Hello there, I am new to using my Cookshack smoker and could really use some advice from the seasoned veterans in this community. I recently bought a Cookshack SM025; and I am planning to smoke a beef brisket this weekend for a family gathering. I have had some decent success with ribs and chicken; but brisket feels like a whole new challenge; and I want to make sure I get it just right. When choosing a brisket, do you have any recommendations on the ideal size or cut for smoking in the...Read More...

I have 2 iq5's that i am fixing for a friend that have been in storage for a while. Hank starts up and i can start a cook program, all the fans are going, 240v is going to the ignitor but thats not heating utp. But i have replaced lots of ignitors before, and it is getting 240v. But the auger motor is not moving and i cannot measure any voltage accross it. Can anyone suggest the first place to start? These are my first IQ5's to fix. The 2nd iq5 Patsy she starts, and i can start a program,...Read More...

I wanna know in your opinion what smoker and or brand would be best for all year round use. We live in the norther part of the US and get plenty snow and wanted to continue to smoke during those snowy months.Read More...

Let's get this forum moving again! I'll start... Picked up a nice rack of short ribs at the local store. On sale for $3.99/lb. Gave them a good coat of Tatonka Dust & 407BBQ rub. Into the FEC they go. Two hours at 200 for some extra smoke then up to 250 for the remainder of the smoke. But they were taking a while, so near the end I cranked it up to 350 to get them done. Damn things took close to nine hours. Longest they've ever taken. Usually it's six to seven hours. Never know which way...Read More...

Had done beef ribs a couple times with variable results. Impulse buy at grocery store for some good looking beef back ribs. Came home to read up on the forum and found some folks discouraged beef back ribs due to lack of meat and difficulty removing the membrane. Membrane was difficult to get started but came off relatively easy once it was started. Rubbed with Mccormicks garlic pepper and Butchers premium rub. Same basic combo I use for brisket. Into cold AQ smoker set to 225 with hickory...Read More...

I'm seeing St. Louis ribs being offered in weight categories such as 1.5Lb, 2Lb, 2.5Lb, 3Lb and3.5Lb. I've always thought 2.5Lb was pretty much normal. What would you choose and why? TNX, mmRead More...

Anybody built or had built an outdoor kitchen around a pg500? I'm searching for ideas. Thanks!Read More...

Got a PM asking about Wet Aging and so thought I'd bring it here to discuss as we've got a thread going for Dry Aging. Aging ONLY applies to beef, not chicken or pork Wet aging has really grown in use by Restaurants over the last 10 years for one reason; less waste. WHY? Aging is supposed to intensify the flavors SHOULD I AGE? Ah, good question grasshopper. I find, that the more complicated the recipe the less important it is. If you're going to cover the beef in complicated rubs and sauces...Read More...

I've got to brine a few turkeys next month, I'm thinking the number will turn out to be 150-200 14-15lb'ers. My questions are: 1)What is the minimum time in the brine to get acceptable results? Will 12 hours be enough, or do I need to plan on 24 or more? It would be great if I could more or less match the brine time to the cook time so I can push these turkeys out quick, but quality is my priority. 2)Can I reuse the brine? I'm expecting to do 3-4 batches of turkeys back to back. I could add...Read More...

I’m doing a big cook for the local community center this weekend. Serving 15 butts and 20 racks of St Louis ribs Saturday and again on Sunday. Planning on 5 hours @ 250 for ribs and 12 hours at 250 for butts. Cook times seem reasonable? I’ve got 4 rib racks and planned on 5 ribs per rack. Reasonable? Never used the racks before. I owned a fec100 and are used to rotating the meat. However I bought the fec120 to keep from rotating. Is rotating necessary? Any pointers greatly appreciated ThanksRead More...

I was watching the video below and nooticed that the chicken was put in the smoker without preheat. Is this correct? Doesnt this expose the meat to the "early" smoke which Ive read is more harsh in flavor. I've preheated for all my smokes so far. Thanks for any thoughts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDovya1Ixs0Read More...

Formerly used a Big Chief for smoking brined salmon. At 65F ambient, interior temperature would max out at 165F. Technique was to use three pans of alder chips (2 hours smoking) and then 3-4 hours with no smoke to finish drying process. Perfect results. Have never been able to duplicate this in my SM066. Temperature is hit in about 40 minutes and smoke stops. Results at 5-6 hours has same doneness and little smoke flavor. I've tried the cold smoke baffle (no ice) and get about an hour of...Read More...

How many butts can you cook in a FEC120? I need to cook 16 butts 2 nights in a row.Read More...

First time for Pork Butt on a CS. What do most people inject their Pork Butt with? Or do you inject at all? Thanks from a new comer. Don BRead More...

Ok, so I thought I did enough homework to justify buying the FEPG over a Traeger Crapco roadshow Chinesium special. Well I am at about 10 cooks in. the FEPG is a good grill above 300 degrees. I can't get it to go low and slow, e.g 170-180. Tried the factory set 10-50, and changed that to 10-30. Got 6o degree overshoots on 170 degress turned some $15/lb wild salmon into Jerky. Low and slow is important to me..... Any suggestions are appreciated. The other problem I have is bridging, Running...Read More...

My 18 year old sm009 that I bought in 2005 just died. Plugged it in, turned it on, and no heat. I would like to try to get it running again, but I'm not sure where to start. Does anyone have any advice?Read More...

Has anyone successfully upgraded one of their electric smokers to use an off the shelf available Thermostat controller. I love that I can go as low as 100 deg to do things like jerky etc. But i would also like to go as high as 500 deg so i can use this to bake with. Having the ability to take a pie or any type of baked goods to the next level with some smoke flavor is what I'm looking to achieve. would the heating element need to be upgraded as well?Read More...

I have read several posts about cleaning using the find feature and I see most people suggest cleaning with Greased Lighting. I have been using some Simple Green on the exterior just to get my finger smudge marks off and was wondering would this stuff work inside? I keep a 1 part to 10 part water solution in a spray bottle and it works wonders on the outside. I am 8 smokes in on my new smokette and have only wiped the inside down with paper towels. I have washed the racks every time but...Read More...

I've been playing around with the carnivore diet for about 13 months. It's been pretty good just eating beef, butter, bacon, eggs, and salt. I've dropped 42 pounds and still have a few more to go. In my last post, I took ground beef, eggs, and butter and blended them into a batter and cooked them like pancakes. Very delicious. Tonight, I made carnivore bread. It consist of eggs, egg white powder, gelatin, baking soda, yeast, and heavy cream. It is quite shocking the end results. The bottom...Read More...

I hope this doesn't get me in trouble or banned. ThermoWorks just announced a new product that looks really good. This is a wireless leave in temperature probe. This whole system can run up to 50+ probes on one receiver. You can take a look at them here: RFX Wireless (thermoworks.com) .Read More...

I’ve owned an FEC 750 for several years. It’s been flawless. I went to turn it on this weekend and it wouldn’t get hot. Opened the firebox to see what was going on, and discovered there were no pellets in the fire pot. Come to find out the augers weren’t getting power. No, they’re not jammed with wet pellets. Yes the fans, igniters, and rotisserie motor is working fine. I called cook shack and was told how to reset the IQ5 board. Still no power to the augers. There’s an LED panel on the...Read More...

Humor me by listening to my long tale of woe. I started smoking sausage severl years ago with a WSM - could not learn to control temperature, and smoking sausage was a failure. Purchased a MES and experienced the same overshoot of temperatures and fat out sausages. Gave up, but kept my Weber for grilling. Purchased a RecTeq RT-1250 pellet grill, and it works quite well for low-and-slow cooking, but the lowest temperature setting is 180℉. Too hot for sausage. Now I have a slightly used...Read More...

<accidentally deleted my prior post... so reposting here!> Hi everyone! I've read through every single forum post on baby back ribs and the general consensus seems to be to smoke at either 225F (will take around 4-6 hours) or 250F (will take around 3-5.5 hours) with 2-3 oz wood. Has anyone experimented with both temps, and which did you prefer & why? Also, in case it's helpful for those looking for baby back guidance I've copy and pasted my notes from all of the various members on...Read More...

I decided to have BBE tonight for dinner. I cooked 1 lb. of 80/20 ground beef, 7 eggs, and and about 1/2 stick of butter. I cooked this at 375 degrees per side for 4 minutes. Look how they turned out:Read More...

There has been a spate of inappropriate posts. Some have been adult oriented and resulted in an immediate ban. Some links are just not remotely related to bbq/smoking . I will delete a link on the first occurance and/or ban the poster for plagiarism.. A repeat foreign language link, not to mention gaming and other non bbq/smoking links will result in a ban. If someone wants to post about a piece of related gear - grinder, stuffer, knife for prep and slicing, experience with vacuum sealing...Read More...

I decided to try my first batch of elk/pork summer sauge for some Christmas appetizers. Used Cabelas mix but cut it in half just in case. First step started at 10:30 with door ajar and temp hovered around 90-110 deg. After 1.5 hours my casings were tacky so I added wood and shut the door temp set at 140(lowest setting on smokette). Increased temp every two hours by 10 degree increments. Hit 180 and left alone waiting on the internal to reach 160. Checked temp every two hours all night long...Read More...

Hi everyone, Andrew Hayes here. (professional chef, Brisbane Australia) FEC240(2022) Hello and thank you for this wonderful forum. i have been looking for an overnight brisket method that was suitable for our establishment(lunch times only). and i couldn't find a suitable method on the forum(one that starts their meat just after lunch 3pm ready for next lunch service), so i have spent the last 5 months getting this right and ill post it here. This is a wrap, or no wrap method and the oven...Read More...

In light of the recent posts I decided to share a recent success. I noticed Costco always has whole and sliced pork bellies. I have used the whole ones for bacon but decided to pick up a sliced belly package. I spread them out and dusted both sides of them with the "Right Stuff" from Texas BBQ rub. Straight into a 225 degree smoker on frog mats for 2.5 hours. I never intended on eating them for that night's dinner. I did snack on one and it was delicious. No I had plans for the next night. I...Read More...

Hi all, I had a good stash of Oak Ridge BBQ Black Ops Brisket Rub before they went belly up. Now I'm out. I'm looking for another good commercial brisket rub as a stand-alone on a whole packer (one in the SM-066 tonight). Not very spicy, but rich-tasting and contributing to a nice-flavored bark. All suggestions welcomed!Read More...

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Anybody bought one of these yet? I would love to see one in person.Read More...

Hi Guys, new member here. I’ve been smoking for a long time on log burner smokers and recently had an opportunity to work on a FEC120. I was pleased with the results and ease of use. I found a used FEC240 for $5000. It seems pretty clean. Build in 2013. Tha question is - is it worth it or should I save for a new one? Also if I buy used what is the most expensive part to replace? TIARead More...

Just used brand new new cooker for the first time. After some time the thermostat box on top of cooker starts to say HOT. I'm thinking-yes, it is hot. IT'S AN OVEN. Then, unbeknownst to me, the cooker shut itself down at some point and my cook was ruined. Super disappointed. This is an expensive piece of kit. I had very high hopes for it. Now it’s basically an expensive and oily piece of scrap metal.Read More...

Greetings fellow CookShackers. I know the SM066 has a hold feature BUT it is only for six hours, and I know that I can set the temp to 145 or 150 and walk away as well. I have been searching far and wide on the internet for holding oven ideas without dropping 4500 bucks on a real holding oven. My plan is to hold briskets at 150 degrees for at least 24 hours prior to serving. I am doing brisket over the Memorial Day weekend. In the spirit of American exceptionalism, I discovered a Canadian...Read More...

Are these controller on/off or PID controlled? thanksRead More...

Anyone have a recipe for making some? Going through the freezer and found one package of ground venison I have left. Figure I'll need to add some fat to them. I think they would be pretty dry otherwise. Beef or pork fat? I've used the ground venison for chili & "Bambi Helper" before, both of which are very good BTW. But thought I'd try some burgers this time around.Read More...

First off let me assure you that I plan on calling Cookshack on this but I would like to know if this is common. I did a 12 hour cook on my FEC-100 at 224 degrees until the meat hit a target temp. I then dropped the cook temp to 140 on the IQ4 controller. There it stayed within several degrees of 140 until I turned it off after 2 hours. I pulled the meat and shut the door for the unit to cool. Coming out 3 hours later I noticed smoke coming out of the chimney. (An elbow and 5 feet of...Read More...

LEM has a one time offer of 30% off and free shipping. Use promo: JUNENP24 at checkout . Offer ends Friday, June 14, 2024, at 11:59pm EDT. This is a good deal if you need more stuff.Read More...

From the America's Test Kitchen 2019 episode "Chicken & Biscuits" comes this "Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce" recipe: 1-1/2 cups ketchup 1/4 cup molasses 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 Tablespoon hot sauce 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper Combine all ingredients. No heating/cooking/reduction required.Read More...

New owner of a used (old) SMO25 smoker and am wondering which produces better/more smoke? Any restrictions concerning chips? Best procedure? Thanks for your advice.Read More...

I need to replace my keypad on my fec100 what is the best way to do thisRead More...

I have am Amerique which was rewired. When I set the time and temperature, the set time starts to count down while the unit is getting up to my set cooking temp. For some reason I thought that the timer doesn't count down until the set temperature is first reached. Am I right?Read More...

I am a new owner of a used SMO25 smoker that is in real need of a deep cleaning. When the last time (if ever) the smoker was cleaned is unknown. I've read the Owner's Manual, the cleaning procedure does not provide much information. Would like to the recommended cleaning compounds/materials to use, and the chemicals/compounds NOT to use. Tips and suggestions for this newby welcome!!Read More...

I have a 2020 Cookshack FEC120 that I’m selling as I haven’t used it more than 15 times, I had it upgraded to all stainless racks that is for sale for $6000. Located in Vermont. Thanks BuzzRead More...

I smoked 5.5-pound pork belly on Sunday (05-28-23). I had family in town for my daughter’s high school graduation. I used my 22-inch Webber grill (set up with Slow N Sear and Fireboard Pro 2). Cook time was right at 11 hours. The Fireboard held the grill temp at 225 degrees almost perfectly the entire time. It was good, and it was even better the next day. I did not use my SM066 because it was holding a 20-pound brisket at 150 degrees. I had a few leftovers. They were refrigerated and warmed...Read More...

Has anyone tried to cook corn on the cob in the smoker? Would seem to me the temp (225) is about the same as boiling water so the time and cook should be about the same. Husk on or off? I didn't find anything with a search but I intend to try it. Think I will preheat the smoker and place the corn in a shallow pan with a little water in the bottom to keep it moist. Should be interesting.Read More...

has anyone used one of these to power up their fec? any problems? from what i understand you can attach another battery for longer life or you can attach a solar panel to mind the battery. http://www.amazon.com/Duracell...id=1260683624&sr=1-1Read More...

Recently Upgraded my FEC100 to IQ5 controller. Nothing wrong with the IQ4. Anyone interested or in need of an IQ4 let me know.Read More...

the biggest thing i worry about is health insurance. or the lack thereof.. we have chatted with a few different companies, but none of them were even close to being affordable. if there are any insurance tycoons out there reading this, take notes. there are thousands of us out there, small mom and pop places that cant afford hundreds per month for health insurance. when i was managing big corporate, i was only paying 50 a month for it. somehow, we should all get together, like a union of...Read More...

I’ve had the smoker for a long time and it’s always performed well. I can’t say where you set the dial is what you get, but you can fiddle with it and get it dialed in. I have,not used it in awhile but broke it out today for some ribs. I set the dial at 225. Within 1/2 hour my temp probe went of at my max set temp of 260. I turned it down to 200. The temp quickly dropped until it was below 200. So I turned it up to just below 225. Again it jumped up over 250. Is this a dial problem or a...Read More...