New SM45 Owner

Welcome. You will enjoy your smoker. I never purposely dump, except in the case of making jerky. Consider joining in the January Sauce and rub exchange, it would be a good way to get loaded with lots of Q supplies for your new toy. The details are in the Open Forum.

Welcome sethhpu. Enjoy and good smoking to you. Dave

quote:

Originally posted by sethhpu:
I've read about moisture dumps and I'm curious how often do some of you dump?

It's optional and a matter of preferance. If you're smoking several pork butts or briskets, the moisture released via cooking may hinder bark formation. A rack or two of ribs won't require dumping.

Try a few cooks without opening the door. Keep notes on your various outcomes. There's no hard and fast rule. Keep in mind, every time you open the door you're adding additonal cook time.

I have the SMO45 also and love it.
As mentioned above, the only time I find it necessary to dump moisture is when doing jerky.
When I'm doing almonds I open the door once in the middle of the cook just to move shelves around. Pretty much everything else I leave alone until towards the end of the cook to check for doneness.

Good notes are important.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Here is the results of the first smoke.
9 lb bone in pork butt
Head Country Championship seasoning
Injected with apple juice and Head Country Championship seasoning
5 oz mesquite
Went on at 12:30 a.m.
225 degrees
9:15 a.m. – 158 degrees
10:15 a.m. – Moisture dump/temp check 158 degrees
11 a.m. - Cranked it up to 250 degrees
4:45 p.m. – 192 – fell apart taking out of smoker

Taste wise it was great. Not too much smoke and had a decent bark. Everybody who had loved it. Glad I took notes. Loved being able to sleep. Pictures to come later.

Sounds like a successful launch. Congrats!

Congrats on a great first smoke. I agree with the others above about dumping moisture. As a matter of fact, half my cooking time while making jerky the door is cracked an inch. Otherwise I have never had the need except for checking for doneness.

I second Soleman's suggestion on joining the Sauce and Rub exchange. I have done two now and have so much, I can't do this one. Living in Texas, you probably have a lot of Places to buy unique BBQ stuff others would enjoy in the exchange. Its fun to get things from other regions.