Standing rib roast

Last weekend (1/22/06) I decided to smoke a standing rib roast in my new smoker. I followed a simple recipe I found on http://bbq.about.com. All I did was rub the roast with olive oil (after letting it sit out for an hour or so), sprinkled with kosher salt (the recipe didn’t call for this, but I added it anyway), then sprinkled with granulated garlic, and coated the entire roast with cracked black pepper.

Before any of this began, I set up the smoker so it could pre-heat to around 250 deg.

For the smoke, I used a few different woods: Maple, mesquite and oak (I used another one but I don’t remember what it was).

The cook time in the recipe called for 2 to 3 hours. My actual cook tome was about 1.75 hours.

It was a little struggle at first for me to keep the temperature between 225 and 250, but once I got the hang of it, it wasn’t too bad.

During the smoke process, the exterior of the smoker remained cool, with the exception of the seams where two pieces of metal met. This was also a spot where some smoke was lost as well, but very little.

Also, the water pan seemed to dry up way too quickly. I could tell when the water pan was dry, because the temp would shoot up quickly. Adding water was not a lot of fun, as the water drawer slides bound up under the heat. This forced me to poor the water in without pulling the tray out, causing some of the water to spill through the smoke holes into the burners. On one this extinguished the fire.

I am also wondering if the thermometer is inaccurate, causing my shore cook time. I will have to add a second thermometer to be sure.

Also, another thing I observed is that when there was water in the pan, I struggled to keep the cooking temp high enough, but where there was no water, I struggled to keep the temp low enough.

Next time, I think I may experiment by getting the temp up to where I want it (without water), then setting it to low and see if it maintains temp. I also may try sand, as suggested in some websites I’ve seen.

Any way, the Roast came out excellent! Not as smoky as I would have hoped, but it was my first try and the thing had plenty of flavor.

My next endeavor will be brisket.

Member's Mark 38" Smoker

The other day (Wednesday) I decided to purchase a "Member's Mark 38" Smoker" from Sam's Club (item #296414). I had researched several different brands and models of smokers. Most of the reviews for smokers in this price range were not so good. I often saw complaints about assembly and such. But I could find nothing bad written about this smoker from someone who actually has used it (or even seen it). The closest thing I could find to something bad written about it was someone saying that you can get such and such smoker for half the price. But if you check the reviews on the smoker the person mentioned, you would see lots of complaints about assembly, like parts missing, holes not lining up and not being able to maintain temp. Also the model the guy mentioned was not insulated.

So I decided to purchased it.

Being winter, I was afraid that they would not have any left at my local Sam's club (I'm in the Chicago area where it gets cold and snows). But when I got there, they had 3 in stock. I was also afraid that the box would not fit in my Jeep, as I had not seen the dimensions of it. So I took a chance and bought it. Worse come to worse I would have to return it if it didn't fit in the jeep.

The thing weighs in at around 250 lbs, and I got two stock people to put it in my jeep for me. It JUST fit. with no room to spar length wise, but plenty on the sides.

When I got it home, I had my brother help me take it out of the truck and slide it into a spot in my garage, where it sat overnight.

The next day, after dinner, I opened the box. I was expecting to find two separate cubes with tons of peaces that I had to put together. This has been my experience in the past with BBQs (even the premium ones). To my surprise, this was not the case. It was 98% assembled. All I had to do is attach the handle bars, attach the smoke stack, slide the water tray in, and insert the included battery for the auto light. All of the hardware needed was put neatly in a peg board style blister pack complete with the battery and a tool to attach the handle bars with. The blister pack was smart, as this allowed for easy QA in the factory. No chance for anything to be missing.

I did have to remove a large sticker from the front, and cut a tagger tie holding the gas hose. There was also the thing about taking it out of the box. As I mentioned, it weights 250lbs. The smoker ships lying down, and is very well packaged. No chance for it to get dented if the box is accidentally nicked by a fork lift, as this box was. The packaging material alone most likely weighs like 50 lbs. I pulled all of the packaging off the front of the box and attempted to tilt it. With no success. I couldn't get my fingers under the box. I grabbed an extra peace of packaging and used it to prop up the thing enough so I could get my hands under it. I was then able to tilt it up. I rolled the thing out of the box and unwrapped the plastic wrap around it.

I Couldn't believe how well this thing was put together. Heck, this thing was made in Taiwan. Every weld was perfect. The only slight Fit-and-Finish problem I could find was with the smoke stack. The holes lined up perfectly, but someone miscalculated a bend on one of the flanges that attached it to the body of the smoker. This caused it to have a 18th of an inch gap on one of the edges.

Thats it. The things together. Now I have to try it out.

My only complaint about the smoker right now, is that it is LP only. No NG conversion. This is fine for now, but in the summer I will have to modify it to use NG. From the little bit of research I have done on it, it sounds like all you have to do is attach a hose, and drill out the orifices. And maybe modify the valve. I shall see.