*****Official BBQ Thread - Suns out, Buns out!*****
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Soldato
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As it was so cold over the weekend I decided to do a bit of cold smoking while cracking on with diy indoors. I decided on several blocks of cheese and for a bit of an experiment some chocolate
All of it is now vacuum-packed and being left to mellow I'll leave the chocolate for a week or two before I try it, the cheese I'll keep for Christmas by which time it should be lovely.
All of it is now vacuum-packed and being left to mellow I'll leave the chocolate for a week or two before I try it, the cheese I'll keep for Christmas by which time it should be lovely.
I bet that Brisket took time cooking on a day like today
How was it?
10 hours.. But I cheated at the end and stuck it in the oven for the last two hours as it was too dark, cold and wet. I really need to build some sort of shelter as dodging rain and hail is a bit of a pain.
I didn't even know you could smoke chocolate! I'd best not let the missus see that or I know what I'll be doing for her.
Soldato
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10 hours.. But I cheated at the end and stuck it in the oven for the last two hours as it was too dark, cold and wet. I really need to build some sort of shelter as dodging rain and hail is a bit of a pain.
Looks delicious!! I should imagine that went down a treat!
I thought it might be worth a try and googling only threw up a few results so I figured I'd give it a whirl. The fat content should absorb the smoke well but I figured if its anything like cheese it'll be awful straight from the smoker and would need time to mellow. Now I just need to resist eating it for a week or so.
So, I plan on treating myself to a proper smoker in the new year instead of using my kettle. Arse there any other alternatives worth looking at apart from the WSM or ProQ smokers? I've ruled out kamado style ones as they are just too expensive and as the oven in the kitchen needs replacing too, I'd get slaughtered if I spent more on one of those than the one in the kitchen!
I'm leaning slightly towards the Weber as the reviews seem slightly more favourable. Does anyone have any first hand experience of either?
I'm leaning slightly towards the Weber as the reviews seem slightly more favourable. Does anyone have any first hand experience of either?
Very happy with my ProQ Frontier even if I don't get it used as often as it should! Roughly 3kgs of aussie heat beads keeps it going for ~12 hours at 225-250F and it can cook a lot of meat at once 
Soldato
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From talking to people that have used both the major seem to prefer the ProQ for the ease of accessing the different cooking compartments. Either will do you well though.
As as aside for the slightly lower budget side of things, there will soon be a new smoker available over here from the same people that make the Callow smoker, albeit under a different branding, which will hopefully be addressing the minor issues the Callow has.
As as aside for the slightly lower budget side of things, there will soon be a new smoker available over here from the same people that make the Callow smoker, albeit under a different branding, which will hopefully be addressing the minor issues the Callow has.
Cheers for the replies, I'll do a bit more reading before pulling the trigger anyway.
I've got a few short ribs on the BBQ for tonight, just a simple one for the last smoke of the year!
Luckily we've skipped the bad weather here. I was going to head to North Wales today but the forecast was miserable so stayed home to BBQ instead.. Bright, sunny and no rain!
I've got a few short ribs on the BBQ for tonight, just a simple one for the last smoke of the year!
I WISH! 60mph winds and driving rain suggests otherwise though
Luckily we've skipped the bad weather here. I was going to head to North Wales today but the forecast was miserable so stayed home to BBQ instead.. Bright, sunny and no rain!
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My last smoke of 2017 and it was a good one!
I think I'm leaning towards the Webber instead of the ProQ. I don't think there is much between the two really and they both have good reviews. The plus for the WSM is that I've found it on offer at £327 so works out about £50 cheaper!
I think I'm leaning towards the Webber instead of the ProQ. I don't think there is much between the two really and they both have good reviews. The plus for the WSM is that I've found it on offer at £327 so works out about £50 cheaper!
That would be a good deciding factor!
£50 gets you some good meat or more thermometers or tons of coal!
£50 gets you some good meat or more thermometers or tons of coal!
I pulled the trigger and went for the big WSM, I probably won't need the extra space very often but it's handy to have if I do. I might have to order some meat to christen it with this weekend. While I was looking for smokers I stumbled across Bristol Drum Smokers, they look absolutely fantastic, although unfortunately out of my price range at the moment.
I broke in the new WSM at the weekend with a couple racks of ribs and a pork butt. It almost felt like cheating compared to using the kettle for smoking. It was pretty much fire and forget. I lit it, got it to 110C fairly easily then didn't have to touch it for hours. With the kettle, I'd be constantly adjusting it to keep the temps right. I'm glad I went for the big one as it was good having the space and not having to squash things on. It's probably the best pulled pork I've made yet!
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Soldato
So Ive eventually got my hands a cheap smoker - Premium Charcoal Smoker from Amazon and going to fire it up at the weeekend. IVe got a few quick questions if anyone can help:
Any thing else Ive missed?
- How much charcoal will I need? Planning on trying a pork shoulder however Ive currently only got charcoal briquettes although they are decent quality and not garage forecourt type.
- With briquettes is it best to use a chimney starter to light and then transfer to the smoker and then put wood chips on top of the lit charcoal?
- Will I need to keep adding more wood to keep the smoke at a suitable level.
- How much water do I need to put in the water pan?
- Ive got a dual temperature probe and I notice the smoker has 2 holes for a temperature probe. Should I use one in the meat and then one in the top hole? EDIT - having thought about it I think I'll need to use both holes (one for the grill temp and one for the meat temp) as the lid shuts tight so the cable wont fit through!
- Is there anywhere I can find out how long different types of meat will take to smoke?
- Will I need to top up the charcoal? I appreciate this is probably going to depend on the size of the meat etc
- Can it be too cold to smoke? Weather isnt great up here at the moment!
Any thing else Ive missed?
Soldato
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@Mark M Can you post alink to the smoker you have as it'll help with answering your questions. Is it the Callow/ Cook4All one?
A few quick answers
1) I normally find about 2kg of heat beads will give me a smoking time of about 7-8 hours, obviously it depends on the temperature you're smoking at and your bbq of course.
2) Depending on the smoker, you'll either want to use the
a) minion method, whereby you put most of the briquette into the charcoal basket of the smoker leaving a dip in the middle. Then you light up to about a dozen in a chimney. When they're nicely alight and covered in grey ash. put them in the dip in the charcoal basket and add your wood chips around on the rest of the briquettes.
b) snake method whereby most of the coals are arranged in rows around about a third of the edge of the smoker, something like 2 rows wide by 2 high. light about 6- 8 coals in the chimney and add them at one end of the snake, with wood chips scattered along the snake.
3) Shouldn't need to as both the methods above slowly burn through the coals and hence slowly through the wood chips but if you do need to it's not a problem.
4) if you want to use the water pan, first line it with foil (trust me this is worth doing!!) then stick about an inch or so of boiling water into the pan.
5) you want the grill probe on the same level as the meat, no point knowing what the temperature is else where in the smoker as it could be quite different from top to bottom!
6) a bit of research on various forums will give you an idea of how long things take but really the whole point is that you're cooking to temperature..
7) shouldn't need to using either method mentioned above, unless you're smoking for a very long time
8) the cold weather won't have too much of an impact on your smoking really, it might take a bit longer to get to temperature as it'll be heating the metal of the smoker but once you're there you'll be fine.
A great forum for BBQ info: http://www.woodsmokeforum.uk/
A few quick answers
1) I normally find about 2kg of heat beads will give me a smoking time of about 7-8 hours, obviously it depends on the temperature you're smoking at and your bbq of course.
2) Depending on the smoker, you'll either want to use the
a) minion method, whereby you put most of the briquette into the charcoal basket of the smoker leaving a dip in the middle. Then you light up to about a dozen in a chimney. When they're nicely alight and covered in grey ash. put them in the dip in the charcoal basket and add your wood chips around on the rest of the briquettes.
b) snake method whereby most of the coals are arranged in rows around about a third of the edge of the smoker, something like 2 rows wide by 2 high. light about 6- 8 coals in the chimney and add them at one end of the snake, with wood chips scattered along the snake.
3) Shouldn't need to as both the methods above slowly burn through the coals and hence slowly through the wood chips but if you do need to it's not a problem.
4) if you want to use the water pan, first line it with foil (trust me this is worth doing!!) then stick about an inch or so of boiling water into the pan.
5) you want the grill probe on the same level as the meat, no point knowing what the temperature is else where in the smoker as it could be quite different from top to bottom!
6) a bit of research on various forums will give you an idea of how long things take but really the whole point is that you're cooking to temperature..
7) shouldn't need to using either method mentioned above, unless you're smoking for a very long time
8) the cold weather won't have too much of an impact on your smoking really, it might take a bit longer to get to temperature as it'll be heating the metal of the smoker but once you're there you'll be fine.
A great forum for BBQ info: http://www.woodsmokeforum.uk/
Soldato
Thanks for the answers @valve90210 the smoker is indeed the Cook4all one here
Will have a look through the link you posted later on tonight.
Will have a look through the link you posted later on tonight.
Soldato
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No worries. Do check out the forum, there's a very good review of that smoker (was previously branded Callow) and it goes into good detail about the best way to get good temperatures etc.
I actually have the same smoker and have found it to be great, if you're aiming for 110C that's basically where it wants to get anyway so it's pretty simple.
Oh and as for the temp probes, if you put them in through the top under the lid, just clamp one side of the lid down and you'll be fine
I actually have the same smoker and have found it to be great, if you're aiming for 110C that's basically where it wants to get anyway so it's pretty simple.
Oh and as for the temp probes, if you put them in through the top under the lid, just clamp one side of the lid down and you'll be fine
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