The idea of smoking meat for the first time can seem a little daunting because there are so many options! What meat to smoke, what wood to use, what rub to use, what temperature to smoke at and the list goes on. As a starting point, there are 4 main things to consider before you smoke meat for the first time.
1. What Meat to smoke - Brisket is touted as the holy grail of smoking, however, we recommend starting with something much simpler like pork ribs, sausages, or a lamb shoulder if you have the time.
2. What Smoking Wood to use- If you’re smoking meat for the first time, start with a smoking wood that has a mild to medium smoke flavour such as fruitwood. Stronger favoured woods like hickory, mesquite and ironbark impart a strong smoky flavour and can be overbearing if you’re not used to a heavy smoked meat flavour. Cherry wood is our favourite and is an all-rounder that goes with everything.
3. Rub - This is the seasoning you will apply to the meat before you put it into the meat smoker. For the same reasons mentioned above, steer clear of rubs that are smoked or are called a “hickory” rub for example. Over-smoking and adding too much smoky flavour to your first cook can turn a lot of people off.
4. Cooking Temperature - There’s a lot of conflicting information about cooking temperatures (and times) which can be really confusing if you’ve never cooked in a BBQ smoker before. As you become more experienced, you’ll work out whether you like to smoke at lower temperatures for a longer period of time, or whether you like to crank the smoker up and get it done quicker. As a starting point, we recommend smoking at the lower end for longer, 225°f (107°c) is always our go to temperature.
For more information, check out our Beginners Guide to Meat Smoking