Wade

That "oven" is a commercial Cookshack FEC-120 pellet smoker. It is great for simply putting in the meat, pressing the go-stud, carry on with the rest of life, and then come back 5-10 hours later when the meat is done. It produces great smoked meat but it does make you a little lazy.

It is a pity that Weber dropped the 67cm kettle as (out of my kettles) it is probably the one I use the most.

Btw. Most of the guests were in fancy dress and I was a chimney sweep - hence the blackened face...

I rarely take photos of my BBQs these days but my daughter has just forwarded me these from last Sunday. We were catering for 20 family and friends - outdoors of course. Ribs going into the smoker and the finished ribs These were "Meaty Ribs" trimmed as St Louis style so the rib tips were not wasted My "Dynamic Duo" of kettle BBQs. The Weber 57cm for initial searing and the Weber 67cm with a Vortex for final cooking. A great way to get large amounts of meat all ready at the same time. My only regret was that I used a commercial Rub and BBQ sauce on the ribs this time (for convenience) instead of my own. I wont be doing that again. Everyone who ate them enjoyed them however those who were used to my ribs said that they did not have the usual depth of flavour. When you find something that works stick with it.

A heat source would help raise the temperature and the resulting convection would also ensure the air flow through the smoke chamber. I use a cheap temperature controlled socket and a couple of ceramic infrared heaters. I have wired two 150w heaters together for my large smoker and put them in a stand however you will probably be OK with just one in the bottom of the smoke chamber Search online for them - Here are a couple of links showing what to look for Heater lamp holder with bracket Ceramic infrared heater Inkbird Digital Temperature Controller with dual relay

I learned my salmon smoking technique from Forman and Field in London and adapted their technique to suit smaller batch and home smoking. The step-by-step method can be found here www.woodsmokeforum.uk/topic/23-traditional-smoked-salmon-and-trout/ . I use this method for my commercial smoked salmon and it is also very easy to use at home. The gill plate is usually left in place to help support the weight of the salmon as it smokes - however this isn't usually possible with ready filleted sides. The skewer passes through the skin and the thicker meat and the hanging string (or butchers hooks) pass under the skewer. Leaving in the rib cage also helps support the structure of the fillet and is very easy to remove once the fish has been smoked.

Make a 50:50 mix of granulated sugar and fime cooking salt. Rinse the fillet and shake off surface water. Cover both sides of the fillet with salt/sugar mix and lift it up and gently shake. What sticks is sufficient for the cure. Lay the fillet on top of a cake cooling rack (skin side down) over a roasting pan and cover with clingfilm. As the salt and sugar pulled the water out of the fish it will drain away into the pan preventing the fish from becoming too salty. Leave in the fridge for ~16-18 hours. Rinse off fillet well under cold water and pad dry with kitchen paper. Place in smoker (hang vertically if you can - use a skewer through the thick end if the fillet to support the weight) or place directly on the smoker grate. Place a pan underneath as it will continue to drip. Smoke for ~18 hours at about 20C ensuring a good flow of air/smoke through the smoker throughout. When ready, the fish will be firm to the touch and you will usually begin to see small droplets of oil in the pan underneath. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 12 hours before slicing.

Make a 50:50 mix of granulated sugar and fime cooking salt. Rinse the fillet and shake off surface water. Cover both sides of the fillet with salt/sugar mix and lift it up and gently shake. What sticks is sufficient for the cure. Lay the fillet on top of a cake cooling rack (skin side down) over a roasting pan and cover with clingfilm. As the salt and sugar pulled the water out of the fish it will drain away into the pan preventing the fish from becoming too salty. Leave in the fridge for ~16-18 hours. Rinse off fillet well under cold water and pad dry with kitchen paper. Place in smoker (hang vertically if you can - use a skewer through the thick end if the fillet to support the weight) or place directly on the smoker grate. Place a pan underneath as it will continue to drip. Smoke for ~18 hours at about 20C ensuring a good flow of air/smoke through the smoker throughout. When ready, the fish will be firm to the touch and you will usually begin to see small droplets of oil in the pan underneath. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 12 hours before slicing.

They may last about the same length of time but you will get considerably more smoke from the AMNPS type pellet smoker. The choice will really depend on the size of your smoke chamber. Absolutely. I use a MAP Gas brazing torch to light mine

Typically about 10 hours. It does depend somewhat on the pellets though - type of wood and moisture content

All new types of automated smoker have teething problems to begin with, however it is not something that you would normally expect from Weber. My Cookshack FEC-120 pellet smoker was one of the first to be converted from 115v to 220v. I had problems with it for several months before they realised they actually needed to redesign the main board. They shipped and I fitted the new board and it has been working well ever since. Persevere - it should be worth it in the end.

They will give someone a good starter for a BBQ project

Ribs are a great staple in the smoker. The do not take too long, smell great when they are cooking and are very forgiving. Thanks to @StuieUK and @Kev for sharing. Great photos Stuie

Hi @Chef Kevin. Have been watching some of your videos - Great work, very practical and very clear

We should always try avoid exceeding the maximum permitted commercial levels* of Nitrite, however the safety margins are quite large. It is best to weigh to the nearest 1/10th of a gram if you can however so long as you are above 2g and below 3g (closer to the 2g) it will be fine. Consider the commercial production of bacon - it is done in large quantities and they do not weigh to the 1/10th of a gram when they inject the cure. If you are using scales that only weigh to the nearest gram then ensure that the scale only just goes over the 2g. Approaching 3g will be getting you towards the 188 mg/Kg - and whilst the commercial maximum used to be ~170 mg/Kg it has since been reduced. * Although the USA has a fixed maximum permitted of 150 mg/Kg this isn't the case in the EU as here there are regional cured meats that use well in excess of the 150 mg/kg. These have not been banned as being unsafe and exceptions have had to be made in the legislation to accommodate these "traditional" cured meats products. If we compare the effect of using between 2.0 and 3.0 g of Cure #1 on the ingoing Nitrite levels... 2.0g 2.5g 3.0g Meat weight (Kg) 1 1 1 Cure#1 - 6.25% Nitrite (g) 2 2.5 3 Total Nitrite (g) 0.125 0.156 0.188 Total Nitrite (mg) 125 156 188 Ingoing Nitrite (mg/Kg) 125 156 188 You will see that 2.0 g of cure will give you 125 mg/Kg. Over 100 mg/Kg is fine 2.5 g of cure hits the sweet spot of ~150 mg/Kg 3.0 g of cure is above the previous commercial maximum. You would still need to eat a lot of the bacon for it to have adverse long term effects but these levels are best avoided. I hope this helps

Hi @dirge Do not throw it away - If I have understood your figures correctly it is perfectly safe. My understanding of what you have done is below - please confirm Piece 1 Piece 2 Meat weight (Kg) 1.555 1.681 Cure#1 - 6.25% Nitrite (g) 4.03 3.73 Total Nitrite (g) 0.252 0.233 Total Nitrite (mg) 252 233 Ingoing Nitrite (mg/Kg) 162 139 Whilst we strongly recommend that you calculate the ingoing cure to a maximum of 150 mg/Kg (ppm) in line with commercial maximums, we are dealing with biological systems here so the science isn't exact and the included safety margins are large. Also, during the curing process not all of the Nitrite will be absorbed and some will be broken down. 162 and 139 mg/kg are both well within what would be classified as safe to eat. Go ahead and enjoy.

The link points to an American firm. Do they ship to the UK?

The old Weber Premium briquettes were almost identical in their performance but they dont sell them any more. The ordinary Weber briquettes are still good though. If you are looking for Coconut briquettes try the Nature brand. They perform well and are actually made/sold by Heat Beads. In Autralia I believe that they are branded under the Heat Beads name.

The upgrade made a few subtle tweaks to the look and feel I think too. The Admin console is looking a bit different too

There was an "upgrade" to the site software today and it affected the header logo. Other sites had experienced a similar problem. I think I have managed to work around the issue now but if you notice any other issues please let us know and we will try to fix them. Cheers Wade

Looks great - What recipe did you use for the chicken

I can sympathies. My 700 l commercial freezer gave up the ghost 4 weeks ago and its contents had to be distributed to friends. I now have a stainless steel freezer that would make someone a great cold smoker. Good luck with finding the replacement

There are two things that you need to do to stop this Chill the bacon slab before you slice Make the thickness of the slice a little thicker - increase the thickness by 1/2 a point until it no longer produces any "tails". It goes without saying that you need to ensure the blade is sharp

Easy to do and they taste even better if you have caught them yourself