My cookshack is coming to Taiwan.

So have you figured out what your first smoke will be???

rgs, my first smoke will definitely be baby back ribs. They're my wife's absolute favorite. As it is now, I boil them for about an hour, marinate them, then bake and grill them. She thinks they're great, but I can't wait for her to try the ribs cooked in the cookshack. Now after looking at so many great ways to do ribs, it's figuring out which way will be best for the first time.
Steve.

Steve,
I sure am happy for you. Best of luck with your new smoker!
Peggy

Try the most simple first,take good notes,and make minor adjustments from there.

quote:

Originally posted by Taiwan Willy:
[qb]...As it is now, I boil them for about an hour, marinate them, then bake and grill them... [/qb]

Steve, if she likes those, she'll love real smoked ribs. Like Tom, I'd suggest start simple and go from there. Only takes 1 or 2 smokes, usually to get going.

Best of luck, glad you found the forum and CS.

Russ

Tom, Russ, thanks for the encouragement. I plan to start simple. I'm going to make up my own rub, and sauce, (I've had lots of help here from forum members) The rubs and sauces will just get too expensive to import to Taiwan. Then I think I'll be another freshman to add to Russ's 1st year Q school. I'll be hitting the 101's hard!!!

Once again, hope everyone's getting ready for some nice holidays with family and loved ones.
Take care, Steve in Taiwan.

steve,
have a good time with your new rig!!!!
get a little cheap composition book like others here recommended and write everything down. those notebooks are a lot of fun months or years later to go back and review and you can see how far you have come which is great!!
again congrats and have fun
jack

Jack, thanks for the advice. I will definitely do that. Just got an E-mail from Cookshack, the shipment arrived to Taiwan today. It ships tomorrow from Taipei to Kaohsiung. I should be able to pick it up hopefully Tuesday night, if not probably Friday. I have to fly to Taipei on Wed!! Please say hi to Peggy. Steve

steve so did you get it yet???? don't leave us hanging lol. hey now you can add a morton meat pump and maverick remote thermo to your christmas wish list.
hope ya got it safe and sound and have just been too busy smoking to let us all know
jack

Jack, not that I didn't want to keep you informed, just that everything getting out of customs has been a big BIG headache. The smoker got here last Tuesday. We've been trying to get the wood in. To make a long story short: I pick up my smoker Monday. The wood wouldn't clear customs, it has to be burned, the really sad part is after for paying for it, I also have to pay for it to be burned. I'm really hopeful the 5 pounds I get with the smoker is still inside it.
I've been talking to Cookshack, Terri's helping as much as she can. One of the problems is that Illinois is a banned state for shipments of wood because of the Asian long Horned Beetle. The freight forwarders went through Chicago!!
We're trying to get everything straightened out with customs on what exactly we need to do for the wood to pass inspection. Is kiln dried OK? Will it be OK as long as they don't go through Ill., NY, and NJ? They have really tightened up their import restrictions on wood as of Dec. 1st. I'm also checking to see if we could use wood pellets. Hopefully because how they are manufactured they could get through inspection with no problem. If anyone knows about the pellets, and how they are made, what temps. they get up to (would it be considered Kiln prepared) and if they have any type of certification showing they would be pest, worm, beetle etc. free please let me know.
Guess that's all for now. I'll let you know what happens. I don't think it can get much worse, I'm paying an extra 500 $ for the smoker and wood (duties, taxes) and all the wood is now gone, add to that you couldn't be in a bigger DOGHOUSE!! than I am right now.
Take care everyone, merry Christmas again, Steve.

steve,
peg and i read this. she says to tell you that you are destined for bbq greatness!!! reason being we got delayed by 4 hurricanes and then couldnt get generators but found 2 of them thanks to people on this forum. her thinking is that the hassles winnows out the rice from the chaff.
as far as pellets go here is what i know as a fact. this is based off of last weekends experience with pegs sm150. we smoked salmon in her unit and used cheery pellets from bbq'ers delight. it worked like a charm!!!!! heres some food for thought call candy sue weaver at bbq'ers delight. i don't work for them and heck her friends came to plant city and beat us bad even after we went and said hi to them like she asked lol. but if i wanted an answer about pellets she is who i would talk to. she solved my heat problems on my fec and she is just as nice as terri as is and man we both know how nice terri is!!!
peg and i got our fingers crossed for you and we know it is all going to come together for you. just hang tuff!!!!!!!!!!!
if we can help in anyway just email us
jack and peggy percifield
ps. come to think of it i think 4 hurricanes is way ez'er than one customs hassel
pps look under the fec owners heading in this forum and email her direct might be cheaper

I promise this is not intended to be a smart ass question, but don't you have trees in Taiwan? I never thought about it, but I just assumed there would be some type of hardwood tree sutiable for smoke production everywhere.

Jack, I think 4 hurricanes is much worse than some hassles at customs. the worst part is losing some money. I will get in touch with Candy Sue. I've seen many posts from her on the forum, I'll see what she says about the pellets. Terri at Cookshack is checking into the pellets also.

Todd, don't worry about being a smart ass. All logging has been stopped in Taiwan for many years. We do have a lot of trees here, and actually have a huge mountain range going down the whole island. Just not sure what type of trees we have. We also have a huge fruit industry here, but mainly more tropical fruits like mangoes, papayas, bananas, guavas, and such. We have a big tea industry, I've been told to check out tea wood, I'll do that.
But your reply gave me an idea. There are a lot of raw wood importers here. Pretty much all the wood here is imported, I believe mainly for the furniture industry. I know where a couple are located. I've seen on the forum where a lot of people like to use oak, I'll check to see if I can buy some raw oak from the importers. Probably could get them to cut it into chunks even. Don't think I'll see any of the traditional woods used for smoking though like hickory, mesquite, apple, cherry.
I'll let you know what I find out.
Take care, Steve.

That's really interesting. I never would have thought they could stop logging to the point there wouldn't be any scrap.

But the furniture thing might work out to your benefit. Oak scraps would be great as long as they haven't been stained or anything, and if they come from furniture pieces they might require little in the way of cutting to work in your CS. I'm thinking about oak table legs or other "turned" type pieces. Just chop to length.

If it's not already obvious, my knowledge of trees is already near exhaustion, but since so many people swear by apple and cherry, I would sure give tea wood a try, and maybe mango and papaya too. At least they're all fruit trees. Who knows?, you might be sending us wood this time next year.

Good luck with your smoking. I sure hope you find a local source for wood. Having to order all your wood and pay for the shipping and duties would take a lot of the fun out of smoking.

Todd, thanks again for your replies, and ideas. a correction. Logging has been banned here to all but the aboriginals who have been given small plots of land to tree farm and use for timber. The Taiwanese aboriginals are also called the "mountain people" here. I think you're right about a local source of wood. I'm really interested in checking out the mango and papaya. If I can combine that maybe with some pellets if they're not too difficult to import I'll be really happy.
Take care, hope you're getting ready for a great X-mas.
Steve.

Steve,
I'm so sorry to hear all that! Who would imagine that wood from the U.S. would be banned from entering an Asian country because of an Asian beetle?
I'm wondering how bamboo would do as a smoking wood? Do you have bamboo there?
If mango and papaya trees get larger there than here, I'd sure give them a try too. They seldom get large enough here to supply wood. Usually they freeze back then come back as small green trees. I've also wondered about avocado? And avocado pits, dried out.
Keep us posted.
Peggy
P.S. I love guava based sauce on my chicken!

Picked up my smoker today!! No problems, looks fine. I got all the wood that came with it, 5 lbs. inside the smoker. The 80 pounds I ordered I had to sign over to be burned. The hard part was that it was sitting next to the smoker when I picked it up. Man I just wanted to grab it and run to my truck!!!
I'm going to season it tonight. I've got a couple baby backs thawing out now, with a pork butt in the fridge. they are going to get rubbed down tomorrow and will be the first cook on Wed. I'll be going through Smokins 101's again tonight, checking my list of things I need to pick up tomorrow at my supplier to make up some rubs and sauces. I'll let you know how everything goes.
tomorrow I'll also be checking out a local timber importer to see if I can get some oak from him. Still waiting to find out about bringing in the pellets so hopefully in a while I can order some from Candy.
Take care everyone, Steve.

Congrats TW, sorry about Customs but that happens.

Good news that 5lbs will get you started, so hopefully you can find some woods. Check also into sawdust. If you can't get solid wood and HAVE to use it, you can use sawdust, but we'll have to help you there. Just make sure the wood hasn't been treated with any chemicals.

Welcome to the group.

Smokin'

What a hassle, Steve... I'm glad the smoker made it intact. Enjoy your first smoke! I christened mine yesterday with a butt, and I'm planning ribs for tomorrow and some ABTs on Thursday or Friday...

...ron

Willy.. glad to hear your CS finally arrived.. just in time for Christmas Sorry about the balance of your wood tho.

Add a couple of oz of wood.. christen it and then try a couple of chickens.. just remember to only use about 2 oz wood.. MAX for your first run.

Wish I could be there to watch your smile when you try your first smoke.

Bill

Ron, Bill, Smokin, Jack & Peggy, Tom, Todd, and everyone thanks for all the help, and support. It's much appreciated.
The smoker's seasoning right now. Temp. got up pretty high, set it on 225, showed 350-380 on the thermometer after an hour or so. Temp came back down. I cracked the door just to have a look after a couple of hours. Looks good. I didn't put any foil in yet for the seasoning, is that OK?
Neighbors aren't too sure, I was outside blabbering to my wife in Chinese about the seasoning process. I'm sure they're going to wonder like heck Wed. when I smoke up those ribs. You should have seen everyone when we moved into our new house and I started using a gas grill ouside the patio in front. None of our neighbors had even seen one before. Anyways, all for now. Steve.

Sounds like you are on track.

Go ahead and cover the firebox and bottom with foil,before your first cook.

Don't worry ,you can't hurt it and anything you cook will come out edible.

steve,
thats great news!!!!!!
just be sure to follow tom's advice and foil before you cook. it sure makes clean up a breeze.
and tom's right you are going to suprise even yourself on how great the food will come out!!!!
have fun, glad the hassle with customs is behind you and keep us posted
jack
ps. since it is christmas, time to hit the wife up for a few toys like a remote read thermometer lol

Steve -- glad to hear the seasoning went well -- can't wait to hear about hte first smoke and the neighbors reaction.

btw I emailed you a recipe for a white sauce that is a hit around here -- wondering if you got it ok and if you tried it out.

Willy, did you have to order it for a special voltage or are you using some type of converter?

Just curious.

Rgs, I did get your E-mail on the white sauce. I've written it down and plan to use it the first time I do chicken which will probably be next week. Sorry for not replying with a thank you. i'll count that as stress on receiving my smoker. The E-mail came from Rho, what should I call you? thanks very much once again.
to hippie, Luckily here in Taiwan we have 110 same as at home.

I've foiled the smoker, it's ready for tomorrow. The ribs are rubbed down and in the fridge. I've made up some sauce, I think it turned out nice. It's a variation of a couple of recipes, but with ingredients I like.
I"m going to hold off on the pork shoulder until sat. and cook that with some more ribs. I've decided to cook my Xmas turkey for the inlaws traditionally in the oven. Don't want to screw it up first time.
I'll let you know how tomorrows ribs turn out. thanks again to everyone!!!
Steve.

10-4

Willy,
With the problems you had with customs, maybe you should try to get the job as the official Taiwanese contraband wood burner. After all you now have a specially built oklahoma wood disposal unit.
Richard

Steve -- I'm Rho DH is Rich and last name startes with G so rgs covers both of us

rho

Steve,
You have turkeys over there? And you speak Chinese? I'm very impressed! I worked for a radiologist who xrayed lots of merchant seamen. We had a translation book for "turn on your side", "hold your breath", "where do you hurt?", etc. I could never get the dialects right. Used lots of hand signals and goofy faces!
Peggy

Peggy, the universal dialect of "body language" just can't be beat in Taiwan!!! I think I'm pretty fluent in body talk myself now after 8 years here!
Steve