valve90210

My brother has just got himself an entry level offset smoker with a view to being able to direct grill pretty large amounts of food while also giving himself the option of indirect cooking too.

At some point I'm going to go round and see if we can seal up any leaks etc and give it a good chance of being able to control temperatures using the  air inlet but what i was wonderign, was how does one go about setting up an offset for a nice low-and-slow cook? 

My initial thoughts would be a sort of minion type setup ie a pile of heatbeads (my go to fuel at the moment) onto which I would then put a handful lit colas into the top/middle allowing them to ignite the other beads as they burn through?  Or is there a better or more recommended way to go about it?

I think that's probably just the very nature of meat isn't it, if there's not as much fat running through or if it's from a particularly tough creature! Tis very nice to get good comments from people as they're eating it and pulling faces of delight as they tuck in! Also I've been asked to do meat for my Dad's birthday in a week or so too as my dad really enjoyed the meat I did this weekend.

Hi All

I thought I'd share a handful of photos of the smoking I managed to get done during a week off work which was largely spent doing DIY, who says men can't multi-task!!

The first weekend I found a reasonable looking pork shoulder in my local Morrisons and also decided to try a boneless rib of beef joint that I had managed to get in the reduced section (down from £18 to £2.50 :)) a few weeks ago and had stuck in the freezer.

I made up a couple of slightly different rubs (based on ones I'd been taught by Wade) and got them rubbed and wrapped over night.

I stuck both in my Callow smoker and pretty much left them to it bar a bit of spraying with cider every hour or so then wrapping them after three hours.

The pork just before wrapping (Sadly I didn't get any at the end of the cooking of after the pulling...oops):

The finished beef before carving:

The carved beef:

I was really pleased with how both joints came out. The pork could possibly have done with being a little more moist but it wasn't a particularly fatty joint and didn't give me much in the way of juices after wrapping. Also, I hadn't put in a drip tray to catch any juices and had let them fall into the foiled water pan  which was a mistake in hindsight.

On the Tuesday I decided to do some cold smoking as I've only done it a couple of times, so I got myself some blocks of cheddar and feta and a load of garlic bulbs and smoked both over fruitwood pellets for about 3 hours for the cheese and about 5 for the garlic.

Cheese smoking:

Garlic Hiding below:

The finished items having had a time in the fridge to dry off before vacuum-packing:

Both of these have now been mellowing in my fridge for a week, ready for testing soon. From what I've read the garlic might actually need rather longer in the smoker to get a good flavour penetration but we shall see.

During the week my brother asked if I might produce something to make up part of a birthday bbq for my nephew's second birthday. I was more than happy to do so, despite being rather busy. I picked up a couple of pork joints and what turned out to be a pretty ropey piece of brisket. I didn't have much time to get photos as I was busy finishing off the scratch-building of a bed for my son but I did manage a couple as was carving the beef as I was quite chuffed with what I had achieved. Being a funny shaped piece of beef I decided to carve in two directions to show my brother the different in going with and across the grain of the meat. With this smoke I had remembered to put in a drip tray and managed to end up with a nice amount of juices to go over the pulled pork which dramatically improved it from my attempt earlier in the week.

With the grain:

Across the gain:

I was quite chuffed with the smoke ring I got on this piece of beef!  The best part though was when the bbq happened and I got comments from almost everyone abut how amazing the beef and pulled pork where which Included it being described and "phenomenal" and a "bbq game-changer"! It was lovely to be able to spread the low-and-slow word and talk people through what I had done and hopefully inspire some of them to give it a try themselves!

Nothing like as good as food produced by others on here but as a beginner I'm quite pleased with how I'm coming on and I'm definitely gaining confidence with every smoke!

Much the same as me, I figured I only need it for the occasional rub etc so thought I'd give it a try. Also noticed a lot of warnings in the packaging about not using the special attachment for any small quantities unless you were literally only grind a teaspoon or so. My guess is a lot of people destroy them but over using that attachment, or using for much larger quantities if making up a big batch or two in one session.

I went for it from Argos because I knew if it died on me it should be simple to get it replaced/refunded.

As long as there's a gluten free version I can eat too...

Glad it's not just me that's thinking about what to do at the Smokers Weekend already!!

For a cheaper option you could give the James Martin Wahl Grinder a try, it's £21.99 at Argos. I got one a week or so ago and have found it to be great thus far. I'm not doing anything like the quantities Wade does , so not quite so much risk of burning it out as long as I'm sensible with it.

Very useful info!  Having tasted the Ancho I may have to get some myself, it is a lovely flavour with a nice bit of heat but not overpowering.

At present I mainly use dried scotch bonnet from chillies I've grown myself, I find them to be a nice flavour and although it's got a good bit of heat it's a pleasant sort f heat that washes round your mouth and gives almost a warm hug as you eat.

Looking good!

I've a few scotch bonnets growing on my one plant I have indoors, hopefully they'll get enough sun to ripen up nicely

Good thinking!!  I will hopefully get a chance to give this a go over the weekend and get some photos

Which is always appreciated!!

This should do the job shouldn't it? http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Round-Aluminium-Ducting-100mm-x-4m/p/713024

Cheers Steve,

That's not a bad idea at all, I shall give that a try when I get a chance - hopefully over the weekend with any luck

Just to let you know, the images aren't working on this thread...

Hi All

I've done a little cold smoking in my Callow smoker  and would like to do some more but would like to give a mailbox mod and vent tubing a try to give more distance between the smoker generator and the food (mostly it'll be cheese) as I've read on several occasions that having more distance allows the smoke to cool and also any tar etc has time to build up on surface to of the tubing rather than on the food which helps to give a cleaner smoke taste and less problems with rising temperatures.

Having looked around I've found metal US style  mailboxes to be somewhat expensive so I'm looking for alternatives, thus far I've not found quite what I'm looking for and wondered if anyone has any good ideas for alternative items.

The smoke generator I'll be using is a 30cm length of stainless perforated tubing on about 1.5 inch diameter. so I need something which will be big enough to house that an allow air space around it.

Any ideas will be much appreciated.

I'm also thinking about how best to attach the end of my tubing to one of the air intake vents on the Callow without modifying the smoker...

Hi James

Another welcome to the forum. Was great to meet you and your family and have a good drink and chat at the smoking weekend.

I'm hoping you'll be sticking up a recipe for that pineapple sauce some time, I love it and want more!

Cheers Wade,  a very interesting bit of experimenting and intriguing results, I may considering brining next time I'm smoking a chicken

I may have to get myself some ribs and give this a try at some point, would be useful for times when it's horrible outside or I need to be concentrating on other things.   Would give me an excuse to try the bourbon sauce I got the other day...

Great idea, looks like they work really well too!

I'm very tempted to give this a try at some point!  until then I shall keep an eye out for offers on whole salmon and  get you to do it for me!

I've always been intrigued about cooking meat in a slow cooker without masses of liquid, I've read about it but never been brave enough to actually do it for some reason. The ribs look great, how did they taste, an acceptable alternative to properly smoked if you're too busy to be attending a smoker?

As someone who is new to the world of smoking I didn't want to shell out for a Weber or ProQ (especially since ProQ discontinued their lower end range) so I went for the callow having spoken to Wade about it and got his thoughts. I've now used it a good few times and have to say I've been Impressed, for low and slow cooking at around 110C it's been really simple to keep the temperatures where I want them and I have produced some lovely brisket, ribs and pulled pork!

I would definitely recommend it for someone who is just starting out on their smoking journey!

Great to be involved in the new forum from the off, hopefully it'll become the go to place for all things BBQ in the UK!