model 50 just out of the box...

Srry they sent you the wrong manual. I would be on the phone tomorrow to Cookshack.
The second issue is..........are those ribrack hooks? Im sorry I cant awnser that question as Ive never seen them in person. I believe a quick phone call to Cookshack will definately help you out bigtime. Best customer service that I personally have ever expierenced in my lifetime. Not that im dating myself here. but ive been around over 50 yrs plus.
Now ya got me wondering bigtime here. I ordered two model 50s last Wednesday for my kinfolk.
Please let us know how you were treated by the folks at Cookshack.

Bull

Just real good tolerances (mine's the same).

Parts are rib hooks and tool to pull wood box when it's hot (you'll only do it once with bare hands )

Get yourself a good pair of welder's gloves. Mine have Kevlar. I can pull out the woodbox, open it, add wood with them on and never feel it.

Thanks for the comments all. I read the 50/55 manual on line... I don't have ink to print it, but I think I got the important points...

I just added wood, that black part works great... not sure how the rib hooks work, but the wood box tool is handy. Thanks for telling me what I had!

Welders gloves are now on my list!

Thanks again all,
Barry

Here's a picture of my 055 with some ribs hanging on the hooks. I find them very nice to use.

The nuts that hold the door latches on can be loosened so they wont be so tight.

Qnorth, thanks for the photo.. that helps alot. I didn't realize they would just fold over like that. Do you rotate them at any time during the smoke? Do you have any recomendations for how many ribs I might fit in there? (model 50). My wife wants baby backs, I told her we have to do a butt first (she has never had pulled pork), but ribs will be soon to follow.

Mr K, thanks for the idea. I may piddle with that...

Thanks for the comments,
Barry

BDDM -- Congrats on your purchase. You will love your CS.

Remember not to rely on the times in the cookbook that came with the CS. Rather, come to the forum and search for what you need. If you can't find it, ask questions.

Read Smokin's 101's and Lessons for new users in the Open Forum.

Good luck & God bless...

Thanks Wheelz, I appriciate the recomendations. I'm looking forward to getting into this... I've been thinking about it for a long time.

The butt 101 doesn't really offer cooking tips, and the links at the bottom are broken (am I missing something?). I've started reading throught the butt archives though, there is a lot of info there; kinda like trying to get a drink of water from a fire hydrant..

Thanks,
Barry

Barry, Try putting the ribs hooks in just below the 3rd rib. They should hang pretty straight. Depending on how long the racks are you might have to trim the racks a little so they don't touch the wood box. I have done of number of smokes with 4 racks of spares weighing approx. 20 lbs. I smoked them at 225 for 5~5 1/2 hours. No complaints yet. I'm sure I could hang 6 racks of spares without a problem in my 55. Don't forget to remove the membrane from the racks. Good luck.

Thanks Jim, I appriciate the comments. I'm hoping to be smoking some ribs this weekend... I'll locate the hanger just below third rib and see how it goes.

Thanks for reminder on membrane...got it. Do you recomend adding wood during the smoke? For ribs I'll have to open the door to check for pullback to determine if they're done anyway, so why not add wood, unless it's just not needed?

Thanks for the help, mucho appriciated.

Barry

Adding wood on a rib smoke really isn't necessary. I assure you, 1-2 oz. is plenty for your first rib smoke. Start small and work your way up. It is theorized that the meat won't accept anymore smoke after a certain temp (140* or so) because the pores seal shut. I can't stress enough how this smoker just wants to be left alone to do it's thing...no peeking and no additional wood. At least that's what my stainless baby says to me.

JustaDude... I'm starting to see a pattern here... you keep telling me to 'just-leave-the-smoker-alone'... well that proves it, if I hear it enough times I might actually retain it!

Thanks for the advice, and for the explanation of why not to add wood... I still have to open the door to check pull back on ribs though, right?

I just made my shopping list to cook a butt. I assume once I do the butt, I'll be free of the seasoning ritual, and get cook some ribs, right?

Thanks again for the help.
Barry

So far I have never found the need to add more wood during a smoke. If you are converting from stick burning to electric you might want to add a little extra wood. If I'm smoking 35~40 lbs of brisket or butts I would load up the wood box with 4~5 chunks. For the ribs maybe 2 medium chunks or 1 large and 1 small. I'm a converted stick burner and like the smoke flavor. As the smoker seasons you will find that you need less wood.

quote:

Originally posted by BDDM:
JustaDude... I'm starting to see a pattern here... you keep telling me to 'just-leave-the-smoker-alone'... well that proves it, if I hear it enough times I might actually retain it!

Thanks for the advice, and for the explanation of why not to add wood... I still have to open the door to check pull back on ribs though, right?

I just made my shopping list to cook a butt. I assume once I do the butt, I'll be free of the seasoning ritual, and get cook some ribs, right?

Thanks again for the help.
Barry

Well......the seasoning ritual starts all over if you clean out the seasoning or clean the inside too much, something some have done after cooking fish or seafood. (might be necessary)

Welcome to the forum.

Make sure you check out the link at the top of the Open Forum:

Lessons for new users

BDDM

Welcome and congrats on your purchase. Regarding your door, if you can latch it with the bottom first then the top then don't worry about it. My 50 is just as tight and really, you want it to be tight. The flat black piece is a tool to remove the wood box while it is hot. It is not explained in the manual and it took me a while to figure it out. One end is designed to fit under the wood box drawer pull. The z shaped items are indeed rib hooks. You put your side shelf racks to the highest position, hook ribs under the 2nd or 3rd rib and hook the other end on one of the cooking grids. Then the whole thing slides into the highest shelf position. If you load carefully, you can get about 10 racks of baby backs in. Fewer if full spares. Good luck!!!

quote:

Originally posted by BDDM:
The butt 101 doesn't really offer cooking tips, and the links at the bottom are broken (am I missing something?). I've started reading throught the butt archives though, there is a lot of info there; kinda like trying to get a drink of water from a fire hydrant..

Well Barry, PB101 was the first and certainly the least of my tutorials, yup the links are broken and I'll update them. got to, those broken links are killing me.

PB's are pretty easy.

For your first one, season it up with a rub that has some salt in it (pork loves salt) and cook it until it's 195 to 200 internal. With a gloved hand, grab the blade bone and pull it, when it comes out easy and clean it's done.

Now, once you've done the first one, then you can try all the various things.

And leftover PB works great in Enchiladas (Mrs. Smokin's recipe is in the recipe archive)

Congrats and good luck.


p.s. Please give CS a call and let Customer Service know the wrong manuals were shipped out, that is NOT the way it's supposed to happen

Mike and Smokin, thanks for the continued comments.

Mike, how much space do you think I should assure I have between racks of ribs? 10 sounds tight, but my perspective may be off since I've never actually put meat in this thing yet!

Smokin, Thanks for the comments. You're tutorials are great, and I appriciate them very much. I was going to cook the PB during the week, but due to varying times I've read about, decided I better wait for the weekend (has me wondering if I should have gone ahead with Amerique!) Great idea for the leftovers! Down here in Texas, Tex-Mex is pretty much normal food...

I need to call CS about the manual, and I didn't get the cookbook either... but from what I've read I don't need the cookbook, and I can download the manual, so no harm done.

Too bad this blasted cold front blew through... it was a nice 80F yesterday.... 31F this morning... I enjoy the patio more when I can hide out and cook!

Thanks again,
Barry

Barry, you should return your m50 because it doesn't matter if it 80F or 0F, you can no longer hide out on the patio and pretend to be cooking.

quote:

Originally posted by jimfromweymouth:
Barry, you should return your m50 because it doesn't matter if it 80F or 0F, you can no longer hide out on the patio and pretend to be cooking.

I can't wait to use this thing... to be honest... I want to believe you... but it's just seems to easy... I'll have to learn the hard way and see for myself! That will be this weekend though!

Thanks,
Barry

Barry, Assuming you are going to be cooking approx 10 lbs of butt you might consider putting them in the smoker before you go to bed, let them smoke overnight and enjoy it for lunch tomorrow. My guess is they will cook for 12 plus hours at 225 to reach an internal of 190. Put the rub on them, foil the bottom of the smoker and don't forget to break a hole over the drain hole and foil the top of the firebox. Remove the cooking grates that you wont be using so you don't have to clean them. When I do 2 butts I remove the top grate and bottom 2 and use the 2 & 3 positions from the top. Spray the grates with PAM for eaiser cleanup. You don't want to block the vent hole. Put you temp. probe in the thickest part of the smallest butt if you only have one and run the cable through the vent hole. Putt 2 ~ 3 chunks of wood in the firebox. Close the door, plug the unit in, set it for 225, have a beer for all of the hard work you just did and go to bed. Make sure you have the drain pan in place. If you're using a remote thermometer put it next to your bed. During the night you can check the progress by rolling over and looking at the internal temp if you can read it. The only other key point to remember is when your done smoking make sure you remove the foil from the smoker while it is still warm. Otherwise it will get glued to the bottom. Good luck and enjoy.

Thanks for the tips Jimmy, no matter how much I read, I keep getting new info... thanks!

I do have one question if you don't mind. Reading the PB archives last night, I found myself confused about something. When people say at 195 they pull it, wrap it up and put it in a cooler, are they meaning pull it from the over, or do they "pull" the meat apart before putting in the cooler?

Another thing, I've rarely had PB, but the thought of vinagar sauce doesn't appeal to me or my wife (I just keep thinking of vinagarett salad dressing, which I don't like). Perhaps it will be sweeter than I'm thinking it will be, but how would some good ol BBQ sauce be with PB?

Thanks,
Barry

Barry, I beleive they mean pull it out of the smoker. It best to let the meat rest so the juices can got back into the meat. Pull it apart when you ready to eat it. A lot of people like the plain old BBQ sauce. Try a taste test test. Here's a basic vinegar sauce that I prefer to tomato base sauce. 1 cup white vinegar, 1 cup cider vinegar, 1 and a half tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper, 1 tablespoon tabasco sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Try it you might like it. It's a whole to world out there.

We mean pull it out of the smoker, not shred it. Shred it after the rest. (optional)

Enough good rub and you won't need sauce. While pulling (shredding), maybe sprinkle some of that same rub over the meat. Have some sauce handy for those who think they need it. Get some fresh, cheap hotdog buns. If you use the more expensive ones, the taste will take away from the Q. Try some KFC slaw on top.

Have fun.

Jim, GLH, thanks for the info.. I think I'm about ready to give this a try. I'm sure I'll screw it up.. but hey... worst case, I'm seasoning my smoker...

Thanks so much for all the help.

Barry

Barry

Try looking in Smokin's 101's for a vinegar sauce or mop. Apple cider vinegar sweetened with brown sugar really goes very well with pork, kinda like apple sauce with pork loin.

When you see the term pull it at a certain temp usually means to remove from the cooker. With a butt the cook time can run anywhere from 12 hours to over 20 hours depending on size, etc. Many times the forum will suggest starting a butt the night before and just let it go over night (sometimes with a thermostat setting around 180-200 and then setting up to 225 in the morning when you get up. This way your butt will be done maybe around 2-4 the next afternoon. When it's reached the doneness Smokin sez above, temp and bone test, you remove from the smoker, double wrap in foil, then wrap in a large beach towel and put in a dry insulated cooler for at least 30 minutes. The advantage of cooking and holding this way is that you can hold for 2 hours or more before pulling and serving and it will stay hot. This way it is easier to hit a targeted meal time rather than trying to time your cook time so that the butt is done at a designated time. That rarely works because every piece of meat is different and will cook at different speeds.

As to your question about ribs hanging, it is ok if they touch slightly and it is ok for the space between to be very narrow. You just don't want the slabs to be nestled against each other. As long as the smoke & heat can get through, you'll be ok.

Thanks for the tips Mike.

At 8:24 PM I put the 8.4 lb boston butt in the CS. I used a rub from BBQ-USA (a book).

Everything seemed ok, my only concern is I don't really know how big that bone is, so I wasn't sure where to locate the temp probe.

Well, right or wrong, the missle is in the air... I have the temp at 200, as you suggested, I'll crank to 225 in the AM.

Thanks again for all the help,
Best Regards,
Barry

Don't panic when you get up and the temp seems to hang at 160*F or thereabouts for hours. That is the plateau.

As long as the tip of the probe is buried up close to center in meat and not fat or against bone, it is good to go.

We are sitting on pins and needles awaiting your results. (living vicariously)

LOL... Thanks for sticking with the thread....

I decide to open the door this morning (I know.. never open the door...), there was very little muk in my drip pan, and I was scared my foil wasn't smooth enough and there was too much of it in the bottom of the oven... it looked fine when I peeked though.

Also, my daughter has a singing performance at 12:00. I expect we'll be out of the house from 11:00 to 2:00... should I wait to crank up the oven from 200F to 225F? I'm scared if I crank it up now (8:40AM central time), it could end up done in that window...

Thanks for the help!

Barry

Barry, I'm glad you decided to put it in last night. What is the current internal temp? You are using a remote right? The bone is a shoulder blade. It's very skinny. One you remote read 190 and you open the door , use a instant read therm. and verify the intall is 190. If if getting close to 190 and you have to leave for a couple of hours leave the temp at 190~200.

Right. If it goes to 205*, no problem.

LOW and SLOW. Repeat that over and over in your head.

Please ignore my spelling. My coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

Jimmy, GLH, Thanks for the comments..

temp is 177 now (10:20AM). I leave from 11:00 to 2:00. Yes, I'm using a remote (actually two of them... paranoid I know, but they are tracking very close to each other, makes me wory less).

I'll keep it low, I can't overcook if I don't set it too high I suppose.

I have an instant read I'll check with, as well as bone test mentioned earlier when I do crack the door.

Thanks again... you guys have taken a lot of the 'risk' out of this... although I'm sure I can still screw it up! I appriciate all the time you have put into keeping up with my cook.

BTW, my coffee neer kicks in in terms of spelling... I didn't even notice yours...

Thanks,
Barry

hi all... well, it hit 195 after about 19 hours... it was almost falling apart as I moved it into foil - towel - cooler...

The only question left... while pulling the pb it seemed to cool quick. By the time I took it in to serve it was fairly cool. Is there a trick to keeping it warm? It was hot while pulling, it just cooled quick after pulling.

The results were great, everybody liked it. I'm amazed at how easy the whole thing was, from prep - cleanup, and the results were great.

Thanks to all for all the help. I couldn't have done it without you all. I can't wait to try a briscket.

Thanks,
Barry

Barry, congratulations on your first smoke. I'm glad everything worked out fo you. I hope you didn't blow the secret and tell everyone how easy it was As far as it cooling quick I like to put mind in either a crock pot on low or a chafing dish to keep it warm.

You will find the hardest part with cooking a brisket is buying a whole brisket or as most of the people on the forum want are packer briskets. The cooking is the same put it in, down open the door and take it out when it hits 190.

Way to go Barry.

Barry, all of your concerns and worries are so familiar to us newbies. I have had my 008 for three weeks and my first butt was a trial. The best news is that it does in fact get easier (and more yummy).

I have recipes for both a rub and a sauce that my family just loves. The original recipes called for too much spice so I modified them to suit our tastes since we don't care for the spicey (hot) seasonings but rather go for the sweet. I use both the rub and sauce on all meat but it is best on pulled pork.

My versions of Rub and Sauce:

Pork Rub:

8 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic granules
4 tablespoons dried thyme
4 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Mix all ingredients together and stir well.

Makes about 2 1/4 cups.


BBQ Sauce:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 cup ketchup
1 10 1/4 oz. can tomato puree
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, add the olive oil. Saute the onions and garlic until translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, ketchup, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, honey, brown sugar, thyme, oregano, paprika, cumin, coriander, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally then lower heat to a simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning and heat to desired taste. (After cooking for about 45 minutes add 1 teaspoon each – paprika, oregano, thyme, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper.)

Makes about 3 cups.

For the sauce I will sometimes add a 16 oz. bottle of Coke Classic to thin it out if you want to use for basting.

Both of these recipes were adapted from a Wolfgang Puck recipe found on the Food Network. Search for ˜Slow Cooked Apple Smoked Barbecue Pork' for the original.

Happy Smokin'...and I hope you enjoy.

Kelly

Moderator alert ahead....

Just a "friendly moderator reminder". make sure when post, don't forget the recipe forum.

Soccerchick, you did that and I really appreciate that.

Attagirl!

Good recipes just get lost, if they're not in that forum.

In fact, the recipe forum just doesn't get used enough

I see a LOT of great recipes get lost because it's hard to search on them and when they're buried inside a post, I'm not sure someone will see a great/detailed recipe like this in a post titled "model 50 just out of the box".

Moderator alert over...