What to put in the smoker this weekend?

[Aloha_Shooter]

I usually dismiss Williams-Sonoma as overpriced but this Christmas I gave my mother one of their digital thermometers. I chose the W-S probe because it has a meter you can clip to your belt (or purse in her case) and wander up to 150 feet away. That means you could monitor your meat temperature while watching the football game or cleaning your guns. In my Mom's case, she can monitor it while reading by the pool or watching TV in her bedroom. I just wish I could find one that wasn't made by the Chicoms these days.

[Irving]

Honestly, a good dual temp thermometer (cooking surface & internal meat temp) may be a more important investment than your actual smoker. Time means nothing. Temps are everything. I've had similar size pork shoulders take twice as long w/o any other changes so going by time on either one would have yielded terrible results & about $20-$30 wasted each time. That's one of the cheaper per pound meats too. If you're talking lobster tails & such what's $50 for a good thermometer?

I agree, I was asking about times so I'd have an idea of when to check with thermometer to reduce times opening the grill. A dual thermometer is coming, just not right this second.

[Jer]

The popular electric thermometers on the forums are the Maverick line. Very reliable, accurate & cheap for what you get. I have one & it's been great. I think it was like $75 but there's newer models & I see deals come up all the time. The ability to set alarms for smoker temps & meat temps is hugely beneficial. Not sure how I'd smoke meat w/o it & that includes meats in sizes I'm used to after having done it several times already.

[Gman]

I've smoked one time ever, not ready to jump in with both feet. Especially considering that my wife continues to declare that the only smoked food that she likes is salmon.

That's one of the reasons I like a digital temp controlled pellet grill. You don't have to slow smoke everything. You could easily cook your food with a higher temp and get some of that wood fired flavor and have an end result that's nice and moist without it being overly smoked. I particularly find this to be the case with poultry which has a mild flavor of its own. I also don't like rubbery chicken skins.

If the temp control is precise, you don't need to keep opening the lid. It's much easier to calculate the time/temp for the amount of meat inside to estimate when it'll be ready.

[Great-Kazoo]

Agree , it's easier to monitor and after a few different foods cooked. You get an idea how long at suggested temp, an item takes to cook.

[Great-Kazoo]

4+lb pork shoulder resting with dillo dust rub


3lb pork cubed & seasoned for 1st foray in to some Sweet italian sausage. This will sit for 24+ hours before hitting the meat grinder


There's 2 lamb shanks still in brine & a lb of german brats defrosting.

Everything but the italian sausage will hit the smoker around 1ish. Do a low smoke maybe an hour before kicking it up to 225. Drop the lamb shanks over the usual suspects carrots, celery, some tomatos, GARLIC onion, maybe some fennel.
Figure get everything done today, probably a bird tomorrow. That will feed us for a few. After we seal and freeze left overs to smaller portions.

[KS63]

I usually dismiss Williams-Sonoma as overpriced but this Christmas I gave my mother one of their digital thermometers. I chose the W-S probe because it has a meter you can clip to your belt (or purse in her case) and wander up to 150 feet away. That means you could monitor your meat temperature while watching the football game or cleaning your guns. In my Mom's case, she can monitor it while reading by the pool or watching TV in her bedroom. I just wish I could find one that wasn't made by the Chicoms these days.

I have had two of these for years. I even use it for deep fried turkey, though the probe doesn't like being submerged in liquids too much. I never go by the default temp settings, rather I set the temps to whatever I feel like. I set turkey to 150* and let it rest. People over cook poultry and pork too often.

[Great-Kazoo]

2nd attempt at brisket. Tasty results. Unfortunately the smoker crapped out hour #4 . Caught it before things could have gone south.
The pictures were taken this afternoon, after it sitting in the frige overnight.

[Grant H.]

Beef bacon going in on Wednesday after curing in the Fridge since Sunday afternoon.

Should be tasty.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

What internal temp did you get that brisket to GK?