Smokers with mechanical thermostats are not very accurate from one smoker to another. Electronic thermostats cannot measure uniformity of temperature distribution inside the smoker.

I think the first thing I would do is to get to know the personality of your smoker by doing the following:

Get a few small containers of cooking oil and place them in various locations of your smoker, set the temperature, and operate the smoker for about 30 minutes. After that, check the oil temperature at each location. Record the temperatures. Try again the same experiment but set the thermostat at different settings. You will get to know much better what the actual temperature you are likely to get at different thermostat settings.

The water bowl is for different recipes, dry smoke or wet smoke, also to catch drippings.

Don�t worry about opening the door. It is interesting how people worry about losing heat. Each cubic foot of air can only hold 0.017 BTU of heat per degree F, or, you only loss 0.005 watts of power per degree F per cubic foot of air. A Masterbuilt smoker has only 2.5 cubic feet of air and the heating element can put out 500 watts (?) .

I would not find it necessary to add wood chips in pre-heating.

Wrapping in foil or not depends on recipe and meat you are smoking.

Have fun.

dcarch

DC, thanks for responding. Wouldn't you know it, I found out last night that my entire family is coming over at lunchtime today. Definitely not a day to experiment with smoking. So we're just grilling hamburgers. But I'm going to put a dry rub on the pork shoulder roast and brisket, let them sit overnight in the fridge, and give it a try tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll learn as I go.

We have the MasterBuilt Smoker and we LOVE IT!!!
Get his Cookbook it is awsome!!!!

Every recipe is fantastic and easy to follow.

It's called
DADGUM Thast's Good
by John McLemore
Linda

Shambo, I was hoping someone with a MB smoke would respond since not all electric smokers are alike. We have a SmokinTex which is basically a knockoff of Cookshack. It doesn't have a water bowl, so I can't speak to that. This is how our SmokinTex works.

Our smoker has a hole in the top, I assume it's to vent smoke. I thread the probe for a remote thermometer through the hole and insert the probe in whatever I'm smoking. Then I can monitor the temperature remotely. Right now our thermometer is on the fritz and as it's our 4th or 5th, I'm not sure if I'm going to replace it. However I have a general idea of how long it takes to smoke a pork shoulder or turkey or whatever, so I let it go for X hours, then test with a thermopen.

I set the thermostat on the smoker to about 200F for most things, and put the wood chips into the smoker box when I start it up. I don't pre-heat the smoker at all, I put food into it when I start. Within about 10 minutes, smoke will start to vent from the smoke hole.

Don't open the door more often than absolutely necessary. Keep notes on how long different foods take so you get a ballpark estimate of how long you can let it go. Every time you open the door, you drop the temperature to whatever ambient temperature is outdoors, and a drop from 200F to 70F or 20F (we used this in Massachusetts to smoke our Thanksgiving turkeys) is a lot for the smoker to make up. At 200F you don't risk overcooking unless you forget to check on it for hours, so you can let it go for an hour or two between checking.

Most of the experts say that after a couple of hours, smoke isn't taken up any more so you can take the food out and finish it in the oven. Wrapping in foil can stop the meat from drying out, but I never do this. Chicken and turkey skin will turn into shoe leather if you smoke it for too long - sorry I don't remember how long this is. Our first turkey which we smoked for about 8 hours ended up having to be skinned before eating because the skin was inedible. Typically I smoke chickens for about 30 minutes, and turkeys for 1-2 hours, then finish in the oven.

With big cuts of meat like a whole shoulder or ham, I sometimes let it cook entirely in the smoker because it's less messy than finishing in the oven. Other times I'll put it in the oven because it's faster. That's your choice.

Hope this helps,
Cheryl

Cheryl, thanks so much for your reply. You gave me a lot of valuable information, and I don't feel so lost. I was wondering about using a temperature probe, but i think I've run into the same problem you have. The ones I've used for my grill don't seem to last very long. I think the heat affects the wire coming from the probe, and I've not been able to locate any replacement probes. So I've pretty much given up on using them.

I remembered reading about being able to finish off the meat in the oven. But I wasn't sure if my memory was serving me well. Thanks for bringing that up because that may be what I have to do today. Yesterday was a perfect mid-70s day. Today is in the low 60s, so I was thinking of just doing the smoking part in the smoker & finishing up in the oven.

Thanks for your help.

The problem with probe type temperature sensors is that they are known as thermocouple devices, and they may not be totally waterproof ( for instance, Type K � chromel (+) and alumel (-)). and can be damaged if subject to frequent moist conditions.

The other issue with thermocouple devices is that, depending on the electronics, they should be away from power lines, otherwise they can produce wrong readings.

dcarch

Shambo we also have a Masterbuilt electric smoker, but Elery won't be here until this evening. I'll ask him then, he's the "expert" in the family, I haven't used it yet!

Annie

Linda, I came across the Dadgum website a bit ago but wondered if it would be worthwhile. Thanks for answering that question. In fact, I'm using its recipes today for the brisket & pork butt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dadgum That's Good!

Annie, thanks. I'd appreciate Elery's expertise. I'm pretty nervous about this experiment just because I don't know what to expect. And there's so much conflicting advice online. Unfortunately, some basic questions aren't addressed that are specific to certain brands & models of smokers.

Shambo,

We also have the MB electric smoker.

Haven't purchased commercial bacon since we purchased the MB. We use freshly ground black pepper & pure CT maple syrup for seasoning and much less salt than commercial bacon. The pork belly is not readily available here so we order it from WF 25 lbs. at a time & have a bacon-making heyday. The smell always brings neighbors from far & wide! (grin) We've settled on apple wood for bacon.

Smoked chicken has proved to not be one of our favorites. We like the chicken...just not for the use we'd intended it for (Mexican food). It's great for sandwiches though. Again, we use apple wood chips and allow the chicken to stay in the smoker until done. We go with 220-225 degrees and, depending on the size of the bird, it takes anywhere from 4-5 hours. We've never had the skin get funky.

Boston Pork Butt is a favorite. We use oak chips and leave it in the smoker for 4-5 hours then move to the oven. We use a dry rub the night before smoking and a wet mop while in the smoker about every 30 minutes, or when we think about it. :) This is for about 5 lbs. of meat. Same temperature. Actually, we use the same temp for everything.

We also love smoked Mac 'n Cheese. Do not cover. An 8x8" disposable pan is done in 1-1/2 hours using 4 cups white sauce with cheese added (including marscapone) to a pound of pasta.

We haven't had as much success with ribs. We need to take them from the smoker & move to the oven...or, we need to boil a bit before smoking. So far, ours have been tough.

Regarding the Dadgum, That's Good cookbook...I ordered it and returned. It seemed to be geared more for a southern palette & we did not care for the recipes. We're learning through experimentation. :)

Have fun today! It is chillier than yesterday with the darn wind!

/tricia

Tricia, thanks for the info. The smoked mac & cheese sounds great. One of the main reasons I wanted to give smoking a try is because of my husband's low salt regimen. I thought the smokey flavor would make some meats extra special. I'm looking forward to making beans with home-smoked pork. I now use grocery store ham shanks, and they're a lot of work -- soaking over night, changing the soaking water 2-3 times, boiling for an hour, and then pouring off the water, etc. All that to lessen the saltiness in order to make a pot of beans with a hint of smokey goodness.

Shanmbo, Elery is here, he says that he fills the water pan with water and leaves it during the entire cooking process. Occasionally he'll use apple juice or beer, and sometimes he adds garlic cloves or other ingredients to the water pan.

He opens the door every hour to check the doneness of the meat and after smoking for a while he either wraps the meat in foil and finishes cooking in the smoker or, depending on the weather, brings it inside to finish off in the oven.

Ours has a little pull out tray for chips, so he pulls that out and adds chips throughout the smoking process as needed. I hope that helps.

Your items all need different cooking times and temperatures. The pork Elery says he rubs liberally with whatever rub mix you like, smokes until it reaches 140F and then wrap it and finish it to 200F, or finish it in the oven.

Annie

Annie, a big thank-you to Elery. He just confirmed something for me. I took both the brisket & pork shoulder out of the smoker after about 4-1/2 hours because I didn't want to make trips outside after dark. So I wrapped them both in foil and stuck them in the oven. Just a few minutes ago I checked the pork temp. It was at 160 but didn't feel tender. The Masterbuilt site said to stop all cooking at 160, but after checking the Amazing Ribs site, I decided to keep the pork in the oven until it hit at least 190. So I was glad to read that Elery shoots for a higher temp too.

Thanks!

I would keep the pork at 160F and cook longer. At 190F the meat will shrink more and become drier.

In my sous vide cooker, I cook pork at 150F and 24 hours. Tender and juicy.

dcarch

shambo, he gave me some explanation about the collagen breaking down adn the fat melting. Says with butt/shoulder it's a good thing, other cuts would dry out.

Annie

Shambo, 160F is the temperature at which the collagen breaks down, and the fat in the tough cut begins to melt. If you watch a probe thermometer inserted into the pork, you'll see that the temperature seems to stall at 160F for a long time. Once you get past this, temperatures will begin to rise more quickly again.

If you continue to cook, you'll eventually get to the point where all the fat is rendered out so the meat is dry, though what is left is more tender. So you have to decide what your "sweet spot" is. Personally I aim for around 165 -170F because I dislike dry pork, but many prefer a softer texture than I do. If you use BBQ sauce on the meat, you may not notice the drier finish.

This is true when smoking ribs as well, so don't take these out too soon - you'll get nice smoke flavor, but very chewy meat.

Cheryl

Well, I just took both pieces of meat out of the oven. I'm going to let them cool a bit before refrigerating them. I've read about the "stall" and about taking it really slow until the meat gets beyond 170. This is my first try, & I'll probably learn from my mistakes. I was going for pork that could easily be "pulled," so at 160 it just wasn't ready. I'm just happy that I finally broke down and used the smoker.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

It's 11:30 p.m., and I'm heading for bed. My husband already is asleep, and I was going to wrap up the meat in plastic before putting it in the fridge. Of course, I couldn't resist slicing a chunk off the brisket. It was wonderful! I'm so pleased with the result, and I know my husband is going to love having a brisket sandwich tomorrow for lunch. What a treat! And the lack of salt in the dry rub didn't make any difference. The smoke added a wonderful flavor dimension.

So, again, thanks to all of you who replied and gave advice. I feel much more secure in using the smoker and tackling new meats & recipes.

Congradulations!

Smoke salmon, shrimps, lobsters, scallops ----------.

Also, think bacon.

dcarch