patiently waiting for sm045

Well Buddy you have newbie mania if I ever saw it. Good for you !!

Ok for the break in run: A pan of water on the middle shelf, and about 3 oz of wood in the wood box. Run it at 250 for two hours.

As for rubs - well I never BOUGHT any I must be too cheap. I DID hit a restaurant supply house and stocked up on all my basic spices in quantity and I make my own. NO SALT. Not because I am a no salt freak, just saw too many comments about how leaving salt on ribs or pork butt makes them hammy tasting... Yuck. So with my whole spices and herbs and such I make this up in an old Braun coffee grinder.

3 tbls whole coriander seeds
3 tbls whole cumin seeds
1/2 cup whole black pepper
1/2 cup finely ground coffee (I roast my own)
about 10 juniper berries
3 tbls Herbs de Provence

1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 garlic powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup hershey's cocoa powder

Run the rough ingredients until fine in the old coffee grinder, if necessary do it in half batches, now dump into a stainless steel bowl - add the other ingredients and slowly mix with a wire whisk. Ladle it into a used spice container (or pizza shaker) with holes in it... Apply generously to pork butts, ribs, briskets.

Watch these Cookshack videos, this one on breaking in a Cookshack smoker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...9OxQ&feature=related

And this video gives you a real quick run down on how to cook off a pork butt in your smoker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...fAQ4&feature=related

Even though these videos don't show your unit the basic process is the same. And even though I have a swell injector I don't inject pork butt, just put lots of rub and brown sugar on mine - I find THE MEAT taste really comes through with rub, brown sugar and a choice selection of wood. You're gonna have a ball, read threads, ask questions and KEEP GOOD NOTES... Pretty soon you'll be the most popular guy in your neighborhood.

I broke mine in with an overnight pork butt (something fatty) and ate it the following evening. Tasted pretty good. 5 oz hickory. Smoker picked up some nice seasoning but didn't look like a coal mine for a couple months. Now I can smoke without wood.

My smoker looks like it has a nice layer of black shalaque (sp?) inside. I only rub off the peelings that are coming loose and change the foil every few smokes.

Seems like you have everything you need to get started and I'm sure you find lots more stuff along the way. Don't forget to look up the rub and sauce exchange we do wo time a year. You will get lots of great stuff should you decide to join us. Read the old posts about them, it's fun to see what everyone gets.

So If I do the break in smoke for 6 hours would that be better. No disrespect big Mike but I have read other people went 6 hrs. on the break in,so just some clarification needed. What does the coffee do to the meat itself? Because it's acidic it breaks down the meat fibers to make it more tender or what? Thanks for your help. "Q" out.

I'd do 6 then pork butt.

I got that four hour break in time number from Stewart of Cookshack in OK, off the video I posted the first link to. Did you watch the video ?? It's helpful.

That's essentially a gussied up "cowboy rub" - I was a cook's assistant for a time in the field - cooking out of the back of a deuce and a half for 200 troops - using coffee (powdered or the liquid version) as a flavoring to gravy was a pretty common thing. We did our own version of slow cooking - we'd brown up a bunch of pork chops or cheap steaks and toss the meat in these mermite containers (think big insulated rectangular thermos). Then brown up some onion and maybe carrot in the meat pan and then and then a handful of flour (to act as a roux) add the coffee after the vegetables got browned real good and pour that over the meat. The heat of the meat would slow cook it to a wonderful tender tasty mass and the "gravy" was very good too. When you're feeding tankers in pouring rain a pork chop some instant mashed potatoes and that gravy eaten out of a canteen cup inside a cold tank tasted pretty doggone good... Chuckwagon cooks on cattle runs would to that too.


I looked at a LOT of recipes online, a lot. Either via Yahoo searches, YouTube videos and other sites. Just looking at the recipes gave me a basis for what I wanted to do. I come from a long line of experimenters. My grandfather started out back in the 30s making ice cream cake roll - the business eventually bloomed into breading products and seasonings. Check them out. I got it in my genes... (give their home page a moment to load)

http://www.newlywedsfoods.com/index.html

You're burning the wood and won't use it again so you might as well get full service out of it by burning it longer. The smoker's electrical use for several hours is only a few cents. That is unless you're interested in getting to some food. I'd still recommend a pork butt for your first smoke after your initial seasoning. It will help season the smoker further.

I defer to Pags, if he says it it will work.
Man you gotta take photos of the crate when it arrives !! Love unboxing days...

Good luck. Pork butt is the way to go !! Oh Man I Am Psyched For You !!

It all works. More than one way to skin a cat, ya know.

Enjoy that smoker and share your experiences.