cooking smokers?

Question

What do you cook in your smoker? We are doing our thanksgiving turkey in one this year. I would like to know what is your favorite thing to cook in your smoker? ALso any helpful hints about it would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Give yourself plenty of time with the Turkey. It could take as long as 8 hours depending upon the size. Use water in the tray if you have one in your smoker. We put strong spices like Rosemary and fennel in the water so when it boils it releases the flavoring. Use a good smoking wood like Hickory or Mesquite for the smoke. Use good Charcoal for the heat and remember to buy plenty of it to add during the cooking.
Have fun.

Answer 2

I don't cook in my smoker. I just use mine to smoke salmon. I go over to Half Moon Bay, and buy fresh salmon off the fishing boats.

I gave an electric smoker to my daughter and son-in-law, and they have really used it. They like to do trout and catfish on theirs.

Now for techniques. Smoking DEFINITELY CAN be overdone. The worst ribs I ever tasted were done on a smoker using oak wood. It was like chewing on ashes. Smoking should only be done the first hour or two of the cooking process. For something as large as a turkey, I'd say smoke the first 2 hours. Then transfer the turkey to a BBQ, and don't add any smoke chips, just briquettes. If you have a BBQ with a rotisserie, PERFECT! If you don't have a BBQ, put the turkey in a cooking bag, seal, and finish in the oven (you don't want the smoke flavor to transfer to the oven). As for smoking woods, use the the following table:

beef - any heavy smoking chip like oak, hickory, mesquite, etc
seafood - alder
poultry - mostly alder, but you can add a little oak or hickory

I don't like poultry or seafood cooked over mesquite. The heavy flavor overpowers the delicate flavor of the meat.

Answer 3

We cook all the time in our smoker - ribs, beer can chicken, pork loin, pork butt, etc. We use only hickory wood & remember to soak for at least 45 minutes...Also make sure there is water or beer in the pan & we also baste with apple juice to keep meat moist and juicy. For a turkey, it will take 8 - 10 hours. The main rule is to remember that slower is better.......Turkey sounds great - hope it turns out well for your dinner!!

Answer 4

We smoke briskets all the time in our smoker. You have to rub them with spices and then use the smoker that has the water basin. We prefer using charcoal and heavy blocks of hickory that we soak in water to make more smoke.

You should smoke on a really low heat for about 10 hours or more.

Everyone raves about our smoked brisket and pork loin or fresh ham.

Answer 5

turkey