Ribs 'n' Chicken

Chicken rubbed with home made cajun rub and smoked for 3.5 hours







Ribs rubed with stubs BBQ rub, smoked for 3 hours, foiled and smoked for 2 more then finished on grill






Only my second smoke. Just stuffed 1/2 the ribs doubt if the other half will make it through the evening

Looking good there Gandalf, hope you found this cooking session easier than the last.

Did the food taste good or what?

Mack wrote:Looking good there Gandalf, hope you found this cooking session easier than the last.

Did the food taste good or what?

Hell yeah it did

Still having trouble getting consistant smoke though. Tried wrapping a handfull of chips in foil but it seemed to buff away like mad for a bit then stop. Not sure if it's the cheap foil is use seems to fall to pieces in the fire quite easily

Anyway, I just resorted to throwing a pinch of chips on ever 15-20 mins. If my smoker box ever comes then I guess my problems may be solved (hint hint)

Hey Gandalf, you gotta do something to produce great food, even if it is throwing a wood chip on every 30 mins

The Smoker boxes are due in around the 22nd.

I agree the foil you are using is too thin. Go with the smoke box and you will be more that happy with the results.When I had one I never placed it in the center of the fire as just off to the side causes it to burn the wood down slower.

I have a smoke box on order, but it's out of stock

That food looks fantastic, if I can get to that standard some time soon I'll be delighted

You just hang out and ask every question you can think of and these guys will get you well on your way.

Ok, I get the concept of a smoke box, but doesn't this need topping up now & then? Do you have to try & fish it out of a bowl of hot coals mid cook? Is it not just as effective to put a few more layers of (cheap ) tinfoil around the wood?
In fact when you do use the tinfoil method do you just keep throwing fresh packs of wood on every hour or so?
I'm sure I'm missing something here & I'd be grateful if someone can enlighten me.

I don't fancy the idea of trying to fish out a hot metal tin to refill from the hot coals myself.......

Novice wrote:That food looks fantastic, if I can get to that standard some time soon I'll be delighted

That was my second try and smoking and tasted fantastic

It's not that hard, just follow the advice you get here and elsewhere

No fishing required or recomended. I try and fill the box as much as possible and then NOT place it directly on the coals for a longer burn. Chips are usually so thin and dry they burn out quickly and that's wht some recomend you soak them. Just play army and toss in a new bomb when the other has expired.

You can use an empty food tin ... load it with wood chunks, cover the end with HD foil, poke 3 or 4 holes in the foil, lay the tin down on it's side over the coals. Have another one ready to swap out in about 1 hr to 1½ hrs. Cheap alternative.

Thanks for the info. So I have it straight in my head, I have various bags of wood chips, so you would soak these in water for 20 mins (or so), & FILL a tin can, cover the end with foil with holes in. This lasts for 1.5 hrs then you'd re-fill?

Does this give a steady flow of smoke?

I have been using the chips dry, a handful at a time in small foil packs (with holes) & putting a new one in every 2 hrs or so. But I think they burn through quite quickly, I get quite a bit of white smoke initially, then much less as time goes on until the next pack.

I don't know any other smoker bbq'ers, other than the good people on this forum, so thanks in advance for the advice

To soak or not to soak it the question. Using chips (whether foiling, boxing, or placing straight on the fire) I always soak them for at least 30 minutes; otherwise they will burn up too quickly. If using good sized chunks (fist sized) I rarely soak those...they last much longer.

Just one opinion here.

Carpe 'Que,
Jim Rhino

It sounds like you have plenty of smoke with the method you are using. Try a stronger wood if you need more flavour. It's less expensive that way too.

You do need to get hold of some wood chunks and forget about the chips.. They work fine on a gasser but with a smoker you want some chunks. If you can get maple, apple, cherry or oak you can always cut your own chunks from logs. You will get longer smoke time and you will not be adding aluminum vapors onto your food. If ya want to see what foil can do, take a piece of foil and place it on your stove top and see the smoke that comes off of it.. I dont know about you, but I dont want that stuff anywhere near my food.