Smoker trouble...

[WaHoo]

I finally got a smoker this past weekend. It's a Brinkmann square charcoal smoker, with water pan and a total of 4 vents.

Everything went fine during the curing process, with the temperature being high and stable.

However, when I added some ribs later, it was pretty much impossible to raise the temperature above about 175 degrees, no matter how I played with the vents, and the subsequent addition of coals didn't do anything either. So after about 2 hours of producing jerky, I decided to call it a night and finished off the meat in the kitchen oven...

It just seems weird to me that the bottom vents are below the coal pan, but the pan itself is solid - no holes or anything to let the air go through the coals and thus increasing the temperature. It seems as if right now the incoming air is just passing by the coal pan and exiting though the top vents if open, without feeding the fire enough.

For the future I'm planning to cut a hole in the bottom of the smoker and bolting on a propane burner which should then take care of any temperature issues. But there has to be some sort of quick fix, something I didn't think of so far... Anything anybody can think of?

On a side not, Kaga's rub recipe varies greatly... The one on goneboating has twice the amount of pepper in it then the one posted here a while ago, and it seems awfully hot. It looked like too much when I trew things together but I figured if Kaga says so... I'll have to change that the next time....

[Chairman_Kaga]

I think there are 3 versions that I use. Depends on how you like your ribs and what your're putting the rub on. (chicken, ribs, beef brisket, turkey, etc...)

However, double the black pepper? That could be a typo. Most differences should be in red pepper, cayenne pepper and/or using hot hungarian paprika rather than paprika.

I will double check the recipe site.

[Chairman_Kaga]

Thanks. That should read 1 TBSP not 3 TBSP. :( Sorry.

Both (hot/mild) are on the site, one under ribs, the other under beef brisket. I'll make a new entry for each. Please note that I like spicy foods. You may want to adjust accordingly. But when used with a normal honey based bbq sauce, i love it. Keep in mind that you cover the ribs, rub it in, then let the rest fall off. There should be no clumps, or thick spots of dry rub. That will not taste good.

On the hot version, you can remove the red pepper if you use hot hungarian paprika.

Corrected: HOt version: (what I use for ribs)
1/4 cup paprika
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp coarse (Kosher or sea) salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp ground red pepper or cayenne pepper
1 tbsp dry mustard
2 tbsp garlic powder


Mild: (what I use for most everything else)
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp coarse salt or sea salt
1/2 tsp each dried thyme, oregano, basil
2 tbsp dried mustard
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp onion powder

The additional salt in the 2nd one seems to help with tougher meat like brisket. Maybe it's just me.

[WaHoo]

Here:

1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp black pepper

Goneboating:

3 tbsp ground red pepper or cayenne
1 tbsp ground pepper

Going to keep the 1 tbsp black and reduce cayenne to 1/2 tbsp... That seems more reasonable. If it should turn out to obland it'll be easier to add some pepper after cooking rather than trying to scrape it off - which btw resulted in the ribs still being too hot for the kids to eat.

[WaHoo]

Ahhh... yeah that looks better now :)

Since you admitted to your mistake and didn't put any kind of disclaimer on your site, you now officially owe me 2 slabs of spare ribs in reparation and whatever beverages I can consume before, during, and after the preparation and smoking to make up for any emotional damages... :D

[Chalybos]

Ah, tell the kids it'll put hair on their chests. Unless you've got daughters, then you need to come up with something else.

[Chairman_Kaga]

Here:

1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp black pepper

Goneboating:

3 tbsp ground red pepper or cayenne
1 tbsp ground pepper

Going to keep the 1 tbsp black and reduce cayenne to 1/2 tbsp... That seems more reasonable. If it should turn out to obland it'll be easier to add some pepper after cooking rather than trying to scrape it off - which btw resulted in the ribs still being too hot for the kids to eat.

You may want to use the other one then. Or make two sets of ribs.

FWIW - I added the rubs as two seperate entries on the site now. Be a little easier to find.

[Chairman_Kaga]

As for that smoker,

You may want to read this (http://members.tripod.com/~DanGill/Smokermods.HTML#)

[WaHoo]

Good link. Even though they're obviously talking about one of the round smokers, the firepan issue is apparently a shared problem... So I guess once I do the propane upgrade I'll have to get a smoke box so ash from the wood won't fall through the holes I'lll now drill later today...

[WaHoo]

Drilling holes didn't get me anywhere... The only time I can manage to get the temperature above 160 degrees is after adding some chunks of wood and actually keeping a flame in the pan... The only option left to try is now lump charcoal which doesn't burn as long as briquets, but tends to do so quite a bit hotter... OR finding a large ammo box or something similar and turn it into a firebox

Been looking at propane burners now and had to find out that if I spend only 10 bucks more than for a plain burner, I'll end up with a complete fryer kit, with stainless steel pot, basket, thermometer, and whatnot. Seems as if it would be possible to just attach a ring to the bottom of the smoker that fits the 15" rim of the burner - after of course cutting a hole - and then end up with a multi-purpose burner with different cooking attachments.

[Chairman_Kaga]

I bought a burner that is fitted with an iron stand so it doubles as a turkey frier.

Have to buy one about every 2 years as I have a bad tendancy to let it outside all the time and the burner will start to oxidize. Works fine but you get lots of black soot. Not good for the smoker.

[LilPuppy]

:bump: if you's wanna try something close but different try planking...( been awhile since I did this )

http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/food/story.html?id=5d339d6e-ac55-41e9-b665-190041eff19c&k=43014#

[*Seminole*]

I knew the title of this thread would raise Mike's eyebrows.

8)