Santa Delivered an AmeriQue Early!

Hey there Heynow!

Congrats on a heckuva nice Christmas Gift!

You know you could always revert back to your childhood and crack open the boxes early!

Make it the 12 days of Christmas (minus 1) and smoke somthing everyday right upto the 25th!

Born and bred in Ohio....Go bucks!

Talk to Mrs. Claus and see if she will let you celebrate early with the promise of some wonderful Que for the holidays. If you wait...you will be a stronger man than me. I could not hold out that long knowing what's waiting in those boxes.

You know, I probably ought to open them to make sure there isn't any damage.....

Promise her a Smoked Turkey for Christmas Dinner. Of course you would need to practice several times before Christmas Day.

Heynow -- Your wife must be a dandy. Let's hope Santa believes in equality for all

Now, I agree that you should check out that box very closely for damage. Probably should also look and make sure CS sent everything. Donna is not perfect ya know (Donna, you didn't see that!). Make sure the door opens and closes properly. Check out the woodbox and make sure they sent the ones with the holes for proper smoking. While the woodbox is open toss in about 4-6 oz of wood, just to make sure it burns properly. Oops! that puppy's already seasoned. The only way to really check out the heating element is to let er rip for a few hours. Make sure that heating element fires up properly. Now, let's not waste any electricity. You know that butt you bought for your first smoke...? Carry it over near the smoker and stub your toe on something and let that slippery sucker slide right into the AQ. Dang! Guess you ought to just go ahead and smoke it. Christmas won't be ruined. Tie a bow arouud the AQ and be ready to do another one Christmas morning. Wonder aroma to wake up to!

Have fun with your new toy.

quote:

Originally posted by HeynowWv:
You know, I probably ought to open them to make sure there isn't any damage.....

Yup, you better. In fact tell her the Forum Moderator said so (sounds more official)

That way, you can have a couple of practice runs before then and won't be spending all day Christmas working with Q and can spend it with the family...eating.

I am indeed a lucky man. I have the best woman on the planet!

Just an update...I did open the box to check for any damage. Perfect condition..this thing is built like a tank. The AQ is a sight to behold! I even opened the door and tested the Adult Proof latch. I need a child to teach me how to lock it. After that, I put the box back on top so I don't spend my day peering out the kitchen door into the garage and seeing that Amerique logo staring at me. The wife has tried to convince me to go ahead and set it up. I'm trying to hold off...it's not easy....I'm not going to make it until the 25th, I just know it.

At last week's cook class, Stuart (President of Cookshack) went over their various models. The Amerique definitely has some positives when compared to other Cookshack cookers.

I got one of the first Ameriques and after you have as many good cookings with yours as I have had with mine, you should be well pleased with your purchase and choice.

quote:

Heynow -- Your wife must be a dandy. Let's hope Santa believes in equality for all

I'm not sure I agree with Wheelz on this one. Maybe your wife knew it was going to arrive early and just wanted torture . It sounds like it's working.

Okay....today I assembled the AQ....tomorrow I WILL give it's maiden seasoning....there, I said it... I'm a very weak Q-Man.... Off I go to find a big pork butt.

WE WERE GIVEN SOME GOOD RECIPES AND RUBS TO TRY

That's great Larry!

Welcome to the forum!

The maiden seasoning is complete. Five hours of 6 oz. of hickory and the inside is nice and brown. I am very impressed with the controls and construction of the AmeriQue. Very, very sturdy and the electronic controls are very intuitive.

It was a very warm day here for December, around 70 degrees. Walking around outside, you could smell the smoke coming out of the AQ. Smelled soooo good even though there was no meat inside. The wife even commented on how good it smelled. She is very impressed with the AQ, since every opportunity I get, I give her a tour of how it works and what it will do. I'm thinking she is rolling her eyes as I act like a giddy kid with my new toy.

I'll take pics of my first live run in the AQ...stay tuned.

No doubt! Can't wait to hear about your first cook! I like to live vicariously the excitement of a CS newbie. Brings back my first experiences.

Americue:
A fine buy indeed.
I have had mine for a month now and all is
tasty!
Ribs,brisket,sausage,even did a meat loaf.

The first smoke in the AQ has happened!
I was at Costco yesterday picking up some last minute Christmas items and I couldn't help but walk by the pork section. I didn't see any pork butts. I wanted a quick first smoke, so I picked up some spare ribs. Got home and cut them in to St. Louis style. I prepped them using the CS Rib Rub. Smelled great. Foiled the smoker lid and bottom of the AQ and set the temp to 230 and the time to 5 hours and put the two slabs in the cooker.

During the first seasoning of the AQ, my 6 oz of hickory didn't char much. So after reading in the forum about bending the element a little, I made a minor adjustment and put in 3 oz of apple.

I opened the AQ twice during the cook to make sure I didn't overcook the ribs. The second opening I put on some CS spicey BBQ sauce and spritzed them with some apple juice.

I placed the ribs in at 12 noon and by 4:30 one of the slabs was pulling away from the bone nicely. I removed one slab and ran the second one until 5:45. Temp was very consistant throughout the entire cook.


Results;

The ribs were very tender. They did not dry out at all. Not much bark, but will work on that next time. I could have finished them on the grill, but chose to get a taste this go around. I could add more wood next time, but the wife and son said that the amount of smoke was perfect.

They said that these ribs were the BEST that they had ever tasted! Even better than when I used my offset. The wife ususally puts a couple of cut ribs on her plate and that's it. Last night I saw her get up and get SECONDS! They both kept saying umh, umh, umh! Needless to say, I think they ate most everything. There may be a couple of ribs left from the two slabs.

Looks like we have a winner Cookshack! Turkey breast for Christmas is next...maybe put the Ham in the AQ too....What a great Toy!

Way to go! Dig those success stories!

Congrats, knew you couldn't wait.

No maybe about the ham! Put that puppy in there. One of the favorite things we do here is to put a normal (read cheep) cooked ham into the 55 and run it up to about 110 deg. It's easy and it is delicious. Just make sure you get a real ham, not one of the processed ones. And spiral cut gives you the most flavor but non sliced is good too.

quote:

Originally posted by Qnorth:
No maybe about the ham! Put that puppy in there. One of the favorite things we do here is to put a normal (read cheep) cooked ham into the 55 and run it up to about 110 deg. It's easy and it is delicious. Just make sure you get a real ham, not one of the processed ones. And spiral cut gives you the most flavor but non sliced is good too.

Should I put the ham in a pan? I am assuming that I should probe the ham to 110 degrees?

Thanks for the help.

Got a 13 pound Smithfield ham today. It has been smoked but not fully cooked. The label has directions to cook to an internal temp of 145*F. I figger I will set the Smokette full blast and take it to 150*F and put some extra cherry smoke on it. 3-4 hours maybe?

Can't say I agree with 110. It's pretty low, even in a cooked ham.

I'd heat it to at least 140, maybe 150 as you want to heat it all the way through. If you're adding smoke, lower temps are good, but if it's in there a long time it will dry out.

I put the ham on one of the racks. I guess putting foil under it wouldn't hurt and would make for easier cleanup. I got the 110 temp from the forum here... this is for a fully cooked ham. Didn't mention adding any wood but 2 oz should do it for starters.

That would be 110 internal temp. I normally set the smoker for 225. Takes about 3 hours which is more than enough to get good smoke.