The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Looking for a BBQ/Smoker forum similar to TFL

texasbakerdad's picture
texasbakerdad

Looking for a BBQ/Smoker forum similar to TFL

Howdy,

I just inherited a nice smoker and will be smoking more regularly. I'd like to maintain a smoking journal online. I really like The Fresh Loaf's user blog section of the forum. I cannot find any BBQ websites with the same or similar feature.

Suggestions?

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

I've learned a lot on this site and found the community quite helpful...

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/

 

rgreenberg2000's picture
rgreenberg2000

TBD, since you're in Texas, there's a good chance you inherited an offset?  Don't want to assume, though, so curious to know what you got!

I have never seen a BBQ site that has a similar user blog feature to this one, so you might just need to join a BBQ forum, and create a thread that you keep updated with your various cooks.  Or, since most allow you to search your posts by forum, etc., you could just track your cooks that way.

In addition to the recommendation above, there's The Virtual Weber Bullet BB, which is geared toward users of the Weber Smokey Mountain, but is a super friendly place where like-minded BBQ'ers of all types are welcome.

Let us know what kind of smoker you have, could lead to more recommendations! More importantly, whatcha cooking?  I'm putting six racks of spares on my pellet grill in about 30 minutes..... :)

Rich

texasbakerdad's picture
texasbakerdad

I own a very inexpensive and small offset smoker that is not much fun to smoke with (too much monitoring, too much temperature variation, and too small). I have smoked on a couple different nice large offset smokers with thick metal that were a joy to work with, but I don't currently have one like that, maybe one day I will have time to weld one up.

I was gifted a very nice CookShack, the thing is very well built and very easy to use. Today I am smoking some animals I raised, a whole barred rock rooster and a nigerian dwarf goat shoulder. Both being smoked with some applewood pellets. Still trying to sort out how to time everything... I think I want to learn to tell doneness from feel versus thermometer, but I am not sure the easiest way to check doneness by feel when the meat is wrapped in butcher paper or foil.

Also, I need to sort out the best ways to let the meat rest while we wait for dinner to start without the meat getting too cold, overcooked, or dried out.

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

Congrats on the new setup.

For resting…. Wrap the meat in foil, and then wrap that in a large bath/beach towel.  Throw the bundle in a cooler for 1-2 hours.  Will come out nice and tender!

I do this with pork butts, roasts, and brisket.  Should be easy enough for the goat shoulder.  Might be difficult for the bird and keep it intact while wrapping.  Maybe transfer the bird into some kind of Granite Ware roaster and then either wrap that in a towel or stick it in a cooler?

rgreenberg2000's picture
rgreenberg2000

Which Cook Shack did you get?  One of their electrics, or one of the Fast Eddy pellet grills?  Either way, they are supposed to be really nice units!

The goat shoulder should hold well wrapped like HH29er noted above.  I have never had luck holding poultry that way.  I always shoot to have the come off the grill no more than 15-20 minutes before carve/service.  Of course, it doesn't always work out that way, so.... ;)

Enjoy your feast and your new "toy"!

Rich

foodforthought's picture
foodforthought

Though it's product oriented and supported (minimally) by the manufacturer, the community on PrimoGrillForum.com has taught me a lot about smoking and barbecue. Lots of great recipes and recipe ideas. Plenty of expert advice available. Forums but no blog function. A generally welcoming crowd, a few obsessive folks who can dive into minutia and exotic concoctions (sound familiar?) and lots of good information.

Cheers and hope you're having a comfy, cozy holiday season,

Phil

foodforthought's picture
foodforthought

PrimoGrillForum.com DOES allow blog posts as well as forum discussions. Anyway, it's a great resource.

Phil

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

I’ve had the small CookShack for about 15 years. Smokes outstanding, never had a single problem. No blog, but the CookShack forums are great. Anything by ‘SmokinOkie’ (now retired) is gospel. His “101 Series” could be easily published as a top rated Meat Smoking book!

Danny

cfraenkel's picture
cfraenkel

I will check this out.  Smoked some cod yesterday (girl thing?) It was amazing.  I love smoked fish/meat etc.  My daughter tells me the next thing i have to make is smoked meatballs.  um...okay!

fredeharl95's picture
fredeharl95

I Bought this Char-Broil for my friend for Christmas. It's a Great smoker, apparently very good while using; the meats from it are delicious. Must be a decent seal because it cooks quicker than you’d except for the price point apparently. Took about an hour to put together, but after that, it was good to go with some pre-heating... I searched different forums and articles for checking the reviews and honest suggestions. I just love thebarbec.com, this website has huge content about Grilling and BBQing.

jolil ron's picture
jolil ron

I think only tube smokers are capable of delivering matchless performance. I owned an Oklahoma Joe. The design of a smoker features four baffles and a reverse flow feature, providing stunning results. Since that smoker comes with smokestack locations and removable baffles, you can easily customize it according to your desires. This model enables you to switch quickly between regular and reverse flow smoking, which results in more accurate cooking. Other excellent features that come with the unit include a warming tray for side dishes, a bottom shelf for storing items, and easy access to the firebox. Except for the paint peeling from the firebox and the hard to clean things, I mostly like its temperature gauges, reverse flow heating, and sturdy heavy gauge steel. You can try this out.

Huh What's picture
Huh What

I belong to this place...

 

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/

clevins's picture
clevins

https://amazingribs.com/ is the public site with recipes, equipment reviews etc. The Pitmaster forum, (https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/,  is paid ($35/year) but for that you get a private forum with dedicated mods and one of the friendliest, most informed groups I've seen online. 

To me the best part is that there's a strict No Politics rule. Violate it once and you get warned but persist and you're banned. The upshot is that no one talks politics and so we avoid the contentiousness that comes with it. 

There's a trial so you can pop in and see if it's for you. I've belonged for years and can wholeheartedly recommend it.