BBQ for newbies stolen from bbq-brethren.com

foodsaver · Aug 28, 2012

I'm seeing a resurgence in the same old mistakes and mis-information that we saw years ago. Perhaps we need a "BBQ for Dummies".

I'll throw out a few topics here. Please add your own:

Know that early on, with a new smoker(one new to you), your first few
cooks(at the very least, more if you dont take to it real fast) will be more
about learning fire and smoke control. So, for those first few smokes,
follow the K.I.S.S. theory; Keep It Simple Stupid. Dont try fancy recipes,
and dont cook to impress a crowd. Loss of fire, flare ups, billowy white smoke resulting in bitter bark, burned bark, dry meat, ruined meat are all part of learning.

220 is NOT the magic number, especially in smoking BBQ. Most meats smoke much better in the 240-280 range.

Your smoker is billowing white smoke and it smells good, you're rockin', right? WRONG. When you're in smokin' nervana the smoke will be VERY thin, wispy, with a light blue hue that's almost completely transparent. This is a result of a hot clean burning fire and not smothered by wood, especially NOT wet wood. DO NOT soak your wood. Matter of fact, many of us using larger pieces of wood actually heat the wood before putting it on the fire(so it produces sweet blue almost immediately).

When we talk about cooking temperatures, we're talking about the temperature ON YOUR COOKING SURFACE. Surprise! The odds of that being the same temperature shown on your external viewable thermometer are about NONE. Different smokers, different thermometers, they can be off by 50 degrees or more, high or low. Use SURFACE THERMOMETERS. You can get great ditigal ones in the $50-$100 range. Or, multiple $5 oven thermometers work great(as long as you're not continuously opening the lid to read the therm).

Perfectly cooked BBQ is awesome without sauce. If you like sauce, fantastic, but if your BBQ must have it to taste great you've missed the boat. Sauce CAN compliment BBQ without smothering the flavor, or conflicting. Just because you have a great tasting sauce doesn't mean it goes great on your BBQ. Finding the sauce that compliments your BBQ without masking the flavor and doesn't conflict takes a LONG time. Enjoy the journey.

There are 2 schools of thought regarding foiling for noobs. If you're very accomplished on your smoker you dont necessarily need to foil to produce great BBQ. However, if you're still learning fire and smoke control, foiling can save you. Dont be afraid to foil. When you do use HD foil and wrap them tight.

Rest your meat when removed from the smoker. Even those who dont foil use foil in this last step. Take the meat out and let it sit for about an hour or two before opening. You'll find your meat is much more moist and tender than if you'd skipped this step(all other things being equal).

Injections? Sure, many of us use them, but you dont have to. You can produce fantastic quality Q without it. I do inject, but only about an hour before putting the meats on the smoker. Careful, particularly with salty injections. If in there too long you can end up with a very salty hammy piece of meat.

Rubs? Like injections, you dont have to but most of us do. You'll find that many rub 10 to 12 hours before putting the meat on the smoker. I've found, over time, this only has the opportunity for negative results with no positive results at all. Like in injections, if you have much salt at all the result is a very hammy salty piece of meat. Rub about an hour before putting on the smoker.

Your smoker will havfe its own sweet spot. For most that's somewhere between 240 and 300. If it likes to smoke with clean sweet blue smoke at 275, by all means let it cook at that temperature(remember, SURFACE temp). Stop choking the fire down to make it smoke at an unnatural temp.

Liveliner · Sep 26, 2012

Now that there is some real Grill-Master talk...

SpurHunter · Sep 26, 2012

I agree with most of this, but not all. To each his own I guess. Mostly, I like 200-225*, I think it makes much better Q.

Buoy-Master · Sep 26, 2012

I'll agree a slower smoke is much better. Takes some time to really master temp on a wood fire smoker too. Can't have too much heat and you can't choked the thing with smoke either. A nice low temp and a light see through smoke work best for me. I try to keep mine between 200-225.

Jason F-18 · Sep 27, 2012

Maybe some of you pros could teach a little smoking class. We have a great pavilion at our church that I'm sure could be used.

jake279 · Sep 27, 2012

Masterbuilt electric smoker . A smoker for dummy's . Set temp and time and forget, makes great butts,ribs,brisket and chicken. Just and chips.

foodsaver · Sep 27, 2012

There isn't a whole lot to see most of the time. you would want to see the prep at the beginning and then come back at the end to help eat it.

BBQ for newbies stolen from bbq-brethren.com

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