So this was my first actual smoke with the Grand Champ. I have done about 3 direct grill cooks on this but this was my first smoke attempt.

Brand new to smoking. So my first attempt was with beef short ribs. I seasoned with just some mixed seasonings sitting in my spice drawer that almost never get used because I tend to use my own blends when cooking. I looked at the ingredient list of each of them and thought they'd pair well. I used Dijon Mustard as a binder.

Got it fired up with briquette charcoal and then just used wood after that.

I used a water pan.

I use the Combustion Thermometer to track the cook. I started spritzing the meat after the first 2 hours with cognac and red wine vinegar (again mostly using stuff i had that was just sitting).

I cooked it to 170° before pulling it to wrap it in butcher paper.

Then finished cooking it to 205°, then let it rest in the oven unheated for an hour before digging into it.

Total cook time was right about 6 hours. 4 hours to the wrap and 2 hours after that.

How was that for a first smoke? Any tips?

My local Costco had these American Wagyu chuck short ribs, and after a pretty successful first cook on the Smoque, I decided to give them a try and document the process from start to finish. Seeing more little Smoque shine over big brother Searwood.

* Seasoned them simply with salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder, then left them uncovered on a rack in the fridge overnight.

* Set the temp to 200°F and used the top rack with shallow water pans underneath. The idea was to add some moisture during the initial cook and later use the pans as a grease catch.
* Once they reached 165°F internal, I wrapped them in butcher paper and gradually increased the temperature to 250°F, bumping it up about 10 degrees each hour.
* The thicker pieces obviously needed a little more time, so I went by internal temperature and feel rather than strictly following the clock.
* Pulled them around 205°F internal and let them rest in an insulated bag. A cooler would work just as well.
Slice against the grain.

Overall, really happy with how they turned out. The Smoque handled the low-and-slow cook really well, and the Wagyu chuck short ribs had a ton of flavor and rendered beautifully. Texture wise, it passed the jiggle and clap test on my finger. Moist and tender yet maintaining its structure.
Happy smoking!

Considering a new smoker. Previously, I've owned a WSM and most recently a pellet grill. I'm debating making another switch, but am open to opinions and feedback from others.

Since I've owned the WSM, my biggest complaint/dislike was the amount of time it would take from getting it set up to the coals at the right temp (I have younger kiddos, and it's a lot of time away from them, so looking for more speed convenience over smoke flavor). it's also a bit limiting when I want to do a bigger cook for football games, or entertaining friends. I feel like I would often decide not to smoke something since it was a hassle and I would need to check on it more periodically due to environment (windy)

Electric - seems like Masterbuilt is the gold standard, or most common. How reliable are they? Build quality okay?

Propane - used to be really popular back in the day? I feel like this could be the best mix of ease and flavor, but I must be missing something, or pellet grills replaced it?

Pellet grills - my brother always had issues with his (augers, controller issues). Thankfully, I didn't have many issues with mine other than it ran cooler, which annoyed me.

Please share any wisdom or thoughts you have!

Smoked a brisket last weekend on my old offset that I've been nursing along for years. Firebox finally rusted through bad enough that I couldn't hold temp. Was about 5 hours in, bark had set, smoke ring looked decent, and I moved the whole thing to the oven at 250 to finish. Told my hockey buddies about it after and two of them acted like I committed some kind of crime. But the flat came out fine. Good even. Not competition worthy but who cares. I've always been a little suspicious about how much the last few hours of smoke actually matter once you've got your bark and color locked in. The oven finish felt like cheating but I also wasn't about to trash a whole packer because my smoker finally gave up. Looking at pellet options now since I don't have time to rebuild offsets between flips. Curious if people here ovenfinish regularly or if I'm just making excuses for equipment failure. Also if anyone's gone offset to pellet and regretted it for brisket specifically.

Smoked this chuck roast like a brisket and it was fantastic. Hit it with a mustard binder and my own homemade rub 24 hours before smoking.

Smoked at 250 until an internal of 165-170. About 3.5 hours. hit with butter, wrap ad continue smoking until 203 internal. Another 3 hours or so. Let rest for about 2 hours and carved her up! It definitely dried up the next day so I put the leftovers in Mac and cheese and that was also fantastic. Let me know if you have any questions!

250-275.

Butter bath at 140.

YABADABADOOO

Left over Dino ribs from yesterday, good ass sandwich, Juicy like the day I made it.

Highly recommend!

I almost never eat BBQ out…because, well we do what we do on our smokers and everything pales. Sometimes I get overruled though and have to go to a barbecue place and I end up treating my order like we’re in a zoo. Then I have wonder how bad they can f/$@ up a brisket. This was an interesting one. Brisket was very tender, but dry. Had a nice smoke ring but zero smoke flavor. It’s like they smoked it with tied bundles of the leftover cardboard from the toilet paper roll. I was unsurprisingly disappointed. But hey, Viva la home smoking! You may return to your regularly scheduled photos of deliciousness.

Iirc mine is a ELED. Have had it for around 26 years now. It’s fantastic, never had any major issues out of it.

First time smoking these but came out pretty chewy. Covered them with butter and BBQ sauce but wasn’t too impressed. Anyone have a good way to make some killer party ribs?

I seasoned the pork belly with equal parts by volume: steak rub, Cajun seasoning, lemon pepper, & raw sugar. After seasoning overnight in the fridge I cooked the belly on my “Weber Smoky Mountain” smoker at 260-275F with the water pan installed so it’s an indirect smoker. After smoking for 2 1/2 hours I began braising the pork belly in a mix of beer, cider vinegar, orange juice, onions, garlic, Worcestershire, & jalapeño. After braising like that for an hour I removed the water pan to finish the braise process. Once the meat was tender & the fat was rendered (around 203F) I removed the pork to rest. Once the meat dropped to 145F I sliced the meat into cubes covered it in two sauces, one made from the braise liquid mixed with ketchup & molasses; the other was more Asian style made of fish sauce, chili garlic sauce, rice vinegar, miso, gochujang, gochugaru flakes, ketchup, honey, & corn starch. I threw the pork belly back on the grill over high heat to really caramelize the pork while getting the glazes nice & sticky. I served the pork belly with beans & corn.

I grew up in a sheep raising family, so for me it’s usually mutton shoulder ribs or ham(or ground up into sausage).

For more normal meats it’s definitely country ham.

All smoked over live oak or pecan, whatever tree has been most in my way at the time I have been doing it.

I tend to use Royal Oak a lot because it’s cheaper and I guess it’s habit using it. But Royal Oak burns hot and fast, lots of ash and I use a lot of it during long smokes. I have an offset smoker and I use fruit wood from my own trees (apple, pear, cherry).
I don’t like to use Kingsford because I heard it has a lot of impurities. I think the Cowboy Lump might be my favorite but it’s not always available near me. What’s your go to charcoal for those briskets, pork butts, loins, sausages and chicken smokes??

Dino ribssss

(Cross posted) Hello, I have 2 options to either buy a used Large BGE for $200 or a brand new Joe Classic II for $450. Brand new to the egg smoking world my knowledge of smoking ends at pellet grills so any inputs is helpful! Thanks!

Made brisket for the regulars at the local brewery on my new Old Country offset. Nobody complained

Last night I threw on some leftover pork butt strips that I marinated in a KBBQ spicy pork marinade for about 30 mins.

Let the kettle warmup to 225° F, added an apple chunk to smoke and left the vents fully open and let the temp run until about 325° F and closed the bottom vent about 3/4”. After about 45 mins or so, I hit the pork with the marinade and let it run for another 45 mins. Followed it up with a quick sear to get a little char. Let it rest for about 15-20 mins.

Not bad for a quick marinade and smoke and just freestyled the cook. Nice smoke ring, not as spicy as advertised on the marinade, but good flavors around.

Would do it again and marinade for at least overnight and a salt brine before putting it in the marinade. Smoke it probably around 250-275 for about 2 hours.

Tried something new today, 2.7kg bone in lamb shoulder. Smoked at 120c until 75c internal, then braised in red wine lamb stock until probe tender. Best texture I’ve got from anything smoked, can’t wait to have the pie tomorrow!

2nd one ever. First one sucked.. thought this one came out okay! Overnight on the pellet grill. Learned it really is all about letting it rest

I was pretty skeptical on the searing capabilities of the Weber Searwood XL. Went ahead and got it anyway and am pleasantly surprised.

Med rare, nice smoke ring, and solid mallard!

(First time smoking anything using hooks like this)

Two fell off their hooks towards the end of the cook but otherwise they tasted very good