What to cook on new smoker

YotaOnRocks

YotaOnRocks

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Location
Madison
Wife got me a Rec Tec trailblazer for Christmas.

Never had a smoker before so any tips or must do recipes?
 
Good and easy and doesn’t take all day: chicken thighs and sausages.

Then move on to a Boston butt.

Google will be your friend for good receipes and times.
 
Boston butt will take a while but it’s easy.

Ribs with the 3-2-1 method are pretty simple and faster than the butt.

I’ve been using mine to reverse sear 1.5-2” thick ribeyes lately. It’s awesome. Only downside is you’ll never be able to enjoy one in a restaurant again.

Biggest thing I found that helps me cooking in the smoker is a WiFi thermometer. I bought a FireBoard. 6 inputs that you can set alerts on (min/max temp). I can be out in the shop or even across town and keep an eye on whatever is in the smoker. It’s especially nice on long cooks since I can set a min temp for the smoker so I know if it’s run out of pellets.
 
Boston butt is super easy and I find hard to mess up. Just get it to internal temp of 195-205*. I like to brine mine at least overnight but 24-36 hrs if possible. Below are a couple links for what I use for the brine and the rub I make up. It usually takes me about 8 hrs at 225-250*. About 5 hours in I will put it in a foil pan and tent w/ aluminum foil which speeds up the cook a bit and helps to avoid a stall.

Brine - Apple Juice Brined Pulled Pork Recipe | Traeger Wood Fired Grills
Rub - Bob's Pulled Pork on a Smoker Recipe

I also like doing whole chickens a lot! Again, I like to brine overnight but 24 hrs if possible. Brine is pretty easy: 1 gal of water to 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup kosher salt. Rinse w/ cold water after the brine and pat dry w/ paper towel. Coat w/ olive oil and paprika (gives it a nice golden brown color). I will either shove a 2/3's full can of Busch Light up its ass or mix up a concoction of apple, orange, lemon and garlic cloves coated in olive oil and then pack it in the cavity. Sit the bird upright and smoke for about 3 hours until internal temp (I like to test in the leg...I think the dark meat takes a little longer to get up to temp) is 165*. These mfrs are GOOD!

I did a whole spiral ham yesterday which is my wife's favorite. Basically take a bottle of dijon mustard and coat it all over (I'm talking inside each spiral cut piece and the outside). I make up a 1:1 mixture of brown sugar and white sugar and basically sprinkle everywhere I've put the mustard and finally I'll take a spray bottle and squirt w/ apple juice. Place on the grates for 2 hours at 225*. Then I put in aluminum pan, spray down again w/ apple juice and tent w/ aluminum foil for 1 hour. Finally, I'll take the foil tent off (and leave in foil pan), spray down a final time and sprinkle with the 1:1 sugar mix on the outside and leave for 30 mins to 1 hour. Get internal temp to at least 145* and you're good to go.

As @BigClay mentioned, Google will be your friend and you will learn something nearly every time you put something on. You'll also find that 225-250* is the magic number for just about everything and you will use brown sugar and kosher salt in a lot of recipes too. I've found that cherry wood is my favorite and I use it for everything. Has a nice mild sweet smoky flavor to it. Best advice I can give is just experiment w/ different things (from recipes, to the wood, etc.) and just enjoy the shit out of it.
 
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I do chicken alot. I prefer to spatchcock it vs beercan style. Whole chicken in ~1.5hrs.

Smoke it at 250 for an hr, then crank it to 315 to finish and crisp the skin.

Butt is good, as mentioned. I have cooked them for slicing vs pulling lately. Takes alot of time off and is great for sandwiches.

I follow BBQ Pit Boys & Hey Grill Hey on fbook. They have some good videos. Pretty much anything that can be grilled or baked/cooked in the oven can be done on the smoker; many times better.
 
Here's a pic of the new grill during burn in this am. All my grill stuff will be going under the lean too off the side of the shop once I finish the patio.

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