Jump to content
Malsua

WTB Pellet Smoker

Recommended Posts

Anyone have a working Pellet Smoker they'd like to unload?  Would have to be Northish Jersey.  Not sure what range I trust driving my truck.

I could get a new one at HD or get a real Yoder or something, but figured I'd ask. 

I have smoked brisket on my propane grill but temperature control is a problem.

I'm chasing the dragon on some Brisket I had at Lockhart in Dallas last year.   I did a 5 pounder a few weeks back.  9 hour cook, smoke tube for smoke, SP rub.

It came out great, but i'm not there yet.   I won't do a stick burner just because I burn wood all winter.  It's a pain in the ass to maintain temp.

I want to put on a 14lb at 11pm, wrap roughly 7am at stall and finish with enough time it's rested for dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't have one to offload, so can't help you there. But... If you find one that is beyond a distance you're willing to travel with your truck, shoot me a PM, maybe we can work something out. Also, I've been addicted to home-made BBQ on my MAK Pellet Smoker for sometime now, and willing to answer any questions.

amazingribs.com was a wealth of info for me.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
14 minutes ago, kc17 said:

I don't have one to offload, so can't help you there. But... If you find one that is beyond a distance you're willing to travel with your truck, shoot me a PM, maybe we can work something out. Also, I've been addicted to home-made BBQ on my MAK Pellet Smoker for sometime now, and willing to answer any questions.

amazingribs.com was a wealth of info for me.

 

I'd love to have a higher end pellet smoker, I just can't justify it.    I'll end up doing a handful of briskets on it in a year and that's it.  

I smoke cheese in my propane grill...with the propane off.  Just the smoke tube.

I've smoked ribs, but my wife likes my other rib recipe which is a rack of ribs with most of a bottle of honey bbq(soaking in it basically) in a foil wrap at 275 for 2ish hours and then finish for some char on the grill.  Meat falls off the bone.    When I smoke them they fall off the bone but frankly aren't as tasty.

Brisket on the grill is good, tender and it falls apart, but I can't seem to get the bark right.   I think I need a better trim and probably a little longer at the finish end.  I  pull  when it's 196-200 and rest 45-60 min.   It's definitely better wrapped in butcher paper.  Foil over cooked it and the bark was mushy.   I think I tend to under trim and the fat doesn't render right.  

This was a couple weekends ago.  Pretty close, not quite.

brisket.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not a pellet smoker, but the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker has a lot of fans, including myself.  They're fairly inexpensive, burn charcoal, with a lump or three of smoke wood.  They will hold temp pretty well for several hours at a time, then just throw in a few more handfuls of briquettes. It comes in three sizes, I’ve got the middle one, which will smoke a whole turkey in the 12-14 lb range, or a whole medium-sized brisket.  I’m smoking baby back ribs and two kinds of wings on mine today. 

Your wife might like this rib recipe--the honey BBQ comes through in the final step, and it's one of the simplest 'competition' recipes out there.  Best Ribs in the Universe

I'm trying this recipe today; it's a little more involved.  Competition ribs

I was supposed to be attending a BBQ cooking/competition school in RI next weekend, but it just got postponed indefinitely.  Their own fascist governor prohibited all outdoor gatherings of more than 15 people, even if masks and social distancing are observed.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Briskets stay nekid on the Smoker, get wrapped for the rest period. No fancy injections or brines, basic dry rub gets applied 12-24hr before the cook, then a second lighter coating just before going in. Brisket cooks avg 15hrs for a 14 pounder. Shortest was just under five hrs for a couple of three pounder flats, longest was 19hr for 17.5# Packer. Never had a complaint.

Ribs don't get wrapped at all; they go 4-6hrs. Pre-Smoker days the wife would drag me out to Chili's when she wanted Ribs; haven't been back since.

Too bad I don't have some defrosted Ribs right now......

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, kc17 said:

Briskets stay nekid on the Smoker, get wrapped for the rest period. No fancy injections or brines, basic dry rub gets applied 12-24hr before the cook, then a second lighter coating just before going in. Brisket cooks avg 15hrs for a 14 pounder. Shortest was just under five hrs for a couple of three pounder flats, longest was 19hr for 17.5# Packer. Never had a complaint.

Ribs don't get wrapped at all; they go 4-6hrs. Pre-Smoker days the wife would drag me out to Chili's when she wanted Ribs; haven't been back since.

Too bad I don't have some defrosted Ribs right now......

 

I have done enough to know I like my briskets wrapped around the stall.   This week I watched Aaron Franklin's Masterclass on Brisket and he wraps AFTER the stall but still many hours before the cook is finished.  That was all the confirmation I needed that I was on the right path.   I wrap with butcher paper around 160 when the color is pretty maroon and fluids are coming to the surface.

He also showed how to trim and I believe that's where my biggest mistakes have been.   In my greed to use all the meat I hate trimming off bits but now that I know, there's parts that are seams off the flat and off the point that need to go(because they are neither flat nor point).  Also need to get the rough fat off, even if would take it below 1/4 inch.    Need to have that pillowy fat that's almost like butter up against the meat.    He also cooks fat side up the entire cook, I've been fat side down before wrap and fat side up, after wrap.    Not sure how much difference it makes but I'm going to try it both ways.

I don't brine or inject either.  Just mustard as a binder then salt and pepper about an hour before it goes on.

 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
52 minutes ago, Shocker said:

I don’t want to sell you mine either but Z-Grills get good reviews and Bezos will ship them to your door

 

when traeger’s patents expired it seems a lot of low cost high quality copies hit the market

You just sent me down a rat hole ;).   Now I'm looking at these things.  Pretty cheap, probably do what I need it to do.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
22 hours ago, 10X said:

Not a pellet smoker, but the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker has a lot of fans, including myself.  They're fairly inexpensive, burn charcoal, with a lump or three of smoke wood.  They will hold temp pretty well for several hours at a time, then just throw in a few more handfuls of briquettes. It comes in three sizes, I’ve got the middle one, which will smoke a whole turkey in the 12-14 lb range, or a whole medium-sized brisket.  I’m smoking baby back ribs and two kinds of wings on mine today. 

Your wife might like this rib recipe--the honey BBQ comes through in the final step, and it's one of the simplest 'competition' recipes out there.  Best Ribs in the Universe

I'm trying this recipe today; it's a little more involved.  Competition ribs

I was supposed to be attending a BBQ cooking/competition school in RI next weekend, but it just got postponed indefinitely.  Their own fascist governor prohibited all outdoor gatherings of more than 15 people, even if masks and social distancing are observed.

This! I love my WSM

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
56 minutes ago, Malsua said:

You just sent me down a rat hole ;).   Now I'm looking at these things.  Pretty cheap, probably do what I need it to do.

 

 

If you want the rabbit hole to get deeper I understand there are mods you can do to the controller boards, like add PID functionality (you definitely want that) to models that didn’t have it originally, add WiFi/bluetooth connectivity for temp probes and such. Probably rotisserie drive motors too...Whatever your heart desires

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
30 minutes ago, Shocker said:

If you want the rabbit hole to get deeper I understand there are mods you can do to the controller boards, like add PID functionality (you definitely want that) to models that didn’t have it originally, add WiFi/bluetooth connectivity for temp probes and such. Probably rotisserie drive motors too...Whatever your heart desires

So I just bought a Z-gill 7002b.   Basic black.  Arrives Tuesday.  I'll probably do a brisket next weekend.

Thanks.

As to pimping it out, I'll give that a go once I get the basic functions handled.

 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I started with a Trager Pro 575 back in May. Did 3 cooks with it. WiFi wouldn't connect and didn't get any smoke rings or much smoke flavor. Returned the Trager, Ordered a Rec Tec 590 on a Friday, had it at my door the next Thursday. 

I love this thing, can turn it on and off with my phone, monitor grill temp and two food probes. Have done brisket, pork belly, prime rib, whole chicken, chicken parts, lots of ribs, reverse sear steaks. There are a ton of videos and recipes out there.

If you do a brisket, recommend you start the night before. Full packer(14 lb) for me was a 15 hour cook, 2 hour rest. Wrapped (butcher paper) at 165. Started 11 pm the night before.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
37 minutes ago, Brisco said:

If you do a brisket, recommend you start the night before. Full packer(14 lb) for me was a 15 hour cook, 2 hour rest. Wrapped (butcher paper) at 165. Started 11 pm the night before.

That's when you really appreciate a wireless temp probe with alarm function, like this one.

smoker temp probe

Monitor both smoker and food temperature from up to 300' away, with the ability to set high or low temperature alarms.

I've used mine on overnight smokes to wake me up when the smoker temp falls below a preset level.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I use a Thermpro TP-20 in conjunction with the phone app in case the WiFi goes down for some reason and I don't have to look at the phone the whole cook. The high and low temp alarms really give extra piece of mind

12 minutes ago, 10X said:

That's when you really appreciate a wireless temp probe with alarm function, like this one.

smoker temp probe

Monitor both smoker and food temperature from up to 300' away, with the ability to set high or low temperature alarms.

I've used mine on overnight smokes to wake me up when the smoker temp falls below a preset level.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have the original Fireboard. Wi-fi or blue-tooth based on the range you need. I can get alerts via SMS/eMail and/or the App. Alerts for each probe individually, High/Low and/or loss of communication. Monitor on phone or browser. Cloud connected, so I can monitor from anyplace I have internet access. Can also store log of my cooks for future reference, I believe they recently added the ability to add photos as well. I don't rely on that feature much; I use OneNote for my logs.

Support is very good. American company, Made in America; possibly/probably with sourced parts.

https://www.fireboard.com/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Brisco said:

I started with a Trager Pro 575 back in May. Did 3 cooks with it. WiFi wouldn't connect and didn't get any smoke rings or much smoke flavor. Returned the Trager, Ordered a Rec Tec 590 on a Friday, had it at my door the next Thursday. 

I love this thing, can turn it on and off with my phone, monitor grill temp and two food probes. Have done brisket, pork belly, prime rib, whole chicken, chicken parts, lots of ribs, reverse sear steaks. There are a ton of videos and recipes out there.

If you do a brisket, recommend you start the night before. Full packer(14 lb) for me was a 15 hour cook, 2 hour rest. Wrapped (butcher paper) at 165. Started 11 pm the night before.

My main goal is a central Texas brisket.   What you described is pretty much how I intend to cook a full packer when I get this.   On the smoker at 11pm, wrap 160ish, probably 8 hours later.   My last 5lb was 9 hours on my Weber gas(with addtion of smoke tube) and came out pretty good.   I do have some temp probes, but I'll probably buy a couple wireless ones now. 

I will explore some chicken and such, I'm used to doing chicken on the Weber Genesis II, so I'll have to look into some cooks.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

WSM are nice, pellet smokers are nice. I use a Pit Barrel Cooker. I love this tool. $300 shipped to your door. 
 

The technique is slightly different than a traditional smoker, but my results have been excellent. 
 

Regardless of what smoker, or technique you use, a GOOD, instant read thermometer (and I also have a remote thermometer to measure brisket temperature, and smoker temperature), is a MUST!! 

  • Agree 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...