Author Topic: Just ordered the #3  (Read 6376 times)

wehill

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Just ordered the #3
« on: February 13, 2017, 10:00:25 PM »
Just finished ordering the #3.  Hate to spend the money on another smoker ... just got tired of having to babysit my Oklahoma Joe's off-set smoker.  Have no idea how long it will take to get it to Oklahoma City via FedEx Ground. 

I'm thinking the first thing I will smoke is a big ole brisket.  Any suggestions?
Walt
http://cwuap.com/gallery-15.htm
Claire and Walt's Underwater Adventures and Photography.
Oklahoma City

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old sarge

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2017, 10:12:46 PM »
Brisket is fine. Plenty of recipes and tips in the beef section.  And congratulations on #3.
David from Arizona
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Airchair

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2017, 11:32:17 PM »
Congrats on the SI3 Wehill. I purchased a 3D a couple months ago and it doesn't disappoint. As far as first smoke I chose a pork butt. Its a long smoke and the finished product is hard to screw up. This is the first time I've ever smoked so I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. There is an endless amount of info here and if you can't find what your looking for Im sure someone can answer your question. Good luck....you'll be smoking in no time.

Court
Court
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SI 3D, Weber Genesis, Weber Kettle Grill

Glock_21

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2017, 11:51:48 PM »
Good to see another Oklahoma guy on here.  I'm an hour north of you.

+1 on the pork butt for the first smoke.  You might as well go ahead and place an order with smokinlicious.  Get a box of wood headed you way.

Travis from North Central Oklahoma
SI #3 with Bella Smoke Generator, Traeger Texas Grill, Kamado Joe Classic 3 and Joe Jr, Anova WiFi 900 watt

Meatball

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2017, 01:03:23 AM »
Glock 21 has the right idea....  order your wood and get your basics so your ready to roll when you get your smoker.
There are plenty of ideas on here for rubs and prep for brisket and prep work. I would suggest looking online at some of the videos by guys like Aaron Franklin or Meatheads site for more ideas. Meatheads site is a really good source of info for just about everything you need.
   http://amazingribs.com/meathead/meet_meathead.html
Bobby
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NDKoze

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2017, 02:48:32 AM »
Welcome from ND Wehill! You are going to love your #3.

I usually recommend a Boston Butt for first smokes. But, brisket will work great too. I would recommend taking a look at the stickied threads in the beef and pork sections for the recommended processes.

Many of the tricks that you needed with your Oklahoma Joe (or other wood/charcoal/propane smokers) like foiling, spritzing, etc. are not needed with the SI smokers. So, for your first couple of smokes, I would try to follow some proven processes.

Good quality smoking wood is important too. Many of us here have had really great luck with www.smokinlicious.com.

The fun is just beginning on your journey into "Lazy-Q".
Gregg - Fargo, ND
Smokin-It #3 (purchased in 2014) that replaced a Masterbuilt XL (ugh) and a 10+ Year-Old Big Chief (still used for fish), and few others over the years, along with variety of Weber Gas/Charcoal Grills, Anova Sous Vide, etc. devices.

JustChillin

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #6 on: February 14, 2017, 07:47:29 AM »
Congrats on your purchase. I too feel that the pork butt is more forgiving and a wise decision for a first smoke but a brisket should work just fine.
David from Roswell,GA. My tools currently include the SI #2 with an Auber, Grill Dome, Solaire 27", Holland Grill (Companion) & Weber (Smokey Joe). The Companion & SJ are primarily used for tailgating.

drains

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #7 on: February 14, 2017, 09:20:58 AM »
Welcome from Texas! The #3 is a great choice. You will definitely need your wood to have the proper moisture content(20% or higher) so keep that in mind. Good wood is very important. I also recommend a bone in Boston butt that weighs over 7 pounds. Anything smaller tends to present problems. Good luck.
Dale from East Texas
Smokin It #3

ibbones

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2017, 12:19:15 PM »

 Congrats on one fine (and last one you will ever buy) smoker.  I bought mine almost a year ago but had been saving nickels and dimes for almost two years.  I KNEW I wanted it and after I ordered it had buyers remorse really bad.  Even after I had it for a few months, I still questioned myself about spending the money but every time I used it, I was soooo impressed.  Over the thanksgiving holiday, I gave away an old bag of charcoal I have had stuck away in the corner that I knew I will NEVER use again.
Enjoy your well built smoker and like others, get some good smoking wood soon because it will not take too long for the smoker to get to your doorstep. ;)
Michael "BONES" T. 
Victoria, Texas
3D

wehill

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #9 on: February 15, 2017, 02:08:17 PM »
Changed my mind on the brisket.  Decided to smoke about 10 pounds of country style ribs.  Thought that $13.60 worth of the country style ribs was a better first smoke risk than a $45 dollar brisket.
Walt
http://cwuap.com/gallery-15.htm
Claire and Walt's Underwater Adventures and Photography.
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SuperDave

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2017, 02:25:22 PM »
Changed my mind on the brisket.  Decided to smoke about 10 pounds of country style ribs.  Thought that $13.60 worth of the country style ribs was a better first smoke risk than a $45 dollar brisket.
Depending on how thick they were cut, you are probably looking at 4.5 - 5 hours at 235 degrees.  Soak in a pork brine for about the same amount of time as the cook time, rinse, rub and go! 
Model 4, Harrisville, Utah

wehill

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2017, 09:06:38 AM »
Changed my mind on the brisket.  Decided to smoke about 10 pounds of country style ribs.  Thought that $13.60 worth of the country style ribs was a better first smoke risk than a $45 dollar brisket.
Depending on how thick they were cut, you are probably looking at 4.5 - 5 hours at 235 degrees.  Soak in a pork brine for about the same amount of time as the cook time, rinse, rub and go!

Dave, thanks for the input.  I will skip the brine as I am on a very low salt diet.  I do put a small amount of sea salt in my home made rubs.  Have been using the same ole rub formula for years.  I cut the salt down in the rub about seven years ago.  Many, many years ago I used to cold smoke [at 75 to 90 degrees for 2 to 4 days] lots of turkeys and would sometimes brine them before the cold smoke.
Walt
http://cwuap.com/gallery-15.htm
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wehill

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2017, 07:33:08 PM »
Ok, I put the 10 pounds of Country Style Ribs in the Smoker about 12:00 today.  I put my rib rub on then the night before so they had about 15 hours on the fridge.  I set the temperature at 225, put the ribs on the 2nd level from the top of the #3.  Used foil to line the bottom of the smoker and also made a tent of foil over the firebox.  Used a small foil baking pan filled with applejuice in the bottom of the #3 and against the firebox.  Put about 6 ounces of a mix of hickory and cherry wood in the fire box.

Never touched the #3 until the ribs had been in the smoker for 5 and 1/2 hours.  The meat on these ribs were about 1 1/8 in thick.  In my experience smoking ribs like that would have taken somewhere around 6 hours to get them to the doneness the way I like them.  After taking them out of the smoker, I set them on the counter covered with foil for about 30 minutes.  Rescued two of them onto a plate and gave them a try.

They were pretty close to the doneness [yes I know doneness isn't a word] that I like.  Next time I might add another 30 to 45 minutes in the smoker.   The taste was good.  I would prefer more of a smoke flavor.  I also think that next time I will lay off my normal rub and just use some olive oil with a little salt and black pepper.  Also I think I will take them out after about 6 hours and slather them with my BBQ sauce and pop them back in for another 30 minutes.

This was my first time, ever, to smoke the Country Style ribs.  These things have a great flavor.  The meat was really easy to pull the meat off of the bones and separate the fat from the lean.  It just came right off.  On the 2nd I just used the regular table knife and scraped the meat off easily.

All and all, I thought this was a pretty good smoke for the first time with this electric #3.

Anyone have any ideas on how to increase the "wood flavor" with these electric smokers?

I think that is the only issue I am going to have with this Smoke-It #3.  The preparation of the smoker and post smoke clean-up is a little more effort, but beats the babysitting of my old off-set.
Walt
http://cwuap.com/gallery-15.htm
Claire and Walt's Underwater Adventures and Photography.
Oklahoma City

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old sarge

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2017, 08:19:12 PM »
I would stick with just hickory for a stronger smoke flavor. Except for alder that I use for salmon, hickory is all I use for beef and pork. Glad the first smoke came out pretty good. Congratulations.
David from Arizona
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LEM Big Bite #8 Grinder
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SuperDave

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Re: Just ordered the #3
« Reply #14 on: February 18, 2017, 09:54:56 PM »
Walt, when you did your clean up, how spent was your wood chunks?  6 ounces of wood for ribs should have been a strong smoke for these smokers. 
Model 4, Harrisville, Utah