Whats on the Grill or Smoker?

[Genius]

I'm gunna use some fresh cut cherry and dried apple wood cause my smoker heat source is wood. soon for a pork shoulder and pork bellies are on the smoking roster

I have a lot of cherry on our property so needless to say it's my primary smoking wood. I normally season it for a year though before I use it

 

[bikemike]

Running the smoker to get it clean, seasoned and figure out the apple to fresh cherry ratio

 

[Genius]

Running the smoker to get it clean, seasoned and figure out the apple to fresh cherry ratio

I usually do a 50:50 mix when I use apple with cherry

 

[huskihl]

I slacked and didn't get a pic of the smoked pheasants.
The recipe I got from @Drptrch was very similar to what I used, but not all ingredients were available.
When I make a fish brine, I get enough water to cover what I'm brining. I add canning salt, mixing it up each time, until an egg floats. I didn't measure the water, but let's call it a gallon.

1 gallon of water
Enough canning salt to float an egg (about 1 cup)
1.5 cups of white sugar
.5 cup of brown sugar
.5 cup of honey (because I had a gallon and would last us 10 years)
2 TBS sage
2 TBS rosemary
2 TBS thyme
3 TBS lemon juice
3 TBS Tony Sacheries Cajun seasoning (because I use it in everything I smoke)
I had 14 skinned pheasants. Overcook them and they'll be dry and rubbery.
I'd smoke it at 200-225 for 2-4 hours or until the juices run clear, depending on how many birds you have.

I'm gonna do chickens with the same recipe. I'll report back...

 

[USMC615]

Here's one for ya...hit the breakroom in the hangar to get a soda at afternoon break today. Buddy of mine is pinning up a couple of things for sale on one of the big cork boards. One of them is a Char-Broil Big Easy TRU Infrared, oil-less turkey cooker...will cook up to a 16-lb turkey. Asked him how much, he said $50, he already had one and won it in a raffle. Make a long story short...a couple of buddies of mine have one and they cook a turkey or two whole chickens, with the pull-out basket system it has, pretty good. Asked if it was new, he said still in the taped box. Pulled out my wallet and had two $20's and three $1's...he said gimmee $40 and it's yours. I know the cooker alone at Academy and other places is $80 right now, if you get it with the 20-22 piece accessory kit (rib holders/8-skewer set/leg and wing racks/etc, etc, it gets right at $100 or a little over). After we made the deal he told me this one came with the accessory kit as well. The accessories are kinda gimmicky but they do work...probably won't use them a whole lot. You can also remove the inside stainless liner and turkey basket and drop a 30-qt pot in it for steaming King and Snow crab legs, doing low country boils, etc.

I'll hook a cylinder up to it, wipe the guts down with vegetable oil and season it tomorrow after work. Here's my $40, brand new LP cooker investment after putting it together this evening...

 

[amberg]

Here's one for ya...hit the breakroom in the hangar to get a soda at afternoon break today. Buddy of mine is pinning up a couple of things for sale on one of the big cork boards. One of them is a Char-Broil Big Easy TRU Infrared, oil-less turkey cooker...will cook up to a 16-lb turkey. Asked him how much, he said $50, he already had one and won it in a raffle. Make a long story short...a couple of buddies of mine have one and they cook a turkey or two whole chickens, with the pull-out basket system it has, pretty good. Asked if it was new, he said still in the taped box. Pulled out my wallet and had two $20's and three $1's...he said gimmee $40 and it's yours. I know the cooker alone at Academy and other places is $80 right now, if you get it with the 20-22 piece accessory kit (rib holders/8-skewer set/leg and wing racks/etc, etc, it gets right at $100 or a little over). After we made the deal he told me this one came with the accessory kit as well. The accessories are kinda gimmicky but they do work...probably won't use them a whole lot. You can also remove the inside stainless liner and turkey basket and drop a 30-qt pot in it for steaming King and Snow crab legs, doing low country boils, etc.

I'll hook a cylinder up to it, wipe the guts down with vegetable oil and season it tomorrow after work. Here's my $40, brand new LP cooker investment after putting it together this evening...
View attachment 41094

Could not happen to a better person. More pictures of it in use. ( crabs will do ) LOL Or anything!!

 

[srb08]

Here's one for ya...hit the breakroom in the hangar to get a soda at afternoon break today. Buddy of mine is pinning up a couple of things for sale on one of the big cork boards. One of them is a Char-Broil Big Easy TRU Infrared, oil-less turkey cooker...will cook up to a 16-lb turkey. Asked him how much, he said $50, he already had one and won it in a raffle. Make a long story short...a couple of buddies of mine have one and they cook a turkey or two whole chickens, with the pull-out basket system it has, pretty good. Asked if it was new, he said still in the taped box. Pulled out my wallet and had two $20's and three $1's...he said gimmee $40 and it's yours. I know the cooker alone at Academy and other places is $80 right now, if you get it with the 20-22 piece accessory kit (rib holders/8-skewer set/leg and wing racks/etc, etc, it gets right at $100 or a little over). After we made the deal he told me this one came with the accessory kit as well. The accessories are kinda gimmicky but they do work...probably won't use them a whole lot. You can also remove the inside stainless liner and turkey basket and drop a 30-qt pot in it for steaming King and Snow crab legs, doing low country boils, etc.

I'll hook a cylinder up to it, wipe the guts down with vegetable oil and season it tomorrow after work. Here's my $40, brand new LP cooker investment after putting it together this evening...
View attachment 41094

Be sure to post your thought after using it. I've seen those but was skeptical.

 

[USMC615]

Be sure to post your thought after using it. I've seen those but was skeptical.

I've had turkey off of 'em from friends of mine who have them...pretty damn good bird...great crispy skin and just as moist as they can be on the inside. I've always dumped gallons of peanut oil and deep fried turkeys...might be time to give this thing a try.

 

[USMC615]

The inside cooking chamber has to obviously be seasoned. I washed it out, then hit it with vegeatable oil with the 'grain' of the stainless, wiped it in pretty good, every single inch. Starts off raw stainless look...you're looking for a good bronze or dark brown color as it seasons with the heat. I think I got it...he's ready for his first show. Might try a little something this wknd, see how it wants to act.

 

[srb08]

I've had turkey off of 'em from friends of mine who have them...pretty damn good bird...great crispy skin and just as moist as they can be on the inside. I've always dumped gallons of peanut oil and deep fried turkeys...might be time to give this thing a try.

I hear ya. Peanut oil ain't cheap.
I might have to pick one up and try it.

My wife bought an oil less hot air fryer. It does a decent job but not worth the effort, clean up sucks, or expense. I was afraid the infrared cooker might be the same deal.

 

[srb08]

The inside cooking chamber has to obviously be seasoned. I washed it out, then hit it with vegeatable oil with the 'grain' of the stainless, wiped it in pretty good, every single inch. Starts off raw stainless look...you're looking for a good bronze or dark brown color as it seasons with the heat. I think I got it...he's ready for his first show. Might try a little something this wknd, see how it wants to act.
View attachment 41218
View attachment 41219

That looks like it might be just the ticket for cooking a Pork Loin stuffed with Andouille sausage. I generally do them in the Turkey fryer but the infrared unit looks like it might work better.

 

[USMC615]

Here's a shot of the 'expanded metal' top for the cooker...about a 1/4" mesh. You don't get a solid cover with this thing. The idea is to put the mesh top on in the last 15 mins or so, to give the turkey or chickens, etc a golden brown, crispy outer crust. The mesh top reflects the Infrared heat back into the heat chamber, while obviously a heap of heat esacapes. Seems to me like it works...read the reviews online. I may give this thing a try this Sun...gotta work this Sat. We'll see how it works.

 

[srb08]

Here's a shot of the 'expanded metal' top for the cooker...about a 1/4" mesh. You don't get a solid cover with this thing. The idea is to put the mesh top on in the last 15 mins or so, to give the turkey or chickens, etc a golden brown, crispy outer crust. The mesh top reflects the Infrared heat back into the heat chamber, while obviously a heap of heat esacapes. Seems to me like it works...read the reviews online. I may give this thing a try this Sun...gotta work this Sat. We'll see how it works.
View attachment 41229

I read the reviews. Seems like there's not much, not to like.
I look forward to your impression, after using it.

 

[USMC615]

If I don't pick up a pretty small turkey to give it a test run, I'll get a couple of whole chickens to give it a test run. I got a secondary basket that hangs onto the original upper wire turkey basket to allow two whole chickens to cook...one at the bottom of the turkey basket, one suspended above with the additional hanger basket. Pic to follow with the secondary hanging basket. Looks like it'll be plenty of room for two whole chickens.

 

[USMC615]

Here's the secondary hanging basket for the top chicken...probably looks like a clusterfuck but follow the wire as best you can...

 

[USMC615]

Think I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a big LP smoker. Looking at the Smoke Hollow 44" smoker. Can get it at Sam's Club for $280. It gets damn good reviews for the most part. I'll Nomex the door seal to curb the smoke leak around the door if I have to. I've read reviews and looked at everything on the planet til I'm blue in the face. Not interested in no $500-800 Traeger pellet or anything like that. If anyone has a Smoke Hollow, let me know how it's a smoking for ya. Would appreciate some feedback....this will be my Christmas present to myself.

 

[amberg]

That looks like it might be just the ticket for cooking a Pork Loin stuffed with Andouille sausage. I generally do them in the Turkey fryer but the infrared unit looks like it might work better.

( Andouille sausage,) More info. please.

 

[SOS Ridgerider]

Think I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a big LP smoker. Looking at the Smoke Hollow 44" smoker. Can get it at Sam's Club for $280. It gets damn good reviews for the most part. I'll Nomex the door seal to curb the smoke leak around the door if I have to. I've read reviews and looked at everything on the planet til I'm blue in the face. Not interested in no $500-800 Traeger pellet or anything like that. If anyone has a Smoke Hollow, let me know how it's a smoking for ya. Would appreciate some feedback....this will be my Christmas present to myself.

I replaced my big wood smoker for an LP unit this fall. Much smaller than the Smoke Hollow 44", though. I ended up with a Camp Chef 24", and couldn't be happier. Temps go as low as 160 degrees, and easy to to keep steady. Im sure you've come across amazingribs.com , which is a fantastic resource for this stuff.

 

[Genius]

Think I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a big LP smoker. Looking at the Smoke Hollow 44" smoker. Can get it at Sam's Club for $280. It gets damn good reviews for the most part. I'll Nomex the door seal to curb the smoke leak around the door if I have to. I've read reviews and looked at everything on the planet til I'm blue in the face. Not interested in no $500-800 Traeger pellet or anything like that. If anyone has a Smoke Hollow, let me know how it's a smoking for ya. Would appreciate some feedback....this will be my Christmas present to myself.

I'm not sure on the size of my lp smoker, it maybe a 24" one give or take a few inches. It works good, I just prefer my smoker with a side fire box where I can use whole logs.

Granted mine is smaller, but when it sits on low it sings along at 200. A buddy of mine has one of the big ones that you are looking at and I'm pretty sure both his and mine use the same burner. He has to keep his on high just to hit 225, he can't get any higher temps than that.


With those the first thing you want to do is throw the box where you put the wood chips in away. Find a steel pan that is large enough to sit on the shelf above the burner. The chip pan that comes with them is way to small, you'll need to feed chips to it every hour or so.

 

[srb08]

Think I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a big LP smoker. Looking at the Smoke Hollow 44" smoker. Can get it at Sam's Club for $280. It gets damn good reviews for the most part. I'll Nomex the door seal to curb the smoke leak around the door if I have to. I've read reviews and looked at everything on the planet til I'm blue in the face. Not interested in no $500-800 Traeger pellet or anything like that. If anyone has a Smoke Hollow, let me know how it's a smoking for ya. Would appreciate some feedback....this will be my Christmas present to myself.

My youngest son has a Smoke Hollow 44". He likes it a lot but did the same mod to the door that you're talking about. He researches stuff to death and that's what he ended up with. He's in The AF, stationed at Hurlburt. He uses his nearly every weekend.
I've had two cabinet smokers from from a little company in the Ozarks, that's no longer in business. My last one finally rusted out, after 15 years. I'm going to buy a Weston. I've had excellent results with the cabinet smokers. The only thing I change is the thermometer in the door. I replace the cheap ones with a good quality unit. Once I get the cabinet where I want it, there's nothing to do but wait.