new smoker

Popum2000 just keep going at every new thing you need to work at to get good. My first couple was what have I done. Little by little with experience. And creative touches it becomes lots of fun. What I have READ about black maybe just to much sugar and or wood cut back on the wood, I read when its killing you not to put more wood in you still have to much. (I paraphrased a little bit)

Maybe the lack of success and (maybe) a little bit of buyer�s remorse has you twitchy. After tonight�s meal slap something else in there tomorrow; tonights nights meal will keep in the fridge

Last night I did burgers for the first time. The flavor and juiciness were perfect.

Slap a couple burgers in there tomorrow, cook to the temp you like your meat.

Marinate some prawns in olive oil Marsala wine and some juicy squashed garlic cloves for and hour than smoke them (after the smoke starts Rollin) smoke them about 20 minutes. Than finish them off in � inch of boiling water to pink them out. Yummy

Since you have a few days play play play,

As for the paint my new Chevy van I put a down payment on some punk kids threw eggs on cars all over the city that night, it was touched up but I lived with it, it still does what I want to take me to jobs to get my work done.


I think if you don�t play you will miss out on what seems to be thousands of happy owners.

My 2.5 cents

The challenge is learning a new cooker. Doesn't matter if it's a Cookshack or what, there is always a learning curve.

First, you have the forum to help. If you're not asking enough questions we can't help with any potential issues. Details are helpful, like time, temp, rub and specifically what you did or didn't like about it.

Have you done pork butts before? If not, there's some great info in the forum or start here:

Pork Butt 101

Mango is right (hey I love it when new heads become old heads and help, Thanks M) cut back on wood or sugars in the rub. You have to figure out what's making it black, but it's not the design of the smoker or the fluctuations, so it's probably easy enough to determine.

Fluctuations? That's how it's made, so if that's a problem I would just ship it back and get a refund. You have every right to be happy with what you bought and don't want to be unhappy for the next 3 years if it doesn't do what you want.

If you do a SEARCH on "fluctuations" and there are 21 replies that will help you understand it a little better. Me, I've cooked in them enough they don't affect my cooking 1 little bit.

You gotta love a smoker company with a refund capability. I've bought one before that I wish THEY had a refund on, but they don't and I paid a lot more for it than a CS.

Good luck, we're here to help.

Smokin'

The pork butt came out great, I used a wet marinade and let it soak overnight instead of the rub. When I took it out the bone just slipped out without any meat at all on it. The thing almost fell apart and was very juicy. I only used one peice of wood too, and it wasnt black like my others were. Its getting better. Thanks for the help guys.

Sounds like maybe there was too much wood in there before.Isn't it nice to get such a good flavor and tenderness? How long did it take??

Yeah I think I was using to much wood before. It was a small one, about 7 pounds. it took about 10 hours to get to 195. I took it out and wrapped it in foil for about an hour. This new marinade that my friend turned me on to is supposed to be for Brisket but it was great on the pork. Im sorry I cant tell ya what it is, he said he would sue me for everything I have if I said what it is. Its been a great day, Im liking my smoker better, the Sooners just won, and OSU lost.haha. I might try some burgers tomorrow.

Popum,
Congrats on a successful pork butt. It seems like most everyone new to the CS has a difficult time believing that all you need to smoke a 5-7 lb. butt is 2-3 ounces of wood. The brain just won't accept that so little wood can do the trick.

It is also interesting that so many people trip over the issue of the temp fluctuations. But if you think about it, a 50-60 degree temp swing with low temps (for chefs, anything below 350 degrees is considered low & slow) is insignificant because you are going for the long cooking time intentionally. That much of a temp swing in a 400 degree oven might be a little more of an issue because the cooking times are so much faster. Even with the oven in your house, if you monitored it, will have a 40-50 degree swing.

Bottom line is, the CS is very efficient at doing its job. It just takes us operators a little practice to get used to it.

Also, keep notes on your smokes. That way, if you have a problem, you can get on the forum with specific info about what you did, e.g. type and cut of meat, the weight, type and amount of wood, temp you set the cooker at, time in the cooker, internal temp of the meat when you pulled it, types of rubs, sauces, brines, mops, etc., etc.

Also, by keeping notes, if your cook turns out good, you can repeat it.

Keep working on it and be patient with yourself because it will come together.

Excellant News...

pop,
congrats on the butts!!!!!!
if you can only afford 2 things think about doing this;
1- a cheap composition book or spiral bound note book. they cost about 2 bucks.
2- a taylor remote themometer. they cost about 17 bucks at target.
everytime you cook write down everything. things to write down would be:
meat type
weight
rub if any
cooking temp
type of wood
weight of wood
time when finished
results
heck i even include the meat temp going in, the weather temp and humidity and wind.
if you keep track as you go you will really learn your equipment and will have much more fun (plus it is fun to look at the notes years later. it always gives me a good laugh)
but the main thing is to have fun
jack

thanks for all the help everybody!