Cumminz

A little late, as always! Turned out well.... Prepped the beef rib with a pepper dry rub and used a Wiri Wiri chili dry rub on the Pork ribs. i mixed some harissa dry rub with some olive oil and put under the chicken skin and also injected it with clarified butter fused with thyme, rosemary and garlic used hickory bbq sauce on the chicken about 20 mins from the end. 

I used a water pan for the first time and have to say it was very effective at helping maintain an even temp, will definitely use as a matter of course in the future. cooked at around the 210 to 225F. The cook for the ribs and beef took around the 4 hour mark, with the chicken going on for the last 2.5 hours, used beech for the smoke.  The pork ribs could of done with another hour if you like your meat falling of the bone, i prefer mine with a bit of resistance. I wrapped the pork ribs in foil for the last hour of the cook, would recommend for the last 2 hours if you prefer softer meat. I spritzed all the meat about every 45 mins with mix of apple juice and cider vinegar. 

Thanks Ice, looking like a steady 23 degrees!🌞

Hi all

haven't posted in a while! i will be having my first smoke of the year on BH Monday, got some pork ribs and a beef short rib plus a chicken to smoke. will post some pics Monday evening!

On 2/28/2019 at 9:14 PM, goldencrunchs said:

Iceman to the rescue!!! Quick question. Is this supposed to sit on the lip (like in the picture) or hang over?

Hi i know that im a bit late on this one! i had exactly the same issue with my Landman, contacted their customer services and they replaced the lid. the new one was a much better fit.

16 minutes ago, HeyBertHeyErnie said:

What temp and time did you cook at? And how much did the bird weigh?

Think it weighed 1.5 to 2kg, maintained a temp of 160. did not let it dip under 150, was 160 fairly consistently. Took around 2 and half to 3 hours. Used beach wood smoking chunks, applied a couple of large ones every 45 mins to an hour for the first 2 hours. 

3 hours ago, Wade said:

It looks well made and good value. Great for injecting flavour. If using it to inject cure though you will need to make sure you weigh the meat as it is being injected to ensure you know exactly how much is going in.

thanks for that wade, didn't think about that!

turned out well, so juicy. 

thanks for this!

New piece of kit!

Have used this a few times on smoked chicken with good results, only rule is that you cant use any marinade with any particles in as they will clog/damage the needle. i used melted butter with apple juice, smoked garlic powder, a drop of brown sugar and a couple of sprigs of thyme then strained into a bowl. Its a continuous feed design. No need to refill, you place the tube in the bowl of marinade and then pump into the chamber. it has various settings so you can adjust how much liquid you pump into the meat, a bargain for £29.99 on eBay!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173467706076?ViewItem=&item=173467706076

Messed around with a few combos of tuning plates today, used my new  InkBird thermometer and gave that a test as well. didn't cook anything just adjusted and observed. 

first up was this.. have to say too much, it stifled the temp and blocked the heat from getting through, i was still using the coal basket mod. 

then i stripped it back to this, still using the coal basket. still didn't get the results i was hoping for.

this combo was after i ditched the coal basket and used the coal grate set up that comes as standard, much better temp consistency!

In the end i took all the tuning plates out and observed the temp, still a bit of work to do but i would say .. use the firebox set up as standard and supplied, i wont be using the coal basket mod anymore. Whatever meat you are cooking, place on the far side of the grill.If you are cooking multiple items then use the set up in the last pic as this will stop the heat from the firebox from burning it and give you a bigger cooking area. highly recommend , it works a treat https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inkbird-Bluetooth-Wireless-Thermometer-Magnetic/dp/B076QBJVWX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535496055&sr=8-1&keywords=inkbird+ibt-4xs

10 hours ago, Wade said:

For so long I have felt a bit overwhelmed by all the folks on here from up north. It is great to at last have more southern guys joining the group. 

3 hours ago, Wade said:

Don't tell them that or they will all be down !!!

?????

1 hour ago, Wade said:

Cheese is so easy to do and I am sure that it would not impinge on your busy hot smoking schedule to any great degree ?. A few things to remember...

• Cut large chunks of cheese into smaller pieces (of about 200-300 g) as this will help the smoke flavour better penetrate the cheese.
• Milder cheeses smoke better than strong cheeses. A mature cheddar  or a Gouda is ideal. With stronger cheeses the smoke tends to compete and clash with the flavour of the cheese rather than compliment it.
• You only need to smoke the cheese for 2-3 hours using a light smoke. Do not be tempted to over smoke
• After smoking leave the cheese to dry in the fridge for a few hours before wrapping it. The smoker will deposit moisture on the surface of the cheese in addition to the smoke.
• Once smoked leave it at least a week (preferably 3 weeks) before tasting it. Initially it will not taste good but after about a week the magic happens and the smoke flavour mellows into the cheese.

Thanks for this, everything i need to get started, any advice on smoking whole garlic?

4 minutes ago, Smokin Monkey said:

No not more Southerns ?

it's where the sun shines!?

all fairly close then 

10 hours ago, Wade said:

Once you have sealed up your smoker, take care if you are looking to lower the flue inside the cooking chamber as the air flow through the smoker uses draw from the chimney to ensure a good flow of heat and smoke. Restricting/affecting the air flow can make it harder to get the smoker up to temperature. Lowering the flue too far inside the chamber can also affect the smoke distribution around the chamber by creating a low laminar flow of air, causing smoke in the upper parts of the  smoking chamber becoming trapped and not replaced. 

10 hours ago, Cumminz said:

Really want some tips on cold smoking, would love to try it. Don't know where to start,so please help!  Only joined this forum this evening and all the replies i have received have been welcoming, informative and friendly. So glad i have found these people

probably some cheese, wont be for a while yet as want to master the hot smoker first. 

whereabouts are you guys situated, I'm in Tunbridge Wells.

1 hour ago, Icefever said:

That's the reason I joined Cumminz,  I joined one of the US sites and found a link to this site via Wade.

I joined and have not looked back, we went to Woodsmoke 18 and had a great 3 days, we're going to the Northern Tailgate middle of Sept.

I also have a Kentucky and have done most of the mods on here. Great to have you on board,  matey... 

Thanks icefever, 

do you use the tuning plate mod I mentioned previously? 

18 minutes ago, Wade said:

Once you have sealed up your smoker, take care if you are looking to lower the flue inside the cooking chamber as the air flow through the smoker uses draw from the chimney to ensure a good flow of heat and smoke. Restricting/affecting the air flow can make it harder to get the smoker up to temperature. Lowering the flue too far inside the chamber can also affect the smoke distribution around the chamber by creating a low laminar flow of air, causing smoke in the upper parts of the  smoking chamber becoming trapped and not replaced. 

Thanks for this, i was mindful that you need a good airflow to not choke the food with too much smoke! you still need to retain a certain amount of convection?

Really want some tips on cold smoking, would love to try it. Don't know where to start,so please help!  Only joined this forum this evening and all the replies i have received have been welcoming, informative and friendly. So glad i have found these people

1 hour ago, HeyBertHeyErnie said:

Hey Cummins, have you come across any issues, or got any tips? I'm planning on extending my chimney internally to just above the grate.

have yet to try it since i fitted the tape, will let you know. will be an interesting comparison have used it without so can compare with

10 minutes ago, Wade said:

48 minutes ago, HeyBertHeyErnie said:

The one thing I have noticed with mine, is if I try to smoke with the height adjustable charcoal pan still fitted, it seems to struggle to maintain temps. It must divert heat away from the grill.

 

i remove everything from the cooking chamber (adjustable charcoal pan)

as i have used the coal and cooking grate from the firebox to use as tuning plates i have replaced with a coal basket adapted from a bbq veg basket.

6 minutes ago, HeyBertHeyErnie said:

That's interesting because I got the opposite affect. I had the end near the firebox as high as it would go, so above the inlet, and the other end on the lowest and it just seemed to muck it about. It was windy as well though, and just doing burgers, loads of variables.

I think I'm going to do the chimney and then leave it alone till I know a bit more about how this actually works

3 minutes ago, Cumminz said:

i have only used mine with the tuning plate mod so need to compare it without. will need to season the new lid so will stick some probes in there to compare temps with out them and report back. if you go ahead with the chimney mod can you let me know how it goes please. 

just watched that link again, mine are not as raised as in the vid which may be why it doesn't work as well, will re work. think the tuning plate mod would benefit from being raised a bit more, would produce a more consistent temp.

Just now, HeyBertHeyErnie said:

That's interesting because I got the opposite affect. I had the end near the firebox as high as it would go, so above the inlet, and the other end on the lowest and it just seemed to muck it about. It was windy as well though, and just doing burgers, loads of variables.

I think I'm going to do the chimney and then leave it alone till I know a bit more about how this actually works

i have only used mine with the tuning plate mod so need to compare it without. will need to season the new lid so will stick some probes in there to compare temps with out them and report back. if you go ahead with the chimney mod can you let me know how it goes please. 

the chimney is the next mod on my list, i have used the grill from the fire box wrapped in foil plus the solid section under the coal grate from the fire box as tuning plates which seem to work well. They deflect the heat into the middle of the cooking chamber plus its a free mod as they come as standard. will post pics this week.

check this link out and scroll 2.52 mins into it to get the idea 

when building used Unibond high temp sealant to seal all joins..

Have used Lavarock gasket tape to insulate the lid

this last pic is with the old lid so dosnt show the gasket tape, it was a really poor fit, contacted Landmann and they replaced straight away.

thanks for your response Justin, looking forward to getting to know you all, also my first foray into any forum.