Newbie - Confused.com

[thebigreaper]

Hi All
First post apart from my introduction. I want to get into low n slow cooking , I have only ever done "uk style " bbqing ( hot and fast ).
I have been looking at various smokers but reading here , do you all simply use bbqs with lids ?
Do you use the same charcoal that i have been using for years ?
I have been thinking of getting a gas smoker but do I really need one ? Will a gas bbq with lid or even charcoal one with lid do ?
Does the charcoal not burn out quickly ? ( if not, is it because the lid is down ? ).
I was thinking about gas for controlability.
Are these questions daft ?
Thanks in advance .

[RobinC]

For smoking most use either a dedicated smoker (such as Pro Q or a WSM or a home made drum smoker) or a kettle BBQ. Kettle BBQ allow you to cook with the lid on which in turn allows you to cook indirect. Indirect cooking is when the food is not positioned directly over the hot coals. This makes the BBQ act more like an oven so you can cook bigger cuts of meat. Cooking directly over hot coals is generally okay for cuts that take 20 minutes or less to cook, much more and you run the risk of burning the food.

Don't know what charcoal you currently use but the most popular is lumpwood charcoal. The important bit though is that it is plain charcoal and doesn't have anything added to it to make it light quicker. Anything called Instant Lighting is a no no. The charcoal can be made to last for hours if you use a method of lighting called the minion method. This is basically using a lot of unlit charcoal with a small bit of lit on top. Over time the other bits of charcoal light from one another. The other advantage is this helps keep the temperature lower which is favoured on low and slow books. Your average kettle BBQ or Pro Q/WSM isn't too difficult to control temperature wise.

Whilst I have cooked on gas I've never cooked low and slow on gas, so can't comment on how well that would work out.

[thebigreaper]

Thanks Robin
Leading to further questions .
is the chimney fire starter I have just read about just to get a small amount of charcoal lit so i can then place on unlit charcoal as you describe ?
What "the stall " when cooking the meat ?
Cheers

[RobinC]

Yes the chimney starter is for lighting the small amout of charcoal you need. It's a great tool, a must have one in my book.

Re the stall. As you cook meat its internal temperature rises over time. The stall is a period during the cook where the temperature seemingly stops rising or rises very slowly. Depending on the type and size of meat this can last for hours. For pork shoulder the stall normally happens around the 160 - 170f region. Newbies tend to find the stall quite worrying as they don't know whats doing on or when the food is going to be finished. If you wanted you can reduce the time a piece of meat stays in the stall by foiling it.

What's happening during the stall is a process known as evaporative cooling. Basically the meat is sweating (or rather the heat is forcing water out of the meat) which keeps its temp from rising. www.amazingribs.com have a really good explanation of what is happening during the stall.

[Tiny]

Hi,
Have not been here long either, but the folk here are great. I used to do some lower roasting on a gas grill with some success, but have abandoned it in favour of a return to charcoal. agree more controllable but less fire tastic, I am not a weber fan but their chimney starter is the best £20 you will ever spend.

The dedicated smokers like the pro Q and WSM are splendid I am sure but a little pricey for me, I have invested in a landmann tennessee offset smoker which I bagged online for £108 delivered, sure it wont last as long as its better known rivals but a good entry level best imho.


So good luck, there is bag loads to read but best just to go for it!

Cheers
Tiny

[London Irish]

Happy Birthday Tiny

[thebigreaper]

Just ordered a PRO Q EXCEL and a marinade injector.
Im soo excited , cant wait to get going . Going to look at charcoal now and order a chimney fire starter.
Got stuff for rubs already .
Any other tips or anything else I need , please shout out .

[RobinC]

Thermometers.

You want to be able to track the temp within your cooker and the temp of the meat. Most people swear by therms from Maverick such as the ET73. An instant read meat therm is also useful. The goto one tends to be the thermapen. These are expensive at £50+ but you can normally get reconditioned ones off ebay for £28 - these are just as good.. I've just done a quick check and they are on sale at the moment, link below

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Splash-Proof- ... 6rk%3D2%26

[thebigreaper]

Cheers Robin , thanks for the link , Ive ordered a thermapen.
The other probe mentioned , is that for the temp of the smoker or the temp of the meat ?

[RobinC]

Both. The ET73 has two probes - one to be positioned inside your smoker normally on the grate, the other goes in the food. Beauty of it is that you can monitor your cooker and food over wireless from the comfort of your front room - great given our washout summer.