Gloverfoodlover

I'm still getting along with the Weber briquettes but it's still early days in to my journey into smoking as I've only managed 5 smokes so far since getting my WSM however looks like there is a decent level of alternative options out there to try out!

Fantastic idea and if I was not away myself I'd be very tempted to come along even with the 4+ hour drive.... Hope you get the numbers for it

Afternoon all,

Me again  so I'm ready to get back on the smoke wagon next weekend planning to do a spatch cocked chicken/smoked new potatoes and then some pulled pork burnt ends.

I want to order up some rubs to try out and was going to order from bbqgourmet.co.uk and try out Killer Hogs The BBQ rub and then the Oakridge BBQ 'Secret Weapon' Pork & Chicken Rub.

What other online store recommendations you guys got up your sleeves as the is nowhere local to me that I can go to, to buy off the shelf as such.

All recommendations welcome as I'd ideally like to order it up by Friday so I have them ready for next weekend!

Cheers,

Neil

That's incredible thank you, literally some really great tips which I hugely appreciate and I'll totally take on board for my next sesh!

I've been practicing mostly with pork shoulders but I keep meaning to get some pork belly on the go as well as try out thighs as you say as I figured their fat content would be perfect to smoke!

I actually already follow 'Smokin Elk' funnily enough which is where I'd also discovered yourself so it kind of comes full circle ;)

Any preferred lump woods you've used or are using as I'd like to mess around with all types of fuels really to then see what works best for x and y!

At the moment I'm just getting used to temperatures and wood flavors along with my timings.

I'll have a look into the pure coco one's just out of interest and might be worth grabbing a bag just to play around with. 

Morning guys,

Ok awesome that's great thanks for all the advice :) I've not smoked for a while as my flipping house suffered a burst pipe so I've been living in a hotel for the past month!

However, the moment I am in our rental place I'm back on the game ASAP it's been killing me not being able to use it....

What are my other alternatives to briquetes that would or could be tried in a WSM?

Cheers,

Neil

Yeah I know what you mean, for me personally I bbq and entertain a lot so I what I bought I thought would be great but it's slowly started falling apart so it's not worth at all what they charge and I paid.

My broil king however I can fully recommend and give the choice I'd go back now and get a 6 burner version of that , maybe some of the guys on here can suggest other alternative brands that they've had or use!

I got my Weber smoky mountain from Riverside garden center online and they were great, delivery next day as well and offered me a slight discount for buying several other consumables at the same time, so they may be worth a look?

The Outback... I've learnt you get what you pay for when it comes to BBQ's unfortunately hence why I am now saving up for a Weber gas one!

I don't think it's going to last more than maybe 4 years total and that's with me actually looking after it, which sucks as it was a few hundred pounds if not a little more from memory.

My advice would be to steer clear of Outback if you actually want to enjoy BBQing and have a lasting product.

Hi guys,

Happy Friday it been a long ass week!

Anyone going to American Speed Fest this weekend at Brands Hatch, they are having a BBQ competition with a few teams competing which looks pretty interesting, so I am going to check it out when I'm there for sure!

Might be cool for picking up some techniques with some other enthusiasts 

Have an awesome weekend all!

Don't get this BBQ!!!

100% Trust me.... I have this and bought it last year and I regret it every second I use it! Well I have the Saturn 6 burner but it's the same thing.

I keep it clean regularly, well looked after and always covered during winter/bad weather and it's not held up well at all.

The flame tamers rust and have all fallen off, all of which I had to get replacements for and was then told they are classed as consumable items... so they know it's a fault by design however it's not listed as such!

It's rusted all over the shop.

The burners have all started corroding.

On low flames they always blow out and then on re ignition sound like a crappy jet engine, I then have to turn them all off and back on again so you can;t cook low or keep food on a low heat, which was annoying when say doing a spatchcock chicken.

The drip tray is only removed from behind the BBQ so if placed as most people do against a wall/fence and such you have to move it every time for cleaning and it does not even run off the fat into the smaller tray either.

The tray has also rusted and stained very badly granted it's a fat try but I think it's just steel, not stainless and not really designed for the best fat collection as it's terrible to clean even with premium products.

The side burner on mine never lights without a manual lighter even though the igniter is hitting the gas ring every time so I don't think it gets enough gas flow maybe?

It's badly designed for cleaning once grills are removed and has lots of nooks that fat and foot particles get into so it's so so hard to clean.

I'd 100% save your money and go for a more premium bbq either a weber or I previously owned a broil king which is now my fire pit... so bbq/fire pit age combines is 9 years maybe and not one single bit of rust on that bad boy!!

So yeah you get the idea... it's a hunk of junk that I hugely regret and it's very badly designed and personally unfit to be a bbq.

Cheers,

Neil

Hi Wade,

Hope you had a great weekend, and yes its for my WSM and I'm using/buying Weber at around £13 for 8kg.

I'll check our your suggestions though as it might be that, that works out better for me.

I fired up the WSM again this weekend and did another good 9 hours on it which worked fantastically

Cheers,

Neil

Afternoon guys,

I wanted to see what briquettes you all use and what you have found works best for you.

I've started with Weber Briquettes as that is what I started off with for my 1st cook so I'm still getting used to times/temps and so on but an 8KG bag was £14.99 at my local garden center and most places online are £12.99+ delivery so most likely works out the same.

Lots of other cheap alt options out there e.g. B&M but I'm wary of going cheaper non branded briquettes as hey may be crap...

Cheers,

Neil

Morning,

Ok awesome thanks for all of the advice again it's hugely appreciated  I'll be smoking again next weekend as I'll start earlier this time to give my pork shoulder some contingency cook time.....

I managed to have some left over un burnt and partially burnt coals so I am going to use these as my starters when it comes to my next attempt see how that works out for me! 

Thanks Wade and DL!

We had the remaining pork  and BBQ beans for dinner again last night and I'm sure it tasted even better.

I was on the fence if I cleaned or left my smoker as I'd not been using it again for a couple of weeks... What do you guys do in that respect?

Morning guys,

So finally got to fire up my new WSM yesterday which considering I popped my smoking cherry went pretty well.

I used minion method by stacking a ring of coals and leaving a central hole for my quarter of hot coals to drop in, two chunks of oak and two apple wood.

One chicken half brined and rubbed the other half rubbed only.

One pork shoulder about 1.3kg with cap removed, rubbed and mopped.

Couple of issues I had was firstly temperature control I had to stir the coals once as it really dropped so possibly I'd closed off the vents too much?

Second was I presumed my small cut of shoulder would cook around the three hour mark so I put the pork on first for an hour then the chicken for the next two.

However, the pork really stalled at hour three at 73 degrees so at hour 5 I foil wrapped it which then brought it back up and by hour 6 it got up to 92c.

Chicken was superb but my brined one was too salty but had great moisture retention however the non brined half  also had a decent level of moisture.

My other issue was probe placement, as I probed the pork on the top shelf, when it came to me wanting to put the chicken on the lower shelf it was tricky AF so any probe suggestions are appreciated...

Attached some photos of the smoker setup and pork result after 6 hours!

Cheers,

Neil

Morning Wade,

Ok perfect that all makes sense to me so I'll use that method for my first smoke run next weekend!!

Really appreciate all your time and effort it's awesome of you!

Any unused briquettes then I take it I can then just bag back up for next time right if I say only ended up with a 4-5 hour smoke, in theory?

Hope you're enjoying the BH weekend!

Cheers,

Neil

Hi Wade,

Thanks for that  I was going to initially for my 1st attempt do a whole chicken as well as a small ish 1.5kg maybe pork shoulder.

Would you suggest the minion method for more longer cooks for example rather than say 2-3 hours which is what at a guess my pork, bird and beans (should) take as a rough idea.

I got this at xmas and has been an epic read so far with some great ideas in it for brine's/rubs and so on!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Let-There-Be-Meat-Ultimate/dp/1409156354

Thanks,

Neil

Thanks guys

Morning all,

Almost a sunny three day weekend for most of us here I'm sure!!

I finally after much saving had my 48cm Weber smoky mountain delivered this along with six different types of wood chunks, Maverick wireless temperature probes, a ton of briquettes and a thermopile instant read thermometer. 

So I'm pretty pumped to get cracking with my journey into smoking everything!

I've decided to start with a small ish rubbed pork shoulder along with a whole chicken halved but brine one half and not the other to see what method works better for me and some BBQ beans sitting under the pork shoulder.

Looking forward to swapping tips and techniques with you all on here over time. 

Cheers,

Neil