Sampled Ribs - Questions

Well Silby,

You hit the nail on the head. Why bother to put any wood in the wood box at all if you're gonna foil them for the entire cook?

I'm not sure what the ribs that come out of your bandera taste like, but.........


Yes, you can make the best ribs you've ever ate in a Smokette. Yes, you will ge good bark on your BBQ, and yes you can even get a smoke ring if you add a couple lumps of charcoal to the wood box.

Welcome to the forum, Silby!

Thanks all!

I am trying to decide between a Cookshack and a Traeger. I like the possibility of set and forget, as tending to a fire constantly is a royal pain.

Initially it seemed to me that the Traeger would produce some really nice BBQ as it uses 100% hardwood as a heat source. However a lot of people say that the CookShack does just as good of a job with a very small amount of wood. Given that the pellets are fairly expensive I am starting to lean torwards the CS.

What are your thoughts? Will I be just as happy with the CS over the Traeger?

Thanks,

quote:

Originally posted by Silby:
However a lot of people say that the CookShack does just as good of a job with a very small amount of wood. Given that the pellets are fairly expensive I am starting to lean torwards the CS.

What are your thoughts? Will I be just as happy with the CS over the Traeger?

Thanks,

Silby -- Welcome to the forum!

No need for pellets unless you are going to one of the much latger CS units. The 008/009 50/55 use small chunks of wood - usually four to six oz on a butt or brisket. An oz of wood is about the size of a golf ball.

No need to tend a fire with these babies! Watch it tho, you may find yourself getting bored and possibly getting way too much sleep!

As far as which unit to be looking at, throw out what you plan to do. Are you cooking for you and the Mrs, small parties, large gatherings, etc.

Throw us a few bones and the good folks on the forum will toss out some suggestions!

Good luck & God bless...

PS I have never heard of anyone foiling ribs for the entire cook (I've never foiled ribs). And, IMO, if you couldn't pick up a rib without the meat falling off the bone, they were over-cooked. In foil the entire time in a CS sounds like steamed ribs to me

Silby,where are you located?

If it is a cool,rainy,windy area , this could move you in the direction of CS.

It could also greatly increase your pellet consumption.

And no matter what size traditional CS you get,pellets aren't needed.

I live in the Dallas area, where you cannot ever expect what the weather will be!

Where I am coming from is that I had and offset cooker that I put split logs into. It creates quite a bit of coals, and unfortunately about a year ago one of these coals was responsible for burning down half my house. We are now back in, and I am once again starting to think about smoking. In order to get the full wife approval I am looking for a solution that does not require a "open flame" and tending to coals. Both the Traeger and CS seem to fit the bill.

I started out thinking a Traeger was the best thing since sliced bread, however since then I have started reading these forums and got excited about the CS. I like the fact that you require very little wood, and that the chamber is insulated very well to make it an efficient cooker. For the Traeger it seemed that I would have to go through a lot of pellets which would be very expensive.

Are there other electric smokers out there worth considering? What makes the CS that much better than the other electric ones?

FYI, with regard to the original question... I am not sure why the ribs that I tasted where being smoked for so many hours wrapped in foil. Doesn't really make sence.

Thanks to all for there comments.

quote:

Originally posted by Silby:
The individual smoked it for around 5 - 6 hours.

My issue is that the ribs a) had no smoke flavor, and b) Didn't have any smoke coloring.

Is it likely that this is due to the fact that he smoked the ribs in foil the entire time?

Do you friend a favor and teach him how to do it without foil. If he's doing them the full time in foil, he might as well do them inside the house in the oven.

It's a waste of time and sure isn't BBQ. But hey, maybe he doesn't like the smoke taste. Some people don't.

No offense, but maybe he hasn't been to the forum and thought foil was how you got them tender.

Get him in here (if he isn't already).

The cooking questions are answered above.

As to cookers,there is a chinese knockoff of the smaller cookshack.

I can't speak for what kind of support you get,parts availability,warranty,ability to trade up cookers,etc.

There is another made in Canada? that uses a special hockey puck like pellet of wood that you purchase from them,if they stay in business.

Silby

Welcome to the forum - you found the right place to ask the questions and get recipes and learn the CS. Yes the CS - keep in mind of course that you are asking a CS forum if you should buy a CS. Most of us (but not all) are CS owners.

For my money, you can't beat the CS - without question, they have THE BEST customer service you will ever find and they are 100% made in the USA. Once you learn how easy it is to cook in the CS and how truly great the food is, you'll wonder why you ever debated the decision. There are several models to choose from offering a variety of sizes. And while you are in the Dalls area this may not mean much to you, but I have cooked in mine in the middle of winter with temperatures of 10 degrees and a wind chill of -20 degrees and blowing snow. Try that with Traeger!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Q'n Mike:
Silby

Welcome to the forum - you found the right place to ask the questions and get recipes and learn the CS. Yes the CS - keep in mind of course that you are asking a CS forum if you should buy a CS. Most of us (but not all) are CS owners.

For my money, you can't beat the CS - without question, they have THE BEST customer service you will ever find and they are 100% made in the USA. Once you learn how easy it is to cook in the CS and how truly great the food is, you'll wonder why you ever debated the decision. There are several models to choose from offering a variety of sizes. And while you are in the Dallas area this may not mean much to you, but I have cooked in mine in the middle of winter with temperatures of 10 degrees and a wind chill of -20 degrees and blowing snow. Try that with Traeger!!!

I don't know anything about the cookshack electric smokers, but I do own two of their FEC100s. I plan on doing comp cooking later on and electric or gas are out for that.

If you decide to go with a pellet smoker, spend the extra money and get an FEC over the Traeger. It has more capacity than the Traeger; it's insulated and Fast Eddy has the best price around on pellets. I got 800 lbs for $340 including shipping. I haven't had a lot of time to use them yet, but I have smoked 80 slabs of babybacks and six briskets in four cooks and only used about 30-35lbs of pellets. That's about $7.50 so far on fuel if my math is correct.

What you plan to do with it makes a lot of difference on which smoker to choose, but you can't go wrong with a Cookshack no matter what type you buy.

As for foil, I only use it when I'm through smoking, and I usually wrap with plastic before foil. I never use it during cooking. It's called the Texas Crutch, which embarresses the hell out of me, being from Texas.

Good luck.

Forgot to mention that Cookshack will no undercut their dealers. The best price I found was at the West Coast Store. Here is their url

http://thewestcoaststore.com/

Hans will take care of you no matter what you decide to buy. He handles the sale and they're still shipped from Ponca City.

Silby -- welcome to the forum -- I started with a 009 then I got a 55 then I bought my two boys an 008 each and now I am the proud owner of an Amerique -- the best way to Q and the lazy mans way to impress his friends and neighbors. you can not go wrong with CS

As some of you may have read, I have been trying to decide between a Traeger and a CS. My wife was looking over my shoulder last night and saw the FE100 and said "why don't you get that". Now you can imagine my surprise! I almost fainted! However she is right, if price was not an issue, it seems that FE100 would be the best of both. Is this correct?

quick, call and place the order before she changes her mine.

Yup, if it's a traeger or FE100, the FE wins. More capacity and certainly more of a smoker because of the design.

Silby -- You've either got a wife whose one in a million or a wonderful imaginary friend perched on your shoulder.

How long did it take for you to pick up the phone?

I sure hope that you expressed your appreciation for her suggestion in a very special way!

You are a blessed man!

It is funny how a man's mind works. You get so excited that your wife gives you WAF on a major purchase, and then you start doubting yourself for spending so much money! I just couldn't bring myself to spending the 500 extra on the Amerique. However I did purchase the 50, and am pleased with the decision. The first two smokings went very well.