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Hi From the first Garden City


Mattf

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Newb isn’t the word, I am completely wet behind the ears! Just bought a combination bbq/smoker from Morrison’s as it was on offer. Now I want to learn how to smoke my own meat and fish. I love nothing more than slow cooked meat so this seems like the next logical step. Teach me!

Matt 

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Welcome Matt,

Forgive me, but i had to Google first garden city to find out Letchworth! 

There is lots of material on here, i suggest you get stuck into it! Once you have some specific questions, there are a great bunch of folk here who are very happy to share experiences and knowledge. 

Phil.

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Welcome to the forum Mattf..  m0114.gif   a bit more info on yourself and kit, what do you want in the food dept??  ribs, brisket, chicken, it's all in here.

The forum is just coming up to her 2nd birthday,  but growing fast, you may want to take the bit between your teeth and come to "Woodsmoke19" at Billing Northampton in just over 4 weeks. Come for the day if you wish to get to know some of us, put a face to a name on the forum.

 

Ice.    m0122.gif

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I’m up for trying everything!! I’m afraid I have purchased the most basic smoker from Morrison’s for the princely sum of £37 it was reduced from 80 something so I thought what the heck. It’s a combo bbq in the top and smoker in the bottom. Not sure how well it works as I haven’t had chance to use it yet. 

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7 hours ago, Mattf said:

smoke leaks out around the thermometer. Lol

 That's easy to fix,  what's the door like, does that leak??  if so buy some fire tape and just stick it around like a draft excluder.  it looks ok to get you started,  from what I can see it only has one air vent right in the bottom??.  You will have to keep on top of it has it will fill up with ash and restrict airflow and the temp will start to drop.

DON'T trust the thermo in the lid, buy a digi one, the type with a wire probe, push that into whatever meat your grilling and go by the IT....that way you have a better chance of not serving up undercooked food (chicken).......one like this maybe..

...https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermometers-TURATA-Thermometer-Water-Proof-Wireless/dp/B07D13FB2D/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?keywords=digi+bbq+thermometer&qid=1561256455&s=kitchen&sr=1-2-fkmr1

 

Ice. m0155.gif

Edited by Icefever
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On 6/23/2019 at 3:22 AM, Icefever said:

 That's easy to fix,  what's the door like, does that leak??  if so buy some fire tape and just stick it around like a draft excluder.  it looks ok to get you started,  from what I can see it only has one air vent right in the bottom??.  You will have to keep on top of it has it will fill up with ash and restrict airflow and the temp will start to drop.

DON'T trust the thermo in the lid, buy a digi one, the type with a wire probe, push that into whatever meat your grilling and go by the IT....that way you have a better chance of not serving up undercooked food (chicken).......one like this maybe..

...https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermometers-TURATA-Thermometer-Water-Proof-Wireless/dp/B07D13FB2D/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?keywords=digi+bbq+thermometer&qid=1561256455&s=kitchen&sr=1-2-fkmr1

 

Ice. m0155.gif

From a newbie's point of view, I fully agree with sentiment that you should never trust a lid thermometer unless it's one that you've installed and upgraded yourself. I use this one and it's been immensely good so far - I even used it to calibrate my oven! I've never modded a barbecue either but you're certainly not alone with having a 'leaky' smoker - search or ask around and I'm sure you'll find a ton of cheap solutions to fix that. :) 

 

Welcome to the world of smoking and welcome to the forum!

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53 minutes ago, ExclusiveBBQ said:

I fully agree with sentiment that you should never trust a lid thermometer

I was on about the cheap & nasty ones the manufacturer usually fit....most of the digi ones are ok.  For an analogue dial probe that fits the lid with an actually near the mark +/- 3 degrees you will be looking at a lot more money, I know I've looked at them and they come in the 3 figure price range.

The dial one on my ProQ frontier is 10/15 degrees out against my Inkbird.

Ice.  m1204.gif

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3 minutes ago, Icefever said:

I was on about the cheap & nasty ones the manufacturer usually fit....most of the digi ones are ok.  For an analogue dial probe that fits the lid with an actually near the mark +/- 3 degrees you will be looking at a lot more money, I know I've looked at them and they come in the 3 figure price range.

The dial one on my ProQ frontier is 10/15 degrees out against my Inkbird.

Ice.  m1204.gif

Oh yeah, definitely. I've had a few barbecues and tested friends ones and none of them were within 5 degrees of an actual probe - they varied wildly and the worst I saw was out by a good 20 degrees! I've just learned not to trust them.

But then the placement of the thermometer itself isn't optimal to measure ambient temperature - unless you're sticking your ribs to the lid of your BBQ, in which case you need to let me know about that technique! :D 

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3 minutes ago, ExclusiveBBQ said:

unless you're sticking your ribs to the lid of your BBQ, in which case you need to let me know about that technique! :D 

You mean, you AREN'T doing this? My word. It's the latest trend.

Just behind Vortex, Smash Burgers and Nduja paste. 🤣 

Phil.

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