newbie alert

[Chinkowski]

hello all,
about a week or so ago I ordered an 1100 and got right to it. I followed Scott's video instruction on how to smoke a brisket and it came out perfect. I, and everybody that came over to witness this gala event was impressed. this thing made a first time amateur look like a pro. on to the next hunk of meat.

[Sodaking27]

Chinowski,
Looks like you are off to a great start. Nice looking brisket. Welcome to the family and keep the posts coming. Looking forward to seeing your future cooks.

[Chinkowski]

Thanks, it was all the smoker I swear, lol. Anyway, I'm going to give a pork butt a shot this Sunday and go for the repeat. I just picked up a maverick so that should help out a bit. I found a good rub recipe wandering around here. There is definitely a lot of great info on here. Thanks to all the elder statesman for all the info. Makes it a lot easier to experiment with all the great advice out there.

[Chinkowski]

well, mixed up some of billy bob's pork rub and smoked the pork shoulder for about 12 hrs at 225 f with 4 oz of apple wood, and it came out fabulous. I think I would prefer a bone in, but it still turned out great. it was a great day to be outside doing yardwork, I'm not sure my neighbors feel the same way !!
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[Sodaking27]

That's a great looking shoulder. I do agree, there's something about having that bone in shoulder. You'll be amazed at how many neighbors you never knew you had once they smell the great aroma coming from the smoker.

[bigwalleye]

Congrats on a great looking cook! They say you always remember your first.....

[Chinkowski]

well, the adventure continues. I decided to smoke a bone in turkey breast and see how that would come out. the wife put the pressure on and made it part of our Easter brunch, which is dangerous because of the newbie status. anyway, I set the smoker at 225 and put probe in and let 'er rip. the one thing that makes me nervous is placing the probe. how do you know you've got a good placement until its too late. the breasts are definitely trickier than other cuts of meat. as a side note I found some Lawry's poultry rub at Sam's club and went with 4 oz. of apple wood for the smoke. I can see how you could over smoke or overpower this particular cut, but because my smoker is so new I figured I'd be ok. about 3 hours into it I was rapidly approaching 165 internal temp. I thought that was way too quick or I messed up my probe placement so I let it go to 170 and pulled it. I just left it rest in a pan and foiled it. to my surprise, this was one of the most moist and tender turkey breasts I've ever had. everyone at the brunch was commenting how good it was. truthfully I was shocked. I'll tell you, this smoker is amazing. sorry no pics, but it really wasn't that pretty. next time I think ill back down the wood a touch, but probably not do anything different. not sure what's next, but I can't wait.

[bigwalleye]

I think 3 hours is about right, and it appears your temp probe confirmed that. I've done a number of them, bone in and bone out, with regular and poultry Lawry's, and others, including Hy's seasoning from Canada (my favorite). The trick is to get the probe in to about the midpoint, and not touch the bone.

[Chinkowski]

I'm thinking about some boneless baby back ribs. what do you guys think about time and temp settings ?? I think they are on the thin side so to get a probe in could be a problem. I'm a little hesitant about this one. the only reason I'm going boneless is I have some in the freezer. any suggestions would be appreciated.

[bigwalleye]

I had to look on the interwebs to see if that was even a thing...Appears that it is. What do you hang onto when you eat 'em?? I mean, besides the flavor, the bone is kind of a built in handle....

Ok, seriously, I think I'd start at 225, mix of apple and cherry chunks, a couple charcoal briquettes, 3 hours, and have a peek and go from there. I'd look for them to be pretty tender, but you've got a lot more surface area, so you may have more bark on the edges, since there are a lot more edges.Generally, with ribs, while you are heating the bone as well, they're cooking from the inside out and the pull back of the meat from the bone ends is one sign of done-ness.