesquite. It was my best one yet!

Here are a few more shots from Labor Day...

A pair of whole beef briskets...



Country style ribs with my famous beans...



When I'm doing serious cooking, I put up my smoke shack tent... keeps the sun off of my drink.

Originally Posted by cricky101

Made a 12-pound packer brisket on my Weber Performer on Saturday. Smoked with maple and a little mesquite. It was my best one yet!

Very cool. Love that Weber Performer too, I'd like to get one someday.

[cricky101]

Originally Posted by Hondo

Very cool. Love that Weber Performer too, I'd like to get one someday.

Got it on craig's list a couple years ago. It's the older style with the stainless steel table.

I have a dedicated smoker, but unless I'm cooking a bunch of food (like your awesome pics!) I use the Weber and it puts out some great food!

Originally Posted by cricky101

Got it on craig's list a couple years ago. It's the older style with the stainless steel table.

I have a dedicated smoker, but unless I'm cooking a bunch of food (like your awesome pics!) I use the Weber and it puts out some great food!

In my opinion the Weber Kettle is the finest grill ever built. You can do a fine job of smoking on the Weber too, you just have to be patient. Using indirect cooking methods you can smoke anything low and slow... I too have cooked some fine grub on these things. I even got pretty good at doing whole briskets on the Weber. In my opinion the brisket is one of the most difficult of the large cuts to get right consistently.

[pektel]

Anyone use a Louisiana grille (pellet style)? I was perusing CL just now, and they intrigue me.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by pektel

Anyone use a Louisiana grille (pellet style)? I was perusing CL just now, and they intrigue me.

I love my pellet bbq. Not an LG. It's a Traeger

[SteveDMatt]

I've been contemplating the WSM for a while and would love to hear everyones thoughts. It seems to be highly represented here. I have smoked some butts on my kettle that have come out good and bad. The bad was just too much smoke. Smoking on the kettle requires quite a bit of attention also. And there just isn't enough room to do any quantity.
Also, any recommendation for a good remote thermometer would also be appreciated.
Most of my smoking knowledge has been acquired on amazingribs.com

Originally Posted by SteveDMatt

I've been contemplating the WSM for a while and would love to hear everyones thoughts. It seems to be highly represented here. I have smoked some butts on my kettle that have come out good and bad. The bad was just too much smoke. Smoking on the kettle requires quite a bit of attention also. And there just isn't enough room to do any quantity.
Also, any recommendation for a good remote thermometer would also be appreciated.
Most of my smoking knowledge has been acquired on amazingribs.com

The WSM is a world class smoker especially now that it's made in the 22.5 inch diameter. A buddy of mine has one so I have been able to play with the thing a bit and I like it a lot. Same quality you would expect from Weber with the high gloss finish like the kettle grills. He's cranking out some nice Q with the thing too. I'm sure this smoker will outlive the owner as long as taken care of, it's a really nice smoker.

If I were buying a new thermometer today I would get http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et73.htm which has two probes, one for the meat and one for the chamber temperature. I'm currently using two units to accomplish the same thing.

[Chainsaw13]

I'm using that same Maverick temp probe in my Bradley. Works pretty good and surprised how long the batteries have lasted. The wireless range is pretty acceptable too. I get decent reception in my house, about 35-40 feet from the garage.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by SteveDMatt

I've been contemplating the WSM for a while and would love to hear everyones thoughts. It seems to be highly represented here. I have smoked some butts on my kettle that have come out good and bad. The bad was just too much smoke. Smoking on the kettle requires quite a bit of attention also. And there just isn't enough room to do any quantity.
Also, any recommendation for a good remote thermometer would also be appreciated.
Most of my smoking knowledge has been acquired on amazingribs.com

amazingribs.com is a great site.
I've heard nothing but good things about the WSM. That being said, I own a Traeger pellet smoker and absolutely love it.

[ucla695]

Originally Posted by SteveDMatt

I've been contemplating the WSM for a while and would love to hear everyones thoughts. It seems to be highly represented here. I have smoked some butts on my kettle that have come out good and bad. The bad was just too much smoke. Smoking on the kettle requires quite a bit of attention also. And there just isn't enough room to do any quantity.
Also, any recommendation for a good remote thermometer would also be appreciated.
Most of my smoking knowledge has been acquired on amazingribs.com

I started off smoking on my 26.75" kettle and decided that I wanted something a little easier to use. So, I pulled the trigger on the 18.5" WSM and love it! It's very easy to use. It'll run a little hot at first, but once you get several cooks on it, it will gunk up and run a little cooler. Plus, it's a Weber! They have great customer service and really stand behind their products. My only regret is that I didn't get the 22.5". I cook a lot of ribs and there's a lot more room on the 22.5".

As for remote thermometers, I have the Maverick ET-732. It works really well and I'm able to get reception all throughout my house. I also have the ET-73 and recommend that you do not get it. There are problems with reception, which are well documented on BBQ forums and is the primary reason I bought it's replacement, the ET-732.

As for instant read thermometers, I love my Thermapen! They come calibrated, but can be re-calibrated if necessary. They read temps almost instantly and are very accurate. The one down side is that they are pricey.

[ucla695]

One more thing....if you haven't already done so, check out this site. It's dedicated to Weber products, has a lot of good information and people are very helpful.

[T.G]

Weber makes great products, no doubt about that and the aforementioned VirtualBullet.com website is a great place dedicated to them.

Something to consider, rather than a remote read thermometer, is that if you think you might want draft control with a BBQ Guru or Stoker, where these controllers integrate the functions of the remote read thermometers for the meat and cook chamber with a variable fan and the ability for custom programming. You tell it what temperatures you want for the cook chamber and what the "done" temp is for the meat, and it will control the airflow into the firebox as to maintain that temperature and then when the meat hits whatever temperature you programmed for it, it shuts down the airflow. Different models have different features, some will allow for multiple different temperature stages in the cooking, some have ethernet or wi-fi connectors so you can control, log and do all kinds of techno tricks from your computer. The Stoker even has an iPhone app now.

Costs a bit more, although it's really not that bad and the functionally and consistency that you gain is immense.

Two of the best controllers out there:
http://www.thebbqguru.com/
https://www.rocksbarbque.com/