Newbie with a #2

[Charlie]

My first posting after much reading before and after the arrival of my new #2. A lot of great information on this forum, a testament to the passion of the members.

I have never smoked before but eager to learn. After seasoning, I intend to jump right in. I intend to order Smokilicious, double filet wood chunks, 3 varieties; hickory, maple and cherry . If I only Q on the weekend/s. How big of a box to order, 1/3, 2/3 or full box? How long will the wood last in my cool basement before it dries out? I hate to order too large of a box and it go bad, dry out, or too small and be more costly. If the wood won't go bad, I will just order the Serious box. This is all new to me. Thanks.

 

[old sarge]

Just a guess but in a cool basement I don't think it will dry out very soon.  On occasion, I have had to refresh some dry wood under a faucet and set aside for a few days. And I haven't noticed a problem. But that is just me.  And welcome to the family of SI owners.

 

[Charlie]

Thank you. So, if I get the Serious box and am not able to use all the wood for say a year, the moisture content should be acceptable to smoke?
Hoping to smoke 2 birds this weekend. I found Divotmaker's brine recipe and instructions for a whole chicken. Do I place the chicken directly on the rakes or on top of a pan? The misses is excited for the meal but more importantly that she is not having to cook.

 

[old sarge]

Regarding the wood, please look at the following link:
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=3349.0
There is a lot of good discussion here. Thirteen pages worth.  On page 7 is a photo certifying moisture content on a shipment.  When I mentioned running some wood under a faucet I was not referring to soaking for a long time.  Just refreshing or rehydrating.  You can see in the photo a mention of rehydrating.  Also you will read about checking moisture with a meter.  They are inexpensive and available in hardware stores or on Amazon. So if you ever have doubts about wood after a long storage, an inexpensive meter can help. A good yet inexpensive digital scale is a nice accessory to have to weigh wood so you can cut to the weight you desire.

As for the chicken, may I suggest you read through the book at this link?  It was written by DivotMaker, aka Tony, and is worth it's weight in gold. A lot of territory is covered.  The chicken, like all meat will go directly on the rack; a pan could interfere with the smoke. You can have a pan on a lower rack to catch drippings if you desire but I am not sure if any members go that route.

http://www.smokin-it.com/v/vspfiles/files/Lazy-Q.pdf

Enjoy and good luck.

 

[Charlie]

Thanks David. I have printed out the Lazy Q and have some homework.

 

[LarryD]

I'm new as of two weeks ago, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.    I'm using 'junk' wood that I bought from an Ace Hardware and getting fantastic results... I can only imagine what high quality wood like that from smokinlicious will do.  As long as you store it where it can breathe it should be fine for a really long time.  Even 'bad/dry' smokinlicious wood is bound to be better than what I'm using.

 

[Charlie]

Thanks LarryD. I will purchase the 3 varieties on Monday. Have 2 days to decide which size box.
Seasoning the #2 now. In 4 hours, in goes 2 brined chickens. The Lazy Q is wonderful. Following it to the T right now.

 

[DivotMaker]

Hi Charlie!  The 1 cubic foot box will last you a long time!  Good choices, btw!  As for the chickens, place them right on the shelf.  I don't ever use pans under my meat.  You get the best smoke penetration, and even cooking this way.  Chickens & turkeys have the dark meat on the bottom, and it takes longer to cook.  So, by having it directly on the shelf, you are cooking the dark meat at the same rate the breast is cooking....works out well!

 

[Charlie]

Thanks Tony. Followed your recipe for the chicken. Tasted incredible. As I cut the brined bird, juices were gushing out. Used 2.5 oz hickory, 250, took 3.5 hours. Great Lazy Q manual.
One bird was seasoned with Canjun and the other with Old Bay. Could not tell the difference. The smoke had penetrated thru out. The family feasted.  I enjoyed the mire poiux vegetables as much as the chicken.

Attached photos, because they are cool.

Concerning the 1 cubic foot box, it will last a long time but will it dry out if kept in my basement for say over a year?

 

[DivotMaker]

Nice-looking birds, Charlie!  Yes, the wood will lose moisture content, over time, but will still be better than any of the "big box" wood.  I'm still working on 2 boxes (different varieties) that are over a year old, with no problems.

 

[Charlie]

Good to know. That makes my decision alot easier.
Questions from my first smoke:
  Fortunately the 2 birds fit on the same rake, if I had to place them on 2 rakes, I assume the bottom would cook faster. So, would you have removed the bottom one when the IT was hit or let it go until the top IT was met? In reading many posts, "keep the door closed until IT is hit".
Next, I will probably reduce my hickory from 2.5 to 2.0. Do I use (2) 1 oz chunks or (1) single 2 oz chunk?
I also made the mistake of not preparing the brine solution the night before. I used cold water from the tap that morning which was not cold enough, the birds were 55 degrees out of the brining pot. I believe this could get the bacteria growing at a temp greater than 40 degrees.
Thanks for the guidance.

 

[DivotMaker]

Charlie,

If you are smoking 2 items on different shelves, it's great to have 2 thermometer probes, so you know when the lower meat is done. It's OK to open the door, towards the end of the smoke, especially if the lower meat is done and ready to come out!

If you want to make sure your brine is at fridge temp, cut the water back and add ice to bring it up to the gallon mark (not a bad idea to mark the 1 gallon point on your brining vessel).  When I make my butt brine, I use 50% of the water, and add all of the salt & spices while it heats.  Then, I remove from heat and fill the rest with ice.  When I add the meat, their are still some unmelted ice cubes, so I know it's cold enough.

 

[Charlie]

Thanks Tony.
What are you thoughts on the wood chunks? Better off (1) 2 oz chunk or (2) 1 oz chunks? I believe I have read some members usually want 2 chunks in the box. However, the smaller the chunk the quicker and shorter it will smoke. For a chicken, there is not much wood needed to begin with.

 

[DivotMaker]

Charlie, I don't have a preference on numbers of chunks.  I really just keep it simple... if I have one chunk the right weight, that's what I use!  If I'm doing low-temp smokes, like jerky (at 140), I will sliver a few chunks (too cheap to buy chips, when I have 30 lbs of chunks).  But for normal smokes, I just use whatever works!

 

[Charlie]

Thanks for the response.
This weekend is baby back ribs following the Lazy Q. If I will be doing 2 rack of ribs and starting on the top shelf working down, do I place the next rack directly under the top shelf or say skip a shelf to allow more air flow between the two racks.

 

[DivotMaker]

Charlie, I place the racks for ribs in the next slot - they fit, and heat just fine.

 

[Charlie]

Ok. Thanks.

 

[NDKoze]

Usually when you cut your racks in half, one side is a little bit bigger than the other. You would want to put the two larger halves on the lower rack with the smaller ones toward the top. You want both racks as high as possible in the smoker without getting too close to the roof of the smoker.

 

[Charlie]

Super. Thanks.