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PREPARING TO USE YOUR SMOKER
Before cooking with your smoker, the following steps
should be closely followed to both cure the finish and
season the interior steel. Failure to properly follow these
steps may damage the finish and/or impart metallic
flavors to your first foods.
1. Brush all interior surfaces including grills and grates
with vegetable cooking oil.
2. Build a small fire on the fire grate or pan, being sure
not to lay coals against the walls.
3. Close door. (Position damper and smokestack
damper approximately at one quarter open.) This
burn should be sustained for at least two hours, the
longer the better. Then, begin increasing temperature
by opening the damper and smokestack damper half-
way and adding more charcoal. Your smoker is now
ready for use.
Rust can appear on the inside of your smoker.
Maintaining a light coat of vegetable oil on interior
surfaces will aid in the protection of your unit. Exterior
surfaces of smoker may need occasional touch up. We
recommend the use of a commercially available black
high temperature spray paint. NEVER PAINT THE
INTERIOR OF THE UNIT !
SMOKER MAINTENANCE
Frequency of clean up is determined by how often the
grill is used. Make sure coals are completely extinguished
before cleaning inside of the unit. Thoroughly rinse with
water and allow to air dry before using again. Wipe out
the interior of the unit with a cloth or paper towels.
When finished cooking, and the unit has adequately
cooled, clean out all remaining ashes. Ashes collect
moisture, which can lead to premature rusting and decay.
Periodically coating the interior surfaces with vegetable
oil will aid in the protection of your unit. Also, occasional
touch up of the exterior paint will be required. Black, high-
temperature spray paint is recommended. NEVER PAINT
THE INTERIOR OF THE UNIT.
Cooking Surface: If a bristle brush is used to clean any
of the grill cooking surfaces, ensure no loose bristles
remain on cooking surfaces prior to grilling. It is not
recommended to clean cooking surfaces while grill is hot.
COOKING TIPS
Building Your Fire
1. Stack charcoal briquettes or wood into a pyramid-
shaped pile on top of the charcoal grate or ash pan.
We recommend using 2 pounds (approximately 30
briquettes) to start your fire, adding more as needed.
2. If using lighter fluid, saturate the charcoal briquettes
with lighter fluid and let it soak in for approximately 5
minutes. If using a chimney starter, electric starter, or
other type of fire starter, light your fire according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
3. Always light the fire with the grill lid open.
Leave lid open until briquettes are fully lit. Failure to do
this could trap fumes from charcoal lighter fluid in grill
and may result in a flash fire when lid is opened.
4. Never add charcoal lighter fluid to hot or warm coals
as flashbacks may occur causing injury.
5. You are ready to begin cooking when the pile of
briquettes ashes over and produces a red glow
(approximately 12 – 15 minutes).
6. Depending on your cooking method, either leave the
briquettes in a pile or spread evenly across the
charcoal grate using a long-handled poker.
Know When Your Fire is Ready
Successful charcoal grilling depends on a good fire. The
general rule for knowing when your coals are ready for
grilling is to make sure that 80 percent or more of the
coals are ashy gray. Using caution, arrange the hot coals
on your charcoal grate based on your desired method of
cooking. Here are a few steps you can take to adjust the
temperature of your fire:
-If it is too hot, spread the coals out a bit more, which
makes the fire less intense.
-Raise or lower the adjustable charcoal grate.
-Partially close the vents in the grill, which reduces the
amount of oxygen that feeds the fire.
-Use the indirect grilling method, with coals to either side
of drip pan and the food over the pan rather than directly
over the coals.
-In the event of a severe flare-up, spray the flames with
water from a squirt bottle. Be careful, spraying with water
tends to blow ashes around and make a mess.
-Add briquettes 2 or 3 at a time to increase the burn time.
Allow 10 minutes for coals to ash over before adding
more.
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SMOKING AND SLOW COOKING
Remove the cooking grill from the firebox and build your
fire on top of the fire grate in the firebox. Either charcoal
or wood may be used, but wood is the recommended
fuel for it's rate of burn and the flavor it imparts to the
food being cooked. Most seasoned hardwoods are good
for smoking such as hickory, mesquite, pecan, oak, and
many other fruit woods. Bark should be avoided or
burned off first as it contains a high acid content and
imparts an acrid flavor.
After allowing the fire to burn down, close the doors and
control the temperature and smoke with the dampers
located on the firebox and atop the smokestack. Smoke
is contained within the chambers, which will reduce burn
while imparting more smoke flavor. Do not operate the
Smoker with temperatures exceeding 450 degrees in the
smoker chamber. Place the food in the smoker chamber
and monitor the temperature. Cooking and smoking are
taking place using indirect heat. There is no need to
worry about a grease fire flare-up ruining the food. Do
not place food within 6" of the opening from the firebox
into the smoker chamber. A general rule of thumb for
cooking is about 1 hour per pound for smoking large
cuts of meat. Refer to a cook book for specific cuts of
meat. Limit the number of times you open the smoker
chamber door as this will allow heat to escape and
extend the cooking time.
SMOKING WITH WOOD CHIPS/WOOD
CHUNKS
For a more robust smoke flavor while using charcoal
briquettes or lump charcoal, try adding wood chips or
several wood chunks to the fire. Wood chunks are
available in a variety of natural flavors, and can be used
alone or in addition to charcoal. As a general rule, any
hardwood that bears a fruit or nut is suitable for cooking.
However, different woods have very different tastes.
Experiment with different woods to determine your
personal favorite, and always use well-seasoned wood.
Green or fresh-cut wood can turn food black, and tastes
bitter.
Our Recommendations:
Chicken - Alder, Apple, Hickory, Mesquite
Beef - Hickory, Mesquite, Oak
Pork - Fruitwoods, Hickory, Oak
Lamb - Fruitwoods, Mesquite
Veal - Fruitwoods, Grapevines
Seafood - Alder, Mesquite
Vegetables – Mesquite
USDA Recommended
Internal Cooking Temperatures
Ground Meat
Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb......................................160°F
Turkey, Chicken.................................................165°F
Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb
Medium Rare.......................................................145°F
(let stand 3 minutes before cutting)
Medium................................................................160°F
Well Done............................................................170°F
Poultry
Chicken & Turkey, whole.....................................165°F
Poultry Parts.......................................................165°F
Duck & Goose....................................................165°F
Fresh Pork
Medium Rare......................................................145°F
(let stand 3 minutes before cutting)
Medium..............................................................160°F
Well Done..........................................................170°F
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