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twirled
Joined: 03 Mar 2009
Posts: 7
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 Posted: Mar 03 2009 Post subject: Smoker virgin's noob questions... |
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Aloha from Hawaii, all!
Wow, I've spent hours browsing these forums today and learned a lot! Hoping some of you experienced, smart people can help me out.
Early apologies for the lengthy post.... I just bought my smoker this weekend, and did my first brisket yesterday. I got a Brinkmann vertical box smoker... the one here: http://shopping.aol.com/square-vertical-smoker/62355182 Mainly I chose this one because of limited outdoor storage space where I live.
Browsing through the forums, I made a LOT of rookie mistakes with this first one... I actually had a lot of problems maintaining heat and ran out of hickory wood about 5 hours into it. I ended up having to take it off the smoker and finish it on the top rack of my gas grill (I know... I much prefer charcoal, but it was a wedding gift). Even with these problems, it turned out delicious, had a little bit of a smoke ring, but not as tender as I had hoped. That, I believe had a lot to do with the grill portion. Even on the lowest setting, the meat totally tensed up within 10 minutes of me throwing it on there. Lessons learned for the day:
#1 More charcoal, less wood (my temp hovered around 200-210 the whole time). I went through a whole bag of hickory chunks.
#2 Stop opening the door to check the coals
So I had a couple questions... Specifically, has anyone had experience with this particular smoker that can provide me with tips?
Also, does stirring the coals help at all or is it better to just add new fuel?
How much charcoal should I use at the beginning? I think I read 5lbs somewhere. I was using hardwood chunk charcoal (is there something else that I should be using that burns longer?), and that much might not even fit... I'm not sure. There's not a whole lot of clearance between the charcoal pan and the water pan above it.
How much should I add at what particular intervals?
If I am smoking several things at a time, what is the primary factor in the time needed to cook? Is it the total meat in the smoker, or the size of each individual piece of meat?
Finally, I am reading a lot about the coals needing to be on a grate to increase air flow under them. My smoker uses a tray to hold them. So, looking at my next attempt, which I am looking at making in a couple days or so, and having to use much more charcoal than my first load, I am thinking that it would get worse as the smoke progresses, since I would be adding the new loads of charcoal directly into the ashes from the last batch. This led to me considering removing the wire frame holding the tray and replacing it with a wire grill, and putting an aluminum pan in the bottom of the smoker to catch the ashes. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not... Wondering if there's something I'm not thinking of here or if it's not really big enough of an issue to consider a workaround. |
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SoEzzy
BBQ Super All Star
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 13183
Location: SLC, UT
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| Posted: Mar 04 2009 Post subject: Re: Smoker virgin's noob questions... |
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Welcome to the forum twirled! 
| twirled wrote: | | Also, does stirring the coals help at all or is it better to just add new fuel? |
Stirring the coals, often just gives you a layer of ash on your food, if there is still good airflow around the coals don't stir, if there isn't and you have to stir, take the meat out for a moment while you do it, you'll thank me later for that tip!
| twirled wrote: | | How much charcoal should I use at the beginning? I think I read 5lbs somewhere. I was using hardwood chunk charcoal (is there something else that I should be using that burns longer?), and that much might not even fit... I'm not sure. There's not a whole lot of clearance between the charcoal pan and the water pan above it. |
Read the manual for your cooker, then take what they said as a basis, and work up your own rules that work for you, remember for the most part manufacturers instructions are there to protect them from law suits for misuse of their equipment, not to actually help you work out best use!
| twirled wrote: | | How much should I add at what particular intervals? |
If you're using a chimney starter, about 3/4 of the starter full and lit about 15 minutes before you need it, so it is ashed over before you put the new lit coals on the fire. If you're not using a chimney starter, then get one, it save lots of pain and aggravation in the long run.
This depends on how your fire is burning. Keep a close eye on the thermometer, when the temperature in the pit has dropped 10 degrees you should be adding more fuel, this could be a couple, (or 3 - 4), of hours or more into the cook, I don't have your type of cooker so I can't give better advise on this, than to say keep an eye on it.
| twirled wrote: | | If I am smoking several things at a time, what is the primary factor in the time needed to cook? Is it the total meat in the smoker, or the size of each individual piece of meat? |
It really works on the size of each individual piece of meat, but putting lots of pieces on will have an effect, as it takes longer for the pit to recover to cooking temperature the more mass of meat is added, so it's 85% individual piece size with 15% total mass, my best guesstimate!
| twirled wrote: | | Finally, I am reading a lot about the coals needing to be on a grate to increase air flow under them. My smoker uses a tray to hold them. So, looking at my next attempt, which I am looking at making in a couple days or so, and having to use much more charcoal than my first load, I am thinking that it would get worse as the smoke progresses, since I would be adding the new loads of charcoal directly into the ashes from the last batch. This led to me considering removing the wire frame holding the tray and replacing it with a wire grill, and putting an aluminum pan in the bottom of the smoker to catch the ashes. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not... Wondering if there's something I'm not thinking of here or if it's not really big enough of an issue to consider a workaround. |
Here's a thread about this style of cooker.
http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=76120
Here's a pretty comprehensive review of lots of different charcoal fired smokers...
http://www.amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/smokers/charcoal_smokers.html
Unfortunately he only gives the manufacturers description of the Brinkmann Square Virtical!
_________________
Here's a change Robert.
I still work here! |
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twirled
Joined: 03 Mar 2009
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Mar 04 2009 Post subject: |
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wow, the guy in the first post pretty much did exactly what I was thinking about doing to it. Ugh, some pretty negative reviews overall though. Hopefully I can get it to work well enough to talk the wife into a better one.  |
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twirled
Joined: 03 Mar 2009
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Mar 07 2009 Post subject: |
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| Awesome! I took these tips and the tips I got from the thread on my specific smoker and did a test run with some sausages yesterday. Temp was hovering around 250-275 with all the vents closed. I'll be running a brisket on Sunday. Thanks for the tips! |
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SoEzzy
BBQ Super All Star
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 13183
Location: SLC, UT
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| Posted: Mar 07 2009 Post subject: |
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Let us know how it turns out on Sunday!
_________________
Here's a change Robert.
I still work here! |
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