Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

Any fellow smokers here?

DirtyDesertRat

DirtyDesertRat

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Nov 28, 2025
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Outback USA
Of the meat smoking variety!

I tried running a small Masterbuilt electric smoker for a while, and never got the kind of results I wanted.

I threw it onto my scrap pile, and then retrieved it and repurposed it to run on charcoal. Bing! Oh my!

I'm scarfing a pork tenderloin today. Crazy, in the time when people are wailing about the high price of beefsteak, I can buy this stuff for $3 and change, per pound.

My Christmas meal will be a smoked Cornish hen. The smaller fatty cuts work best for me; they cook well in a reasonable amount of time.

Pork spare ribs are about as ambitious as I get. I bring them up to 200F, then clamp down the vents and leave them roast down for a couple of hours. Candy.

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I am a beginning smoker having just recently bought my first pellet smoker grill. So far I've done boneless ribeye once, short ribs 4 times, brisket twice, tri tip twice and baby backs once. Our favorites are short ribs and brisket. Still need to try boneless chuck roast.

I had a problem with the short ribs last time, we were having people over at a certain time and I was smoking them at 250F but they seemed to be getting done too fast so I reduced to 225, then they stalled and I was pushing it to 275 then 375 just to get them done in time and they didn't come out as falling off the bone tender as my first 3 successful attempts, but there were twice as many this time.

Is anyone using a Maverick Stake Bluetooth thermometer? I can't seem to get more than a couple hours on a charge. They sent me another one and it's no better.
 
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B1Toad said:
I am a beginning smoker having just recently bought my first pellet grill. So far I've done boneless ribeye once, short ribs 4 times, brisket twice, tri tip twice and baby backs once. Our favorites are short ribs and brisket. Still need to try boneless chuck roast.

I had a problem with the short ribs last time, we were having people over at a certain time and I was smoking them at 250F but they seemed to be getting done too fast so I reduced to 225, then they stalled and I was pushing it to 275 then 375 just to get them done in time and they didn't come out as falling off the bone tender as my first 3 successful attempts, but there were twice as many this time.

Is anyone using a Maverick Stake Bluetooth thermometer? I can't seem to get more than a couple hours on a charge. They sent me another one and it's no better.
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I did a few pork short ribs a while back, as an aside, as I trimmed them off of a full rack. Very tasty.

I can't speak to the Bluetooth thermometer. I fitted a plain old analog dial gauge to my retrofitted electric smoker, and I use a simple digital meat thermometer with a remote wired probe to monitor meat temps. So, I can watch the smoker temp as well as meat temp.

For cuts like spare ribs, which take a long time and are too thin for the probe, I sacrifice a piece. I'll take a piece of the skirt that gets cut off when I trim the rack, fold it over and truss it, and stick the probe in there. I run the meat temp right up to 200F, then shut down the vents on the smoker and just leave it sit for a couple of hours to melt down that fat. It'll hold that temp as long as I have the patience for it.

Small cuts like wings I just time, and open the smoker now and then to see how they look.
 
DirtyDesertRat said:
I did some pork short ribs a while back, as an aside, as I trimmed them off of a full rack. Very tasty.

I can't speak to the Bluetooth thermometer. I fitted a plain old analog dial gauge to my retrofitted electric smoker, and I use a simple digital meat thermometer with a remote wired probe to monitor meat temps. So, I can watch the smoker temp as well as meat temp.

For cuts like spare ribs, which take a long time and are too thin for the probe, I sacrifice a piece. I'll take a piece of the skirt that gets cut off when I trim the rack, fold it over and truss it, and stick the probe in there.

Small cuts like wings I just time, and open the smoker now and then to see how they look.
Click to expand...

I saw where one guy doesn't even bother with a thermometer with ribs, he uses those cheap flat toothpicks, when they go in easy it's done.
 
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MikekiM said:
I have been smoking for a while.
First with a Weber Smokey Mountain, then a Weber Kettle and for the past few years with a Weber Summit Charcoal Kamado..
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I got lazy for a long time and did my grilling on my propane grill. Quick and easy, but no joy in it.

I recently went back to my Weber Smoky Joe with charcoal. I'm trying to slow down; I really enjoy going through the process, and the result is so much better.
 
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DirtyDesertRat said:
I got lazy for a long time and did my grilling on my propane grill. Quick and easy, but no joy in it.

I recently went back to my Weber Smoky Joe with charcoal. I'm trying to slow down; I really enjoy going through the process, and the result is so much better.
Click to expand...

I grill on the XL BGE and smoke on my MAK 2 Star.
 
cliffish said:
I have a couple of Weber kettles, and a Masterbuilt gravity feed. If you really want to dive in join smokingmeatforums.com a few of us here are on it. Great bunch of people.
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I’ve had a lot of different smokers over the years and the Masterbuilt gravity is my favorite. Gives the flavor of a traditional offset with damn near the convenience of a pellet grill. I’ve about wore this one out, been loosely keeping an eye out for sales on a new one.
 
Abendage said:
I’ve had a lot of different smokers over the years and the Masterbuilt gravity is my favorite. Gives the flavor of a traditional offset with damn near the convenience of a pellet grill. I’ve about wore this one out, been loosely keeping an eye out for sales on a new one.
Click to expand...

it is a charcoal hog though, I just had to bypass one of the fan switches but other than that it is good.
 
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