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Matt from Bristol!


Matt

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Hey all, I've just had some cherry wood delivered, which included a card with the address of this group.  I’m a bit of a dabbler when it comes to cooking, but over the last 12 months have dipped my water in sous vide and pizza making, using an anova and a roccbox, which are both brilliant pieces of kit.  I’ve been tempted to try smoking for a while and jumped at the opportunity of getting a 37cm weber smokey mountain (we are a 2 person household and my wife is vegetarian, so I suspect this will do) when I saw it on offer at Wyevale garden centres for £165 the other week, I didn’t realise at the time that I would be spending over another £100 charcoal, a proq smoke generator, some dust, wood, ash bucket etc!  I’m hoping to get some cheese and nuts on this weekend using the CSG, maybe a piece of picanha that I’ve got in the freezer the following weekend if the weather allows.  I’ve not got my game together when it comes to bbq and have only cooked on gas (large outback and portable calor), but am getting the itch for a charcoal kettle to get some dirty bbq on!

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Hi Matt, Smoking/BBQ is like an habit!

Lots of advice on here for all the things you have mentioned above.

James from @Smokewood is a founder member of the Forum, and also advertisers on here to help with the running costs.

Your wife is a Vegetarian, no need for her to feel left out. Have a look at my Whole Roasted Cabbage, substitute the Bacon for Veggie Chorizo or similar and Chicken Stock for Veggie Stock.

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Hi Matt and welcome to the forum.

It looks as if you have already caught the BBQ/Smoking bug. The WSM will be a good starter for you however I suspect it will not be the last smoker that you buy… Before you try anything too adventurous take a little time to master its temperature control using a simple joint of meat or some fish. The secret with the bullet smokers is to use good quality briquettes/charcoal and to have patience as it gets up to temperature. Do not keep lifting the lid because “If you are looking you are not cooking”. The briquettes/charcoal is best burned using the Minion method – and a couple of Kg of fuel will give you 6+ hours of steady cooking at ~110 C.

You may also want to invest in a twin probe digital thermometer too as the lid thermometers are notoriously inaccurate. Cooking by temperature (both smoker cooking temperature and the meat internal temperature) is the sure way of producing great BBQ. There are several recommended in other posts here and so you may want to do a quick search. Alternatively feel free to ask and we can give you some direct pointers.

The WSM is great for cold smoking too. Place the lit ProQ CSG right at the bottom of the smoker and leave all the vents open (top and bottom). You are looking for a good stream of steady smoke through the smoker and you don’t want to trap it inside. The CSG will generate some heat though and if the internal temperature of the smoker rises too high just place the water pan back in the smoker filled with either cold water or ice.
Do not be tempted to over smoke… 2-3 hours is plenty for most cheeses, fish will take 8-24 hours depending on what you are trying to produce, and bacon will happily smoke for up to 48 hours – though 24 hours is usually sufficient. When smoking cheese it is also important to leave it for a couple of weeks before eating to allow the harsh smoke flavours to mellow.

Don’t run down your gas BBQ. You can produce some great smoked food on the gas BBQ using the indirect heating method and adding some additional smoke. Gas BBQs are great for baking too – so your wife can also enjoy some smoky goodies.

When you start looking for your Kettle BBQ it is good to get one that is about 57cm (22”) as you can also do some good slow cooked foods in these too. The larger cooking surface also allows you to achieve a good cooking temperature gradient for grilling so that food can be cooked without it drying out. It will also enable indirect roasting and smoking (using the snake method). For the past 15 years or so our Christmas turkey has been cooked in the kettle BBQ – which frees up space in the kitchen oven to cook the trimmings.
It is great that you found us and please let us know how you get on this weekend. We love photos here too so please snap and post.

Cheers, Wade

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Hi Wade,

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated! 

I was thinking 4/5 hours for the cheese, so will scale this back.  I suppose you can add smoke, but not take it away!  I will vacuum seal it for a couple of weeks.  I'm starting with a cheddar, stilton and manchego.

As the ProQ CSG can run for 8/10 hours, I think I'll use the rest of the burn for some nuts and garlic.  Any advice on smoking times for these please?

I do have a single digital probe, some cheap thing that I picked up from Aldi a year ago.  I know that I will need to upgrade this, but am running out of budget for major bucks.  Is there something (a double) sub £50, or is that too mean?!

Again, many thanks for the advice.  Matt.

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After you have smoked the cheese you need to leave it uncovered in the fridge for a couple of hours to let any surface moisture evaporate before you vac pack it. One of the bi-products of burning the sawdust in the CSG is water vapour and that leaves the surface of the cheese slightly damp. If you vac pack it straight from the smoker the surface of the cheese will be quite wet when you cut the pack open to eat it. The additional moisture can also lead to mould forming in the pack over time.

The cheddar and manchego will smoke well but the Stilton will depend on its strength. As a general rule the stronger the cheese the less suitable it is for smoking. With stronger cheeses you often find that the cheese flavours and the smoke flavours compete rather than compliment each other. Try it and see.

If you have space then you can smoke the cheese and the nuts at the same time. Which nuts are you looking to smoke? With the garlic I normally just put them in the smoker before I go to bed and pull them out the next morning. If you have space then also put in some coarse sea salt and also a tray of olive oil :5980a344e6cd3_ThumbsUp:.

Regarding the thermometer, there used to be only one that most of us went for (Maverick/Redicheck ET-732) but now there are a range of inexpensive ones to choose from. One that comes in at under £30 is the Inkbird. https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/122444705602?chn=ps&adgroupid=49511180526&rlsatarget=pla-399467231214&abcId=1130086&adtype=pla&merchantid=114983252&poi=&googleloc=9045110&device=c&campaignid=1029032630&crdt=0

:thumb1:

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Here is a link to the way I smoke nuts - both Almonds and Cashews. They are smoked this way to supply some local pubs.

http://www.woodsmokeforum.uk/topic/317-smoked-nuts/?tab=comments#comment-1318

Now you have the thermometer you can use it both in the smoker and also in the kitchen oven. Now is the time to forget everything about cooking meat by time/weight and learn to place your trust in the thermometer :5980a344e6cd3_ThumbsUp:

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/01/2018 at 9:37 AM, Wade said:

When you start looking for your Kettle BBQ it is good to get one that is about 57cm (22”) as you can also do some good slow cooked foods in these too. The larger cooking surface also allows you to achieve a good cooking temperature gradient for grilling so that food can be cooked without it drying out. It will also enable indirect roasting and smoking (using the snake method). For the past 15 years or so our Christmas turkey has been cooked in the kettle BBQ – which frees up space in the kitchen oven to cook the trimmings.
It is great that you found us and please let us know how you get on this weekend. We love photos here too so please snap and post.

Done!  57cm Weber master touch being delivered on Wednesday :D

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