Hello from Kansas. A few questions.

[Stormy]

My name is Fred and live in the KC area, Kansas side. New to the forum, I have been lurking last couple of weeks.

My wife's friends husband owns a cookshack smoker. I was invited to a party where he made some damn good brisket. That was a few years back and I have always been interested in smoking since then but never did take the dive.

Fast forward to this summer, and my wife likes garage sales.. I bought an old use bradley smoker there that uses wood pucks to smoke. I got what I felt was a good deal on it. $25, with the smoke biscuits and all. Since then I am really into this and have put out some really good Q.

This smokers seal is about to give out and is on its last leg. I have to use a large rock to keep the door closed, lol.

So now Im shopping for a new smoker and have been lusting over the smokin-it #2.

Here is finally my question. 

With my smokes i have been making my meat be it chicken, pork butt or brisket so far. With the bradley smoker I have been opening it during my smoke to tend to my beans. Or insert whatever side dish here that i want to accompany my meal. Reading here it appears that with the smokin-it opening the doors mid smoke is a no no to tend to my sides. Is this just a general rule or do I need to change the way I make my meals with the smoker?

Any help appreciated. Thank you.

 

[bigbassnutt]

Hi Fred, these smokers maintain a moist environment when the door remains closed. Opening it will allow some of that moisture to escape, how much is debatable. The only times I really open mine mid smoke is if I am making 2 pork shoulders at one time and one finishes early. Just my opinion but when I smoke just one at a time and leave the door closed till it's ready to take out, the meat seems to be a little more juicy.

 

[DivotMaker]

Hey Fred, glad you found us!  First, let me just say you're in the right place!  Secondly, let me say that your cooking habits will be just fine with a SI.  We have many folks who do side dishes like you do.  I, personally, don't.  I would rather focus on getting the absolute best-quality meat out of my smoker, and I subscribe to the Lazy Q method of "as little human intervention as possible."  Mike's right about the door opening debate...some don't think it makes a difference, and some of us do.

Bottom line....  You won't find a better-built smoker in this price range - not even Cookshack (at 3 times the price).  One thing I would recommend, though, is go for the #3 if it's in your budget.  Especially if you like room for lots of things, and full briskets, that 20" depth is amazing.  You can always smoke less in it, but you can never smoke more in a smaller unit.  You will find the SI in a completely different class than what you are used to.  Not knocking the Bradley - especially one you got a ton of use out of for $25! - it's just different.  No gaskets to wear out, no rocks necessary to keep the door closed.

Let us know how else we can help!

 

[Limey]

Hi Fred, +1 on Tony's comments. Definitely go for the #3 if it's in the budget.

 

[smokeasaurus]

I have two friends that have Cookshacks.......when they see my Smokin-It #3.....they leave grumbling to themselves.

Same quality. Same great support. Darn near half the price.

........and you have this great forum  8) 8)

 

[NDKoze]

I have two friends that have Cookshacks.......when they see my Smokin-It #3.....they leave grumbling to themselves.

Same quality. Same great support. Darn near half the price.

........and you have this great forum  8) 8)

Plus a 3-Year Warranty!

 

[smokeasaurus]

I have two friends that have Cookshacks.......when they see my Smokin-It #3.....they leave grumbling to themselves.

Same quality. Same great support. Darn near half the price.

........and you have this great forum  8) 8)

Plus a 3-Year Warranty!

It just keeps getting better.......I would order a Smokin-It......it is the right thing to do  8)

 

[DivotMaker]

I have two friends that have Cookshacks.......when they see my Smokin-It #3.....they leave grumbling to themselves.

Same quality. Same great support. Darn near half the price.

........and you have this great forum  8) 8)

Plus a 3-Year Warranty!

It just keeps getting better.......I would order a Smokin-It......it is the right thing to do  8)

And you'll feel good about yourself for doing so. ;D ;D  No pressure here from us happy owners, though!

 

[jcboxlot]

My humble opine is if you let the smoke go for 2 hours or so, you can "safely" open the box to add your sides.


Give or take a few 15 mins,  my experience is that after about 2 hours you are "cooking" not smoking in the box.

 

[SconnieQ]

Opening and closing the smoker over and over is discouraged for any smoker, not just the SI. You are releasing heat, moisture and smoke no matter what the brand. Lots of people here smoke sides. But... you can get it all to work even better by resisting the temptation to do so much "tending". Minimize the number of times you need to open the smoker. Most of the time, tendencies to tend are just old grilling and smoking habits that need to be broken.

 

[Stormy]

Opening and closing the smoker over and over is discouraged for any smoker, not just the SI. You are releasing heat, moisture and smoke no matter what the brand. Lots of people here smoke sides. But... you can get it all to work even better by resisting the temptation to do so much "tending". Minimize the number of times you need to open the smoker. Most of the time, tendencies to tend are just old grilling and smoking habits that need to be broken.

My main concern is imparting the smoke flavor over the surface area of the beans .. after smoking for an hour for example and stiring the beans I am working the existing smoked surface into the beans so that I can repeat the process a few times thus maximizing the smoke flavor. Does that make sense?

My theory could be off? I'm willing to listen and learn more. 

 

[NDKoze]

This can be done. I would just try to be fast about it. For example, I would open the door, take out the bean pan, close the door, stir the beans, and then put the beans back in. The temp in the smoker will recover pretty fast. It is the loss of moisture that occurs by opening that is the biggest loss.

 

[mizzoufan]

I agree with not opening...to an extent.  I frequently do sides, but usually for just the last 1-1.5 hours of a smoke and it's just to put the side pans in.  If you must stir your beans several times, I would recommend that the stirring doesn't have to be thorough.  All you're trying to do is get some of the surface mixed in and present a fresh surface to grab smoke.

Just put a glove on, open and pull the rack halfway out, make 1-2 quick passes with your spoon and close it back up.  I think moisture will recover very quickly too (assuming you still have water in your water pan)

 

[drains]

Welcome from Texas Fred! A quick opening of the door shouldn't set your plans back much at all. I've put beans in my #3 but only about 2 hours before the meat was going to be ready so no stirring needed. Good luck and enjoy your new smoker.

 

[prudentsmoker]

I will say that I started out with the #2 and soon gave it to my son and bought #3. No regrets.

 

[DivotMaker]

Hey Fred, here's a thought:  Smoke your sides separate from the meat!  Sides keep (and so does meat).  And, since a pan of beans doesn't take a great deal of time to smoke, you could easily smoke them after you pull and wrap your meat to rest.  That's what I do, if I want a smoky side.  Personally, I put much more concern and effort into making a perfect $40-$100 piece of meat than I do a $3 pan of beans.  I understand wanting to cook everything at once, but something is bound to give to do so.  Just my 2¢...

 

[Stormy]

Thanks for the ideas guy. Appreciate the feedback

 

[DivotMaker]

Check out the Announcements section, Fred!  We're releasing the new Model 2A and 3A; these have a built-in Auber PID controller!  Should hit the website this weekend.