Hello from Emsworth

[Chrisb3]

Hello,

My name is Chris from the south coast.
I have been using a Weber 57cm and Smokey Joe for a while to do the traditional weekend BBQ foods, burgers sausages chicken etc. and a few joints of meat now and again.

I have now ventured into low and slow and a Weber Smokey Mountain 47 is on order.

Looks like I have lots to learn.
I have a few questions to start off with if anyone can help me:

1) Best place for woods.
I have been looking at the Weber firespice packs you can buy online the chunks look quite small, any info on best chunk size or if the Weber firespice is any good would be much appreciated? And best woods to start off with?

2) Temperature probe.
Is it worth investing in a temperature probe that will monitor my meats progress without having to take the lid off?

Thanks in advance for the help.
Eagerly awaiting the delivery now.

Regards,

Chris

[ConorD]

There are loads of places for woods and a quick search on here will show you a few recent posts with recommended vendors.

A temp prob will help take your Q'ing to the next whether that be for the meat or even to just help you to control the pit more accurately (the lid thermometers are not always the best).

[keith157]

If you check out Paul Gouldon he supplies quality woods at competitive prices.

http://www.bbbqs.com/Forum/viewtopic.ph ... don#p30479

[slatts]

Hi

I would say have a look at the maverick et732 which is a good bit of kit, think I read on here there is a newer model but don't know anything about it.
Has 2 probes, one for the pit and one for the meat.
Helped me out quite a bit when I started but the wife hates the alarm going off during the night

[robgunby]

+1 for the maverick. Unattended smokes for the win. The only downside is that mine de-syncs about once an hour if I keep it by my bed, so I have to sleep on the sofa on smoke nights. This helps placate wifey, but she could sleep through a bomb going off.

[Chrisb3]

Thanks for the replies, I have spoken to Paul and the picture of his mixed wood box looks a lot better than the pictures of the weber firespice. So looks like I will order a box and add on the Hickory as I will need to have it posted.

The Maverick looks to be a favoured choice on here so I will also be ordering one of those to help me in my smoking quest.

[Tiny]

Welcome old chum,
Nice to see there is someone else local, I work in Havant and am often abroad in Emsworth with my faithful guide dog Gunner, so if you note a man called tiny for ironic reasons with a large golden retriever come and say hi
Cheers
Tiny

[Chrisb3]

Hi all

Thanks for all the replies and advice.

My WSM 47 turned up a few weeks ago now. I managed to order it mid Jan at a good price, I found that as soon as a site ran out of stock they would increase the price before new stock arrived. I got in there quick with some voucher codes came to £260.

Good news was that the one I received has the new rubber grommet in the side for the temperature probes

My Maverick ET-732 has also arrived from Amazon, I looked at the ET-733 but with delivery and import duty etc it was coming out at around £80. No one seems to sell it in the uk yet.

Smoke wood arrived yesterday from Paul Goulden, great service and a great price. I was looking at the weber firespice but glad I order from Paul as the wood size is much better. His newly updated site shows you what a mixed box looks like. Plus 10% discount for BBBQS members. http://www.hampshirewoodsuppliers.co.uk ... woods.html

Hoping to try some ribs this weekend, got them from Makro £20 for 10kg frozen. Just need to find a recipe to try.

[robgunby]

Sounds like a man on a mission

Good work on the kit, that's a fine setup you have there. My standard rib cook is this:

Dry rub with my standard pork rub. Play with quantities as you like it, but roughly speaking it is:

-Paprika (sweet)
-Onion powder
-Garlic powder
-Cayenne pepper
-Black pepper
-Salt
-Cumin
-Brown sugar (if you like it sweet, but you can also sauce your ribs later, see below).

I put them on at 225-250 for 3 hours with some woodsmoke, then I foil them, sometimes with a little thin barbecue sauce like a North Carolina barbecue sauce, or a little apple juice. They go back in the smoker for 2 hours in the foil.

After the 2 hours are up, I remove from foil and usually add some finger licking barbecue sauce, the thick sweet kind. Then they go back on the smoker for 30 mins to one hour.

You tell ribs are cooked by sight and feel - the meat should be receding from the bone at the tip, and the rack should feel good and floppy again, having initially firmed up during cooking. You want the meat to be ready to fall, but not actually falling, from the bone. If you leave it too long, it can be hard to remove the ribs as the rack just falls apart!

Have fun! Chuck some chicken thighs on to munch on while you're impatiently waiting for the ribs!

Oh - also, most importantly, what time and where?