Todd,that was a great post,and a welcome one.
A number of us on here try to give hints that may be helpful,when someone has cooked several of something,and can't achieve an edible product.
Very few of our suggestions are intended to be THE steps in the cooking process.
As Todd says,"open door,put meat in,cook until you hit an internal temp,open door and check meat.
IF....there is a problem,make a small adjustment,and record the results.
As Todd says,after a few attempts the cooker usually handles our problems.
Cooks that have helped me,Smokin' included,stress learn how the cooker works,and how to basically cook the product.
If there is a problem,adjust.
If that doesn't solve the problem,ask the forum,and see if someone has a thought.
Usually the more ingredients,and more tips you use,the weaker your product.
We all stress reading the forum,before starting,and many questions will be answered.
We all want each cook to be great,so it is human to try all the tricks-at once.
I guess maybe we should stress more reading Smokin's 101 s,and then just cook something.
Wait until there is a problem,before trying all the tricks.
Once again-great post.
I agree. Very good post. Positive. Onwards and upwards !
Thanks for the kind words.
I thought about it and the only problem a newbie is likely to make that would result in a bad result is if they had a bad insertion point for the therm probe. I know it takes about 9 hours to cook 2 8# butts in my smoker, so if the beeper goes off 4 hours into the cook, I know something is wrong and I go down and re-insert the probe. Usually I'll watch the temp drop from 190* to 160* or so and then I go back to bed. Someone that didn't know better or didn't remember how long their last butts took to get done might pull the meat out of the smoker and have themselves some really bad eating. Then they post and say their butt which cooked to 195* was raw and tough and they don't understand why. But beyond that, I can't think of a problem that is likely to crop up and destroy someone's food. These cookers are absolutely reliable and foolproof in my opinion.
I thought about it and the only problem a newbie is likely to make that would result in a bad result is if they had a bad insertion point for the therm probe. I know it takes about 9 hours to cook 2 8# butts in my smoker, so if the beeper goes off 4 hours into the cook, I know something is wrong and I go down and re-insert the probe. Usually I'll watch the temp drop from 190* to 160* or so and then I go back to bed. Someone that didn't know better or didn't remember how long their last butts took to get done might pull the meat out of the smoker and have themselves some really bad eating. Then they post and say their butt which cooked to 195* was raw and tough and they don't understand why. But beyond that, I can't think of a problem that is likely to crop up and destroy someone's food. These cookers are absolutely reliable and foolproof in my opinion.
Hey you ask me and Tom about BBQ, you KNOW you don't get quick answers.
Funny thing growing up....Briskets were the easiest thing for me to cook.
KISS principal works
Keep It Simple Stupid
We have the 321 for ribs, now we need the KISS for brisket
Funny thing growing up....Briskets were the easiest thing for me to cook.
KISS principal works
Keep It Simple Stupid
We have the 321 for ribs, now we need the KISS for brisket