Best $20 I spent, let the smoking begin

[FloatnFly]

I've got that same smoker, my dad gave it to me when he upgraded, it's over 20 years old, but works like a champ. 

 

Mine has been modified to hold the heat better, has a 1 inch layer of insulation wrapped in another layer of sheet metal.  

[woodenboater]

awesome ! can this smoker be used for ribs as well cuz that would be wicked !

[Tom S]

1 hour ago, woodenboater said:

awesome ! can this smoker be used for ribs as well cuz that would be wicked !

I don't believe so. I think these are meant for a cold smoke (~165F), which is great for fish, jerky, sausage, and cheese. For ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and such you need a hot smoke, at 225F. For poultry you want to be even higher, 325F. Using too low of a temperature can open yourself up to food safety issues. 

[woodenboater]

1 hour ago, Tom S said:

I don't believe so. I think these are meant for a cold smoke (~165F), which is great for fish, jerky, sausage, and cheese. For ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and such you need a hot smoke, at 225F. For poultry you want to be even higher, 325F. Using too low of a temperature can open yourself up to food safety issues. 

I smoke ribs at 225-250 on a Weber kettle or a Masterbuilt gasser as I like a low and slow smoke. I'd be curious if the Luhr can take a few more ˚s in temp to get to that magic zone ? would love to smoke trout and salmon so will be watching this thread for recipes  

 

[FloatnFly]

12 hours ago, woodenboater said:

awesome ! can this smoker be used for ribs as well cuz that would be wicked !

I absolutely have used mine for ribs, and pork belly and smoked burgers.  It can't be used as a cold smoke, because of the heating element being in the unit.  Cold smoking requires smoke only. 

 

These are the ribs I did in mine last week.  I cook them in a bbq sauce mixture with butter and honey on the bbq after words to make them sticky and delicious 

[DanD]

You can cold smoke chicken; but it should be cured in a brine for at least 12 hours; that has curing salt in. Curing salt that contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and the remainder is table salt. It's the same stuff that keeps cured/smoked ham that pinkish colour that we're use to seeing and tasting. It also kills the bacteria that causes salmonella food poisoning. 

I've cured & cold smoked skinless chicken breast and then slice it up thin; using it for sandwich meat.  With a smoke generator and a card box, large enough to hold the amount of chicken i'm doing. I've also used my propane smoker; that I stick the cold smoke via a hose, into the smoker and left the burners off. 6-8-10 hours of smoke, depending on how smokey you want it. The temp inside the cardboard box or the smoker never goes above 80° The chicken is cured and ready to eat; the smoke just adds to the flavor.

Dan.

[dave524]

Did ribs last week, 25 minutes in the Instant Pot pressure cooker with some apple juice and liquid smoke , mopped them with BBQ sauce and finished them under the broiler for about 10 minutes in the gas oven, fall apart tender in under an hour 

[Tom S]

7 minutes ago, dave524 said:

Did ribs last week, 25 minutes in the Instant Pot pressure cooker with some apple juice and liquid smoke , mopped them with BBQ sauce and finished them under the broiler for about 10 minutes in the gas oven, fall apart tender in under an hour 

If you boil your ribs the terrorists win. Just say no to boiled ribs. 

[dave524]

9 minutes ago, Tom S said:

If you boil your ribs the terrorists win. Just say no to boiled ribs. 

Not boiled , more like steamed, they are rubbed with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar and paprika and sit on a trivet above the liquid.  Do I get a free pass or am I still a heretic 

edit : to make things worse I microwaved the baked potato we had with them

Edited May 15, 2018 by dave524

[FloatnFly]

If you boil your ribs, you're making soup and dumping all your flavour down the drain

[smitty55]

I make homemade Canadian bacon in my Big Chief smoker and it works great. I can get the the meat temp up to 125° and then I finish it in the oven to reach 150°. Sure puts store bought to shame.

 

Cheers

[Tom S]

2 hours ago, dave524 said:

Not boiled , more like steamed, they are rubbed with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar and paprika and sit on a trivet above the liquid.  Do I get a free pass or am I still a heretic 

edit : to make things worse I microwaved the baked potato we had with them

You used liquid smoke. You're a heretic.

Proper ribs need 3 things:

-Cook technique - low and slow on a smoker for the entire time. None of this boiling/par baking/roasting shenanigans. 

-Texture - should pull away from the bones easily, but still have some bite. None of this sloppy fall of the bone mush.

-Coating - develop a nice bark to give a flavour boost and some texture. Sauce sparingly and only right before eating.

[misfish]

1 hour ago, Tom S said:

You used liquid smoke. You're a heretic.

Proper ribs need 3 things:

-Cook technique - low and slow on a smoker for the entire time. None of this boiling/par baking/roasting shenanigans. 

-Texture - should pull away from the bones easily, but still have some bite. None of this sloppy fall of the bone mush.

-Coating - develop a nice bark to give a flavour boost and some texture. Sauce sparingly and only right before eating.

My ribs are done on the BBQ indirect heat. Low and slow. I like to put a dry rub on them. When done, mop the sauce to them, hit the flame side for a char. No one has complained yet.

 

So back to the smoker. Plywood box will be made to keep heat in. Looking for that single top burner as suggested. Also want to find chunk wood, not chips/shavings. First step will be the box and see if that gives me the heat I want. I want to be at that 175-210 deg.  I too want to do the bacon thing. I have done the oven method, but there was no smoke. 

Edited May 15, 2018 by misfish

[GBW]

57 minutes ago, misfish said:

Also want to find chunk wood, not chips/shavings. 

Yes you can get chunks.  They are smaller than you may guess but bigger than the wood chips.  TSC may have what you are looking for Mr B as I know I have purchased small bags of chunks before but cannot recall what store...  

When I have access to apple wood and black cherry I take it and make my own chunks from the limbs ans smaller sections of the tree.  

[GBW]

18 hours ago, woodenboater said:

would love to smoke trout and salmon so will be watching this thread for recipes  

This is my fish brine.

Brine: Soy (500ML), water (2L), honey (3 spoons), sweet chili tai (1/4 jar), pinch of brown sugar and then diced fresh jalapeno peppers.  Then I boil the brine and then let cool before I use it so the brine is well mixed.

The wood used for smoking is key. I like apple & black cherry in the smoker together for fish.

When I make a brine I keep some for a misting/spray bottle. Part way through the smoking process I'll give the fish a mist. The fish turns out super moist and not like a dry jerky. Also I don't pat it dry I put it right in the smoker after it's sat for 24hrs in the brine in the fridge. My old unit had a large drip pan and I was learning at the time but if I was going to make some anytime soon that's how I'd be doing it. Big Cliff has eaten it this way and said it was great, so has young_one (or what ever name he's using now).  My kids even love fish smoked this way.

[pics]

I haven't really found a great method for ribs yet but for salmon I use a simple water, kosher salt and brown sugar brine.. I found that apple gives the best flavour for fish along with a maple syrup glaze.. All of my smoking wood is stuff I cut myself so I can choose the size. I recently tried a combination of soaked chunks and dry sawdust and it worked great.. Offset smoker with homemade charcoal.. 

[DanD]

Oh man that looks so good!!!

Edited May 20, 2018 by DanD

[akaShag]

I have used Luhr Jensen smokers for about 35 years, first a Little Chief, then another Little Chief, and for the last 20 years or so, a Big Chief.  GREAT smokers!

The element it comes with is just fine for smoking, in my view, and yes you definitely want to cover it with something (cardboard box is good) for windy and cold weather, it keeps the smoke in and the temperature up.

ABSOLUTELY leave the skin on fish for smoking.

One pan of smoke is not enough, in my experience, for fish of any type.  Hickory is by far my favourite, and two to three pans of smoke.

To get dryer smoked fish, leave it in the smoker longer.  You can still use a wet brine, take the fillets out and put them on paper towels or clean newspaper to air dry for about an hour to allow them to form a "pellicle" which is a kind of tacky surface to which the smoke sticks better.

Whitefish in my view take smoke better than any other fish.  If you get LOTS of them (I know Simcoe only has a small limit, but elsewhere you can keep more), then put the fillets into the smoker (after brining) for two pans of smoke, then pressure can them.  AWESOME.

Doug

[akaShag]

and yes you can do back bacon in your Luhr Jensen smoker.  It's FABULOUS.

[smitty55]

4 hours ago, akaShag said:

and yes you can do back bacon in your Luhr Jensen smoker.  It's FABULOUS.

Got that right Doug. Best of all you can adjust the seasonings to suit. The curing salt I get from the butcher is white so my meat didn't get that red tinge but is it ever good. I vacuum seal it in chunks and it's still excellent.

 

[pics]

What kind of wood is the best for whitefish?.. I would think maple or apple/pear would be good rather than hickory but I haven't tried to smoke one yet.. 

[akaShag]

42 minutes ago, pics said:

What kind of wood is the best for whitefish?.. I would think maple or apple/pear would be good rather than hickory but I haven't tried to smoke one yet.. 

My personal favourite is hickory.  After that, cherry.  I have not tried maple with fish but the thought does not appeal to me.  Never tried pear, but probably at some point I did try apple..........

Doug

[misfish]

3 hours ago, pics said:

What kind of wood is the best for whitefish?.. I would think maple or apple/pear would be good rather than hickory but I haven't tried to smoke one yet.. 

. Im going to pick up a few bags of different chips and chunks. I,ll be doing the bacon thing this fall. Along with steel head and salmon.

[woodenboater]

bit off topic but am using a combination of apple and cherry to smoke some back and side ribs today  weather is so fine today. Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend !

Edited May 21, 2018 by woodenboater

[pics]

Hopefully I can get into some whitefish when I go to the Nipigon area in June.. I would love to smoke one..