I have been on the fence for six months. I just could not pull the trigger. I went out to look at Amerique and the 055. I was blown away by the quality of the smoker. They looked like miny safes. I decided it was time and made the jump and acquired a 055 smoker from Cabela's. I could not wait to use it.
I seasoned the smoker right away for 4 hours. I was not ready for what it looked like after opening the door. Everything was covered with smoke. I immediately threw on some spare ribs that I prepped. I have never successfully made ribs or any form of a brisket. I was good at making steaks but slow cooking was a foreign concept.
I went to my local store that has some real good meat cuts and acquired 2 slabs and one 6lb brisket.
First cook was for 4 hours at 225. Ribs were moist but chewy. They had an awesome flavor but were too chewy. My second attempt was 6 hours @ 225 and the ribs were perfect for texture but lacked the good smoke seasoning.
I did the brisket at 12 hour @ 225. Cooked it until 190. The brisket turned out really nice. Good flavor and almost melted in your mouth. I had never cooked a brisket. Anyone that tells you that it is hard to cook needs to try the cookshack.
One thing I noticed is the smoke levels very from cook to cook. The first set of ribs were very smokey flavored. The second set could have used some more smoke. What causes more smoke to set into the ribs? Is chewy ribs a function of not cooking long enough? Will charcoal make a smoke ring on the brisket?
I have to give the cookshack props it delivered everything as advertised.
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