So you’re reading and reading, and you’ve went out and bought or made yourself a smoker. You’ve now taken in an abundance of information that should now make yourself think you’re a professional with a line of professional smokers, right? Well, maybe not, but that is okay because confidence is good. However, I”ll always say that preparation is half the battle in BBQ cooking, and we’ll help you along the right path with these tips.

Choosing the right kind of wood

This can in fact, make our break your BBQ food experience. It’s not likely depending on the forgiveness of the meat, forgiveness of the smokers you use, and the forgiveness of the wood. I highly recommend you read our Smokers and types of wood post to give a better idea or direction to go in. Choose wisely and you will be thanking yourself later. You’ll then have to decide whether to use a chunk, chips, or pellets. Chunks are good for a long smoke, for the likes of brisket or even ribs. They’re also easier to maintain the temperature within the smokers that you use. If your smokers can handle it, use the chunks. Chips are not a bad alternative. Chips are used in a wide variety of smokers that use charcoal as their base of flame or heat. A lot of people use them in little bullet-style smokers because chunks won’t fit. Make sure to soak them in water about an hour before hand our else they will burn way too fast and hot. Pellets, the least common of the three, are self explanatory. They are only used in electric auger-style smokers.

Preparing your meat

This can go many different ways in terms of certain recipes. We won’t go too much into that because you should be experimenting with your BBQ experiences. Not to mention, that are plenty of BBQ recipe websites out there. We just want to point out that you should give yourself, more than anything, time. I cannot stress this enough because its happened to me. You’re running around trying to light up your smoker, prep your meat, and whatever else is going on. Prepare your meat the night before or at least 2-3 hours before hand. This will give you plenty of time to heat up the smoker, relax for a moment, and grab a beer. BBQ should never be rushed and honestly, neither should you because after all, this is BBQ and cooking on smokers, both of which should be fun. Let your meat marinate, refrigerated, for a bare minimum, 1 hour. Also be sure to trim any access fat not wanted or needed and be sure your apply your dry rubs and/or injections liberally.

Beginning and during the smokers cooking process

A lot of our smokers can potentially have a “hot spot.” Obviously, we want to make sure our meat stays away from that spot as we have to remember, we’re doing an indirect form of cooking on our smokers, not direct. Most lines of smokers are pretty good about eliminating this so most people don’t have to worry. Be sure to note the position of your meat when you go to rotate it half way throughout the cooking process. Smokers can be forgiving, but that doesn’t mean you should slack. Be sure to have a proper way of checking the temperature in your smokers and the rest should be good to go!