[KitchenWench]

Now that I've got a smoker I need to learn how to use it. So, since I want to fire it up this weekend, I'd love some help figuring out what to make and how to do it right.

Here's what I've got to start with...
The smoker, charcoal starter thingy, big stainless steel bowl and an assortment of racks and hangers
Apple wood chips
Charcoal - a small bag of instant start that I doubt will actually instantly start
Lighter fluid
Pork Loin - about 3.5 lbs, frozen
Chicken breasts, not sure of the weight but I can find out - frozen

So...what's the first step with the smoker?

 

[Roll_Bones]

Finding out how it works. I tested mine several times before I put any food in there. What kind of smoker is it. Upright round bullet shaped? Horizontal offset type? Square upright box. Wood/charcoal or electric?
I was mainly looking for how well it held temperature and how much fuel did it use. But there are several rules regarding smoking that is relevant no matter the style of the smoker.

For me the most important thing is to not over smoke anything. It ruins the food. You want to see light whiffs of white smoke, not black billowing smoke exiting the chimney.
Also you do not need to see smoke through the whole cooking process. You can add a chunk of wood in intervals to avoid smoking to heavily.
In my grill I ring/snake the charcoal around one side and use 3 chunks of wood spaced apart evenly so they only burn when the charcoal gets to them. This allows me to get 3 hours of cooking time and limited smoke.
I light one end and let it burn all the way around till it is finished/burned out.
The word is not to soak your chips or your wood chunks. I haven't proved this to be the case. But I also do not soak anymore.

Fuel. I have found it to be very wasteful when using only charcoal. Especially lump charcoal. It burns twice as fast and is not a good option. Briquettes are a much better choice. For me using wood is the least expensive and burns much longer. A combination of briquettes and wood is also a good idea. I use the briquets first to get the wood started.
Horizontal offset smokers are fuel hogs as the design is flawed. This is well documented. There are hacks for this, but they are expensive.

Stay away from liquid starters. While it works, you do not want to light all your fuel at once. Wax starters are good. But a chimney starter is the only thing I use. While I never tasted lighter fluid on the food, I do expect it does have residual effects?
Also you do not need any starter with self igniting charcoal. You just do what the instructions say. Usually just light the bag. I never use instant start charcoal. I use a good brand (Kingsford) briquettes. I use charcoal for my grill and wood for my smoker.

Upright bullet style smokers have a drip pan that you fill with a liquid. It only took one time for me to remove it and never use it again. It slows down cooking time as it takes forever to get that liquid hot. By the time that liquid is at temp, your coals are already burned away. This is why I don't use this type of smoker.
But if you have one I recommend not using the bowl. I would leave it out and only use top grate.

Buy a Chimney starter. Test your smoker before you cook in it. Buy some wood chunks, chips burn away to fast and require additional chips during the cooking process.
Do not over smoke.
And if you have a bullet upright I would test with a pan full of water and then test without the pan. All the while watching the temperature in relation to how much fuel you are burning. Learn about your smoker before you start cooking.
I would smoke something inexpensive the first time. Chicken would be a good starter.

Find a forum dedicated to grilling and smoking. There is a lot to learn and this is a science.

 

[Shane R]

Take a picture of it so we can see what exactly you got. The hardest part of learning to use it is learning to control the temperature. It's very different if you've got a column vs. an offset.

Most experienced pitmasters would tell you to put that instant charcoal away for something else. That stuff is the bane of producing good flavored smoke.

 

[Wooleybooger]

Agree with a lot of what's been written already. I use a chimney starter and newspaper in the bottom for a fire, takes just a couple sheets and about 15/20 minutes maybe less. As has been said don't over smoke. Something I learned from the book "Charcuterie" is to leave the meat uncovered overnight in the frig. This allows the meat to develop a tacky surface that the smoke will adhere too. I've done this and think it helps on small pieces.

 

[Colbyt]

What Shane said! You have to control the temperature and you need a loooong slow cook.

Never done a charcoal one but I highly suspect it is much harder to control than gas or elec.

And unless you want to repeat my error pork loin is not a good smoker item. It will wind up tasting like ham as it does not have enough fat.

 

[Shane R]

What Shane said! You have to control the temperature and you need a loooong slow cook.

Never done a charcoal one but I highly suspect it is much harder to control than gas or elec.

And unless you want to repeat my error pork loin is not a good smoker item. It will wind up tasting like ham as it does not have enough fat.

I enjoy that result but ham is my favorite meat.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Agree with a lot of what's been written already. I use a chimney starter and newspaper in the bottom for a fire, takes just a couple sheets and about 15/20 minutes maybe less. As has been said don't over smoke. Something I learned from the book "Charcuterie" is to leave the meat uncovered overnight in the frig. This allows the meat to develop a tacky surface that the smoke will adhere too. I've done this and think it helps on small pieces.

Remember when we discussed "pellicle".

What Shane said! You have to control the temperature and you need a loooong slow cook.
Never done a charcoal one but I highly suspect it is much harder to control than gas or elec.
And unless you want to repeat my error pork loin is not a good smoker item. It will wind up tasting like ham as it does not have enough fat.

I'm all in on an electric smoker. It holds temp better that a traditional smoker. Requires no fuel either. I like the idea of setting the temperature and forgetting. Only thing you gotta do is add more wood chips if required.
If I were to buy a new smoker it would be an electric type.

 

[Colbyt]

I enjoy that result but ham is my favorite meat.

But good ham is easy and cheap to buy. Why pay extra and do all that work?

 

[Shane R]

But good ham is easy and cheap to buy. Why pay extra and do all that work?

Sometimes the pork loins go on sale really cheap here. Last summer someone had them around town $1.99-2.39 nearly every week. The loin is easier to slice evenly when it's finished.

 

[LeonardoDaBenz]

As said, DO NOT USE LIGHT"ING" FLUID ie starter. Only use the chimney, your taste buds will thank you for it.

In summer temps, put about a dozen briquettes in the chimney. Take 2-3 sheets of newspaper, layer them so they overlap about a third each and spread a tablespoon or so of veggie oil on the paper.

Roll the paper into a tube and stick one end in the other. Put that donut in the bottom of the chimney (so paper/grate/briq) and light the paper.

Let it sit till the briq's are gray (10-15 minutes) then put those on the briqs that are already in the charcoal ring..

I could go on but ......

 

[Wooleybooger]

As said, DO NOT USE LIGHT"ING" FLUID ie starter. Only use the chimney, your taste buds will thank you for it.

In summer temps, put about a dozen briquettes in the chimney. Take 2-3 sheets of newspaper, layer them so they overlap about a third each and spread a tablespoon or so of veggie oil on the paper.

Roll the paper into a tube and stick one end in the other. Put that donut in the bottom of the chimney (so paper/grate/briq) and light the paper.

Let it sit till the briq's are gray (10-15 minutes) then put those on the briqs that are already in the charcoal ring..

I could go on but ......

I'm lazy. I just wad up not tightly 2 or 2 1/2 sheets of newspaper. Put it in the bottom of the chimney then dump charcoal in the top until about an 1 down and light. Wad the paper too tight it won't burn completely.

 

[Shane R]

If you want a clean accelerant, use 90% isopropyl alcohol. Or the 80% hand sanitizer is okay as long as it's liquid. I bought that stuff by the 1/5th for 49 cents when all the stores were trying to liquidate it.

 

[KitchenWench]

Thank you all for replying!

It's an offset vertical model. I promise to take and post pictures a bit later.

My plan for testing it is fairly simple based on what you all have recommended. The only charcoal I've got right now is the "Instant light" kind, and since I'm not actually cooking anything I was going to use that. Besides, I think it's so old the instant light won't work.

I don't have any fruit tree logs so I was going to use some oak scraps I've got. Good or bad idea? I know different woods burn at different rates and temperatures but for learning I wouldn't want to waste any fruit woods.

Believe it or not, I've never used a chimney ao I appreciate all of your tips and tricks on how to use it.

Once I get through the learning curve I'll decide what wood to use to get what flavor.

 

[Wooleybooger]

Yeah fruit woods are good and will give a mild taste. I like fig for fish but it's hard to get unless you have fig trees. Oak is good but not red oak at least I don't like red oak.

 

[Shane R]

Oak is fine, quite popular in parts of TX. Frankly, I think it has more character than hickory. It burns fairly hot but evenly.

 

[Wooleybooger]

Here are some meat smoking forums

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Have fun KitchenWench

 

[Colbyt]

I don't have any fruit tree logs so I was going to use some oak scraps I've got. Good or bad idea? I know different woods burn at different rates and temperatures but for learning I wouldn't want to waste any fruit woods.

Can you use pellets or do you require chips?

Around here Wally World has the best prices in season. Rural King is actually the best but you may not have one of those.

 

[Roll_Bones]

As said, DO NOT USE LIGHT"ING" FLUID ie starter. Only use the chimney, your taste buds will thank you for it.

In summer temps, put about a dozen briquettes in the chimney. Take 2-3 sheets of newspaper, layer them so they overlap about a third each and spread a tablespoon or so of veggie oil on the paper.

Roll the paper into a tube and stick one end in the other. Put that donut in the bottom of the chimney (so paper/grate/briq) and light the paper.

Let it sit till the briq's are gray (10-15 minutes) then put those on the briqs that are already in the charcoal ring..

I could go on but ......

Thats how I start when I'm doing offset cooking/smoking on my grill. I have the 26" Weber kettle. I only light a few briquets in the chimney and use them on one end of the snake.
I have a squirt bottle with use cooking oil and use a little to start the paper in the chimney. Does it ever start fast! Especially if there is a breeze.
I like being able to put wood chunks spaced on the snake/ring so they only burn when the coals get to them. Cuts way down on wood chunks and ensures that the food does not get over smoked.
I started years ago using lighter fluid. Then I moved to paraffin wax starters. Now I use the chimney exclusively.

Thank you all for replying!

It's an offset vertical model. I promise to take and post pictures a bit later.

My plan for testing it is fairly simple based on what you all have recommended. The only charcoal I've got right now is the "Instant light" kind, and since I'm not actually cooking anything I was going to use that. Besides, I think it's so old the instant light won't work.

I don't have any fruit tree logs so I was going to use some oak scraps I've got. Good or bad idea? I know different woods burn at different rates and temperatures but for learning I wouldn't want to waste any fruit woods.

Believe it or not, I've never used a chimney ao I appreciate all of your tips and tricks on how to use it.

Once I get through the learning curve I'll decide what wood to use to get what flavor.

Use whatever you have for testing. But you need to use something similar to what you will use in the future to cook with. Not all charcoal is created equally. Some burns fast and others burn slower. I like Kingsford.
I would stick with a charcoal brand as it will be consistent. And you can buy wood chunks online in any type you want.
You will only need two or three per cook.
I am lucky as we have apple and peach orchards all around us. I just keep my eyes open for when they prune and when they remove them.
I also keep an eye out for trees that have fallen. I get my hickory and pecan wood this way. I find apple to be my favorite.

 

[KitchenWench]

Can you use pellets or do you require chips?

Around here Wally World has the best prices in season. Rural King is actually the best but you may not have one of those.

Not too sure. I'm guessing chips. I've got a bag of apple to start with, I just don't want to burn through them all without actually smoking something.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Not too sure. I'm guessing chips. I've got a bag of apple to start with, I just don't want to burn through them all without actually smoking something.

Don't waste them for testing. Just use the fuel of your choice. This is a science, but its not that hard.