First timer help

[bigcheese]

Hi guys, I am completely new to all this do go easy please!!!!
I bought a offset smoker after watching man v food because I really like the look of some of the smoked food that they do.
I have read that offset is not really the best way to start out and I am aware that there are some allterations that need to be made for it to work at its best. Anyways the thing is that I have had absolutely no practise at smoking anything yet but because I have this lovley new smoker everyone's seems to assume that I can use it. My family are having a big party in a few weeks and want me to do the cooking, can I use the smoker just as a BBQ for now? If so has anyone got any tips for some excellent food? Or just advise on any of it as I don't want to disappoint!

Many thanks
Pete

[KamadoSimon]

Hi and welcome - worth posting a picture of your offset so people can give you advice on how best to use it. Also, what kind of food are you thinking of preparing? Cheers, Simon

[bigcheese]

Hi Simon,

I havnt actually built it yet but here's the eBay listing of it

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-CHARCOAL- ... 306wt_1016

I want to do somthing along the lines of ribs, chicken or a nice big cut of meat but as I said I don't think I would be able to smoke anything as I have zero practise.

Thanks

[KamadoSimon]

Caveat: I haven't got or cooked on one of these!

You can indeed BBQ on this. To smoke you would have your charcoal & / or wood in the left hand smaller box. To BBQ your charcoal will be in the bottom of the larger area.

So you need some decent charcoal - look for lumpwood charcoal with no additives. Avoid instant light stuff.

When you have built it, you'll need to test how well you can hold lower temperatures. You control the temperature by varying the inlet for air & the exhaust for hot gases. From the picture it would seem that the inlet controls will be on your smoker box & your exit is the chimney on the right. Varying both of these will help you control the temp. Fully open = hot as possible. Nearly fully closed will mean as low as possible. How air tight the lids & rest of the fittings are on the BBQ will make it easier or not to control the smoking / BBQ temperature.

Ribs / larger cuts of meat benefit from longer cooking at lower temperatures - so you need to test how well you can maintain the lower temperatures.

Smaller items & the chicken will benefit from a higher temperature for a shorter period of time.

I'd suggest building it & lighting a fire & see how well you can maintain temperature &, at least for the first few cooks, let that dictate the type of food you cook.

From the design it looks as if it would be large enough to build the fire on one side of the grid & place the food on the other side - helping you to do longer / slower cooks indirectly.

Without even using the smokebox, you can add some nice smokey flavour by putting wood chips / chunks on the charcoal at the start of cooking.

Hope that helps...

EDIT: For your first trial cooks, I would do a chicken or two - reasonably cheap to do a trial on. If you can maintain a decent lower temperature (250-300), then for your party I might look at something like a pork shoulder as larger pork cuts are pretty forgiving.

Also, if you can, take the temperature gauge off the lid & test it by dipping the tip into very recently boiled water to make sure it is accurate. Obviously don't submerge & be careful with boiling water...

[bigcheese]

Thanks for the great advise, so do I put the lid down when using as a BBQ?

Do I put the wood chips straight onto the coals? Do I need to soak them?

[Steve]

Where are you based?

Let us know and you might find someone will be prepared to give you a lesson to get you started.

[KamadoSimon]

Thanks for the great advise, so do I put the lid down when using as a BBQ?

Do I put the wood chips straight onto the coals? Do I need to soak them?

Np - Yep lid down on BBQ. Helps control amount of air to the fuel & thus controlling temperature.

If you have wood chips you can either:

- soak them for a few hours prior to using & put them directly on the coals. Either spread them amounst the coals so they smoke at different times, or put some on a bit at a time.
- put them in a cast iron smoker tin (or wrapped in a double layer foil) on the side of the charcoal.

If you've got wood chunks rather than chips, no need to soak them. Won't harm them, but not necessary as the water won't penetrate that deeply.

As Steve says - let us know where you are, you might find someone willing to give you a hand in exchange for a beer or two...

[bigcheese]

I'm in crayford in Kent.

This has all been thrust apon me so suddenly, my plan was to get it built and practise practise and practise but now I got 3 weeks or so!!!

There's going to be people there that I don't know and I just want them to say " wow ".

[PyroBoris]

Hey bigcheese!

I'm in the same boat as you pretty much. I picked up an almost identical offset smoker two weeks ago. Mine was secondhand and I'm in the process of applying some of the modifications found here:

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_tec ... okers.html

Don't forget to season your BBQ before cooking on it, and as others have said, it'll give you a chance to see how to control the temp in the cooking chamber. Also, don't forget that the temperature dial on the lid, even if accurate, will give a temp reading for the air by the lid, not the actual temperature at grill level, which I believe is lower?! (can someone clarify as I'm not sure on that last point)

I guess the info above is probably more useful for when you start using your BBQ for indirect cooking, but keep us updated how you get on!

[Steve]

There is at least one offset user I know in Kent. I'll point him in the direction of this thread if he doesn't see it himself. Don't know if he'll be free to help but if he is, I'm sure he will.