Life on the river is about to get a lot better. I finally got around to putting together my AmeriCue SM066. I have a BGE but I am looking forward to the simplicity of the CookShack. Today, I will season the smoker for about 6 hours at 275 with 4oz of hickory. Tomorrow, I plan to smoke some chicken thighs for the first meal.
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Congrats and welcome from Arizona. You are sure to enjoy.
As a 9 year user of my AQ, I welcome you to the forum! There are lots of us here who can help with any questions or tips on use of your new smoker. It looks like you have the same set up as I do with the CS cart. I replaced the CS castors with bigger ones, but I love the efficiency and usefulness of that configuration. Enjoy!
Many thanks for the welcome and encouragement.
I realize I have may have gotten off on the wrong foot here by misspelling ‘AmeriQue’. It was definitely a newbie mistake. My apologies. I am excited to be using the AmeriQue SM066!
I made one modification to the SM066 today. I removed the child safety feature from the top latch. Safety features have their place but I found this one just got in the way.
Liability precautions mandated by many laws can and do get in the way. Enjoy!
I didn't think of that as child proof. I do always use it because I feel it gives a tighter closure to the door when placed correctly but maybe it doesn't make much difference. Have fun with your new smoker and remember you don't need much wood with these units.
That’s a great point, Maria-Anne! I will definitely keep the safety ring in case I need it later.
My chicken thighs turned out great! However, I have learned an early lesson about adding too much wood to the smoker. I used the hickory chunks that came with the SM066. It was a smoky meal for sure. In the future, I might try apple or pecan. A few ounces of wood goes along way with a CookShack, which is one more reason I can see that I will use it a lot more than my BGE.
Valuable lesson indeed. I use around 2.5 oz of wood for ribs, belly, or butt, 3.5 - 4 for brisket, 1.5 - 2 for salmon. I like smoke flavor, but not when the true taste of the meat is masked or overwhelmed. It's a learning curve. You discover what you like.
I thought I would share this tip for splitting chunks of wood for my AmeriQue SM066. The Kindling Cracker is something I use for my outdoor and indoor fireplaces to split smaller pieces of wood. It works great since you are forcing the wood through the splitter blade rather than trying to swing an ax into a small piece of wood. Works great for splitting the hickory chunks I received with the AmeriQue smoker. It is nice to have some smaller pieces sometimes to avoid over smoking your food.
More details can be found at https://www.kindlingcracker.com/ or https://www.northerntool.com/s..._200647343_200647343
Sweet! I am a CS only for the hickory. It might be my tastebuds or the area where the hickory is harvested but I like it better than others I have tried.
Advertised online today for $42.98. I split my chunks with a small hatchet on a stump.
Thought I would share a quick update about the AmeriQue SM066 and some jalapeños I recently made. The smoker continues to perform flawlessly! The biggest adjustment in use the CookShack is realizing how little wood is needed for excellent results. Compared the Big Green Egg, the SM066 is SO much easier to use. The peppers are stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese; spicy breakfast sausage; cheddar cheese; and spices. I use pre-cooked bacon for the wrap since I tend to like the peppers to still be a bit firm when finished. I used 2 oz of hickory for the smoke. They were fantastic! Loving the CookShack AmeriQue SM066!
Excellent!
There is a really good Jalapeno Popper recipe on here somewhere. I modified it to suit our tastes. These are also good made with the little multicolored sweet peppers.
Smoked Jalapeno Poppers
Taking the seeds and membranes out of the jalapenos removes about 90 percent of the heat, leaving a really great smoked pepper flavor. This recipe from Colonel Tommy Tompkins of the United States Air Force in San Antonio, Texas, was the winner of the 2000-2001 First Prize Award from Cookshack.
MAKES 24 APPETIZERS
12 Large jalapeno peppers
½ pond crabmeat, picked over for shell fragments
1(8-ounce) package cream cheese
¼ cup finely chopped onion
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon ground celery seed
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Season salt and season pepper to taste
12 strips lean, center-cut bacon
Cut each jalapeno in half lengthwise, wearing rubber gloves if desired. Scoop out the seed and the membranes. Drain the crabmeat well. Combine the crabmeat, cream cheese, onion, and garlic powder, celery seed, lemon juice, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and mix well. Add season salt, and season pepper to taste (for the most part all of the seasonings are done to taste, and you may find some seasonings that you like better). Refrigerate mixture over night, taste, and adjust seasonings. Prepare the smoker with mesquite wood (mesquite wood can get very bitter with just a little too much wood. I use Hickory or my favorite, Jack Daniels Oak) to 200 degrees. Divide the filling equally among each of the pepper halves. Cut the bacon strips in half, wrap around each half pepper, and secure with a toothpick to keep the bacon in place. Place on smoker racks, and smoke until the bacon is cooked, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
