I've been cooking for years, but this is my first smoker. I did lots of shopping around, watched lots of YouTube videos and strongly debated wheather to go old school or go with an automatic type smoker. Obviously I went old school and I'm glad I did! I jumped in with both feet by smoking a brisket on my first go around. The brisket didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but I learned a lot about the Oklahoma Joes. My next adventure was Back Ribs. Wow! They were a little overcooked but the flavor was fantastic. At this very moment I am smoking more ribs, using the 3-2-1 method and keeping the temperature between 200 and 225 degrees F. I used a rub with 1 part kosher salt, 3 parts coarse ground black pepper, a dash of garlic powder and a dash of onion powder. Three hours of smoking, two hours wrapped in foil with 3/4 cup apple juice and back on the smoker, then around one hour on the smoker unwrapped. If you are the kind of person who is as interested in the process as you are with the final product, this smoker is for you. There is definitely a learning curve, but luckily there is a wealth information about smoking online, which makes it well within anyone's reach. The Oklahoma Joe's isn't as heavy as a professional smoker, but it is well built and it's perfect for the home cook who wants to produce authentic smoked foods. I purchased the reverse flow smoker only because there is the option of doing just offset smoking or reverse flow smoking. So far I've only used the reverse flow option and I'm very pleased with the results.
- Expertise
- Intermediate
- Frequency
- At least once a week
- Length of ownership
- A few months
Yes, I recommend this product