craig
Junior Member
Posts: 14
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Post by craig on Jul 21, 2015 8:00:00 GMT -5
Gave it a try last night. Originally I was just going to do a dry run w/o any meat just to see how it handled and how stable I could get the temps, but what's the fun in that? I ended up getting a couple pork chops since I figured they would cook relatively fast even at a low temp. I filled up my charcoal chimney and once the coals where going dumped them into the smokenator, a full chimney is to much charcoal and there wasnt room for the water pan, next time I will only use 1/2-2/3 the amount. The temp was a little difficult to bring up in the kettle until the charcoal was really rolling and glowing. However once I had my temp up it was fairly simple to maintain between 225-240 for the duration of the cook. You still have to baby it and adjust the vents when running high or low but the temp swings were MUCH LESS dramatic than w/o the smokenator. Is it worth $70? I don't know, It's a handy device and if you often cook foods that require low and slow (Ribs, Brisket, ect....) and don't already have a dedicated smoker I would definitely recommend it. But for the majority of my cooking, especially during the work week I won't be using it. It will be perfect for the days on the weekend that I'm not taking the boat out and want to spend the day outside drinking beer/grilling meat and relaxing.
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Post by 1luckytexan on Jul 21, 2015 13:32:19 GMT -5
I fill the SN with charcoal, then remove about 15 briquets to start in my (upside down) chimney. Works for me.
Only thing I had to do to start getting good results was take my Weber tool hanger off. It was letting too much air in.
I am downsizing from a big pit (Good-One 30-24 'marshal') and have been impressed so far. More stable and longer burn times than i expected.
Still, I may install a party Q or similar - might ask for it for Xmas!
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craig
Junior Member
Posts: 14
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Post by craig on Jul 21, 2015 14:30:29 GMT -5
One thing I might have been doing wrong was only using the bottom vents to try to control temp, when it sounds like I should have been using the top vent for that. I'm excited to do a longer run and see if I can get the temps to stabilize for long periods of time (1 hr +) as I become more comfortable with the product. If I can "set it and forget it" I will fall in love with the SN, I'm just not there yet.
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Post by ncsmoker on Jul 21, 2015 19:08:53 GMT -5
Yea the bottom vents I try to leave pretty much alone now. I have had enough experience now that I leave them mostly open and then control the temp with the top vent, I do occasionally will still adjust the bottom vent under certain conditions. Don't forget to keep a record of what your doing as each time will be different and you will be able to go back and look at what you did for the same conditions and type of meat. Remove some of the old coals from your SN and put them in your chimney, then refill your SN with new coals. Light off the chimney with the old coals and 12 coals from the SN. When the 12 coals are red hot put them back in the SN. Don't worry about the water pan fitting in the hole I just let it set on top, some guys buy a larger pan and do the same thing. The SN does take some experience getting used to it. But the notebook and a few months use will let you do all most any thing with it. I cure and smoke my own bacon with it, briskets are a no brainer any more. Other items to try early on are chicken thighs. When I do pork chops I like to do the thick cut ones. Then when you feel you are ready try spare ribs, they are cheaper than baby backs and provide more meat for the buck. Here is a web site to help you trim them: bbqpitboys.com/recipes/how-to-trim-for-st-louis-spare-ribs#.Va7Ykc_bKt8 The trimmings are good for a snack about half way through. I hope this helps a little. Tom
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