Mark Gibson wrote:
> HOW YA'LL ARE!!!!
>
> I just got a Brinkman smoke and grill; it was on sale at wally world
> so what the fug, why not. I've never smoked anything before, always
> been a gas grill guy so I'll try something new.
>
> after 7 hours of not knowing if I was going to screw up a 7 lb pork
> butt and a 6 lb roasting hen, TAA-DAA!!!!! I am a hero to my family.
> Who woulda thunk it?
>
> One thing that did come up is that things turned out really smoky
> flavored. I used a kingsford mesquite charcoal. Next time I think
> I'll use plain regular charcoal to sort of set up a base for future
> evaluation. Maybe I shoulda done that first? Anyway it turned out all
> good.
>


Mesquite as I understand it is for grilling at high temps for short times.
Maybe it'd be tolerable at those smoke infusion levels. For a smoking wood,
I've used it twice on chicken and found it completely unacceptable. Leave
it for the Texans. They're immune to such toxins.


> I brined the butt and hen overnight then dried them off and did a dry
> rub on the butt and left the chiken naked, then let the smoker run.
>
> What I'd like to know is whats the difference between commercial
> briquets and this lump charcoal i hear about.



Briquettes contain anthracite coal for starters. That's enough for me.
Lump is pure wood with all the gasses burned off. It started as wood, went
out in a blaze of glory, then was choked out for it's own good.


>
> Another thing is that a guy i work with has access to a hickory
> orchard (it's in his family} and he recomends using basic cheapo
> charcoal from wally world and using the hulls from the hickory nuts
> because they have a higher resin content than the hickory wood chips
> and therefore give more flavor with less material.


He might know hickory, but he don't know jack about BBQ. See above, never
use briquettes.


>
> Then there is that water pan deal in the base. Any advice on what
> works well; and more important, what not to use? I used plain water-
> had to refill about 2/3 thru the process.

Toss it.


>
> A guy i work with says i can use the smoker to make jerky. The
> directions and recipies that came in the box did not address this.
> Whattcha thank?


Best jerky I ever made was accidental. There lies the proof that it *can*
be done......maybe not duped, but it can be done.


>
> Thanks in advance for any advice, recipies, and voices of experiance.
>
> Mark in alabama