What are you Smoking (BBQ)?

This weekend I made BBQ pork ribs (made a traditional BBQ sauce) and Flannery beef ribs (smoked on day 1, then slow braised on day 2). My friend who is a great chef contributed some BBQ ribs and a bacon wrapped porchetta.

I need to buy a smoker. I setup my weber grills (basic round grill) with dual zones, one with a thing I built to hold wood/chips the second zone with a water bath (I put broth in it with water). It works well, but I have to open/close too often to maintain heat. I use a variety of wood, generally have on hand some hickory, apple, cherry and my favorite for grilling (and BBQ) pecan.

What type of smoker do you use? I think it's time for me to buy a proper smoker.

A 40" Stainless steel Electric Landmann that I bought at Costco. Don't think they carry it anymore.

VM

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:


I need to buy a smoker. I setup my weber grills (basic round grill) with dual zones, one with a thing I built to hold wood/chips the second zone with a water bath (I put broth in it with water). It works well, but I have to open/close too often to maintain heat. I use a variety of wood, generally have on hand some hickory, apple, cherry and my favorite for grilling (and BBQ) pecan.

What type of smoker do you use? I think it's time for me to buy a proper smoker.

Sarbuze,
There's nothing wrong with a basic Weber. I own two electric smokers (one I built from a commercial fridge), a heavily modified charcoal horizontal (again, another home project), a 5-burner propane grill that I hardly ever use anymore, and a Weber One-Touch Gold kettle grill. Of them all, the one I use most is the Weber; it's just so versatile.

To maintain an even temperature over a long period, try a modified Minion method. It's basically stacking charcoal briquettes about 4-high almost all the way around the edge of the lower ring. (Also called the Snake method.) You can stud with wood along the way. Then drop in a few lit coals on one end. This will eventually wind its way around, keeping a temp of 200° to 250° or more, depending on how many briquettes you use. I've had this last for as much as 12 hours before. You can put a water bath in the middle, and you never have to turn the meat, because the heat is turning for you. This is a great method for long smokes, like brisket or pork butt.

mneely - does that actually work? I love the idea but I don't see how the fire would work its way around. Each piece of charcoal has to be touching a lit one to start up and seems like that would fail somewhere.

But if it works, it's the solution to keeping a constant temp in the Weber. I have to keep checking every half hour or so.

The snake method most certainly does work. It's great for going low and slow on the standard 22 inch kettle while still cooking indirect. You don't need to use the snake method on the Weber Smokey Mountain because the water pan deflects the heat and creates indirect cooking that way.

For a dedicated smoker, you really can't beat the Weber Smokey Mountain. For occasional smoking, I would just stick with a Weber 22 inch kettle - as mneeley says, it doubles as a great smoker.

just saw THIS for a full fire-and-forget (no pun intended) smoking experience.

I did a 15 pound whole brisket this past weekend for the 4th. I dry rubbed, using Oklahoma Joe's rub recipe, 24 hours in advance. Then, onto the Traeger at 5:30 a.m. and pulled it at about 6:00 p.m. We let it rest for an hour in a cooler wrapped in newspaper and towels, then sliced with a sauce on the side. Forget the sauce - the meat was outstanding.

quote:

Originally posted by BRR:
I did a 15 pound whole brisket this past weekend for the 4th. I dry rubbed, using Oklahoma Joe's rub recipe, 24 hours in advance. Then, onto the Traeger at 5:30 a.m. and pulled it at about 6:00 p.m. We let it rest for an hour in a cooler wrapped in newspaper and towels, then sliced with a sauce on the side. Forget the sauce - the meat was outstanding.

g-man, take notes!

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:

quote:

Originally posted by BRR:
I did a 15 pound whole brisket this past weekend for the 4th. I dry rubbed, using Oklahoma Joe's rub recipe, 24 hours in advance. Then, onto the Traeger at 5:30 a.m. and pulled it at about 6:00 p.m. We let it rest for an hour in a cooler wrapped in newspaper and towels, then sliced with a sauce on the side. Forget the sauce - the meat was outstanding.

g-man, take notes!

that's beef fool.

you shoudl take it up with the caja china guys.

http://www.lacajachina.com/who...-worksheet_a/330.htm

9. Once lit spread the charcoal evenly over the Charcoal Grid, the cooking time starts right now, add more charcoal after the hour, you will add 3 more batches of charcoal in the following manner. 1 Hour, 1 Hour, 30 Minutes.

do the math, how many hours is that?

quote:

Originally posted by BRR:
Then, onto the Traeger at 5:30 a.m. and pulled it at about 6:00 p.m.

On the smoke setting the entire time?

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Me:
Over the last month I've done the following in the smoker:

Ribeye Roast- Tied with butchers twine. Coated with olive oil and minced garlic and then a simple rub was applied. Smoked with manzanita wood. Cooked to rare/medium rare. About 135 degrees internal.

What temp did you smoke the meats?

Meatloaf- Wrapped a meatloaf in a bacon weave and smoked it using grapevine wood for about 2.5 hours. Applied a pineapple/habenero bbq glaze and smoked for another hour to about 165 internal.

VM

In Texas I could find packer briskets and at a reasonable price. In Arizona I can only find flats and they are very pricey. I have been mostly smoking baby back ribs.

quote:

Originally posted by Purple Teeth:

quote:

Originally posted by BRR:
Then, onto the Traeger at 5:30 a.m. and pulled it at about 6:00 p.m.

On the smoke setting the entire time?

I did smoke for 7 hours, then cranked the temp to 200 for the remaining 5, as it was slow-going.

The bummer of the above-mentioned brisket was that, when it came time to serve the 28+ guests, I was inside putting my kids to bed and my brother-in-law, the owner of said Traeger, sliced the whole thing with the grain! Hey, we all make mistakes. The flavor, juiciness, and perfect smoke ring were all there, but it was poorly served and the texture suffered. Oh well.

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
...try a modified Minion method...

I don't know why, but this name cracks me up. Shane T mentioned this one night and I couldn't help but imagine a bunch of small yellow guys hitting each other with BBQ tongs while making farting noises.

quote:

Originally posted by BRR:
The bummer of the above-mentioned brisket was that, when it came time to serve the 28+ guests, I was inside putting my kids to bed and my brother-in-law, the owner of said Traeger, sliced the whole thing with the grain! Hey, we all make mistakes. The flavor, juiciness, and perfect smoke ring were all there, but it was poorly served and the texture suffered. Oh well.

Sometimes the grain is hard to find on a cooked brisket. One trick is, while the meat is still raw and you can see the grain, partially insert a toothpick on the top along the direction of the grain. After it is cooked, find the toothpick, and cut crosswise from there.

Threw on a couple of pork butts at 6am, for pulled pork later tonight or tomorrow.
These were both injected with a mixture of apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, then coated with Tatonka Dust. Smoking with a 50/50 mixture of hickory and apple.

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
Threw on a couple of pork butts at 6am, for pulled pork later tonight or tomorrow.
These were both injected with a mixture of apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, then coated with Tatonka Dust. Smoking with a 50/50 mixture of hickory and apple.

Do you find that injecting pork butts is worth the extra effort? I read somewhere (? Amazingribs.com) that it wasn't worth it but I'm open to trying new things. Did two butts for the 4th (one South Carolina and the other Lexington style) that turned out great. I liked them both but the South Carolina style was the most popular.

Tonight rib eyes on the traeger finished on the sear burner. Served with 02 Merus. Yum!

quote:

Originally posted by Red guy in a blue state:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
Threw on a couple of pork butts at 6am, for pulled pork later tonight or tomorrow.
These were both injected with a mixture of apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, then coated with Tatonka Dust. Smoking with a 50/50 mixture of hickory and apple.

Do you find that injecting pork butts is worth the extra effort? I read somewhere (? Amazingribs.com) that it wasn't worth it but I'm open to trying new things. Did two butts for the 4th (one South Carolina and the other Lexington style) that turned out great. I liked them both but the South Carolina style was the most popular.

I do. Pork butt is a very thick cut, and seasoning and smoke will not penetrate more than a fraction of an inch. If you want the inside to have additional flavor (and moisture), injection is the way to go, unless you plan to use a finishing sauce. These went 16 hours, btw, so I figure more moisture can't hurt.
I've never done one S. Carolina style. Could you share a good recipe?

That last injection was a new one for me. It came out very good. My go-to is usually a mixture of applesauce, bbq sauce, and rub. (Applesauce tends to not leak out, unlike cider.) Another good injection is melted grape jelly. Sounds strange, I know, but it gives the meat a sweeter flavor, and you cannot taste the grape in the end. Done this way, any sauce is just an option.

As to the guy that writes amazingribs.com, I tend to disagree with a lot of what he says. There are hundreds of different ways and styles to do good bbq, but he seems to think only his way is right.

I use the Cook's Country (Cook's Illustrated) recipe for rub and Sauce for South Carolina style pulled pork (mustard based). Although there are fancier and more complex mustard based sauces, I like the consistency of the Cooks Country version for dressing the pork once pulled. If you don't have access, I can e-mail it to you or type it out here.

I need to learn more about this.

I made baby back ribs and chicken tonight. I used apple wood. This wasn't premeditated. I went to the garage to grab wood and I was out of hickory. The apple gave hardly any smoke flavor to the meat. I don't know whether I didn't use enough wood (about the same amount as when I use hickory) or apple doesn't really help pork and chicken. Thoughts on that?

Apple chips or lump? What type of bbq? How was the wood added?

I use a lot of apple wood- it's not as strong flavored as hickory bit I've not had problems getting enough smoke.

Wood chunks. I experimented with using chips last year and didn't get much out of them.

Not sure what you mean by what type of bbq? I was smoking them in a WSM, they had a rub from penzey's spice - the one on the ribs wasn't great, the one on the chicken was pretty nice.

I added the wood by spreading a layer of charcoal on the bottom, putting the wood on top of that, and then pouring the lit charcoal on top of them both.

How long did you smoke for?

I use a Wsm too for the past five yrs and had good success

Few things come to mind

How long was the smoking period
What was the temperature you're smoking at
Ratio of charcoal to wood chips

Also I put my wood on top of the lit charcoal

odd - sounds like it should have worked. i'm assuming you were around 250F or so? and you didn't soak the wood first or anything like that?

It might be, as g-man notes, due to putting the wood under the lit charcoal, but i only suggest that as i always put my wood on top and don't have any practical experience doing it the other way. although i cant think of a reason why it shouldn't work?

quote:

Originally posted by vinoevelo:
odd - sounds like it should have worked. i'm assuming you were around 250F or so? and you didn't soak the wood first or anything like that?

It might be, as g-man notes, due to putting the wood under the lit charcoal, but i only suggest that as i always put my wood on top and don't have any practical experience doing it the other way. although i cant think of a reason why it shouldn't work?

charcoal is a natural adsorbant of chemicals

you're filtering out your smoke basically with the charcoal on top =)

(anyhow that's a random ass guess)

but if you're only smoking for like 15 minutes

you're probably not going to impart something like apple smoke into your meats.

if you used Mesquite then 15 minutes could acutally do it.

quote:

Originally posted by vinoevelo:
odd - sounds like it should have worked. i'm assuming you were around 250F or so? and you didn't soak the wood first or anything like that?

It might be, as g-man notes, due to putting the wood under the lit charcoal, but i only suggest that as i always put my wood on top and don't have any practical experience doing it the other way. although i cant think of a reason why it shouldn't work?

Right. I was a little hotter than 250 but not much.

Never soaked the wood.

That's the way I've always put the wood in and there's never been an issue before. Dunno.

I've never soaked my wood chunks.

also the big water pot int he middle keeps it around the 250 mark.

I take it you use that "minion" method too.

hickory is stronger than apple

I usually do two chunks of hickory when i smoke but I'd do 4 chunks of apple.

you *might* want to close off some of the bottom vents though to get a lower heat. the thing about burying your wood chunks into the charcoal like that is that lighter woods like apple wont get enough time to acutally smoke before it gets too hot and just stops smoking.

The way i do apple/maple/fig/cherry is I set up charcoal on the bottom, leave an indentation for the lit charcoal. Throw in the lit charcoal then I'll put the 4 wood chunks in a line from center outward. This allows for a great smelling steady wood smoke.

i keep my WSM around 200-230

Great thread. My smoker set up is a 40" Masterbuilt propane smoker with an electric smoke generator attached. I used a 3" hole saw on the smoker and have a jerry-rigged aluminum vent that I use to attach the generator to the smoker. This way I can hot smoke without having to open the smoker to add more chips and I can also cold smoke (even in the summer, just put a large pan of ice in there). Last two things to run through there were bacon (cold-smoked) and pastrami (hot smoked). Have not done a brisket, ribs, or pork but since I made the conversion to the smoker but with summer here, that is a likely project. When the propane smoker rusts out (inevitable in this location) I will probably replace with electric simply for the better heat control. It will likely be Masterbuilt as the Masterbuilt electric smokers already have the vent for attaching the smoke generator. I smoke mostly with pecan, cherry, apple, and hickory but will add peach due to the discovery of how well it flavors pork ribs. Maple sounds intriguing too.

Enjoyed a pork tenderloin last night on the electric smoker. So tasty, so easy. Simple rub, hickory wood, and about 1.5 hours. Simple and tasty!

Santa Maria Tri Tip
I've had good luck in the past smoking a tri tip Santa Maria style. Rub with chili powder, cumin, black pepper, onion powder, oregano and garlic powder. Smoke at 225 degrees using oak (or similar hardwood) until internal temp is about 125. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

VM

Smoked Bologna
The oddest thing I ever smoked was bologna. Apparently this is a very popular thing to smoke in Oklahoma (they call it Oklahoma Prime Rib) so I thought I would try it. It is served as an appetizer in cubes or can be sliced for sandwiches.

I started with a 1 pound veal bologna (you can use a larger piece). Cross score all sides. Rub with a mustard and soy sauce mix. Smoke at 225 degrees for about 2-3 hours until the outside is crusty. The bologna is already cooked so don't worry about the internal temperature.

VM

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Me:
Santa Maria Tri Tip
I've had good luck in the past smoking a tri tip Santa Maria style. Rub with chili powder, cumin, black pepper, onion powder, oregano and garlic powder. Smoke at 225 degrees using oak (or similar hardwood) until internal temp is about 125. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

VM

Hmm, I will have to try smoking a tri tip, sounds interesting. About how long did it take?

It didn't take long. My recollection is between 2-3 hours the times I have done it. The internal temp is the key. Next time I do it I am going to reduce the heat to about 210.

VM

Smoked Pork Belly
I incorporated a smoked pork belly into a version of a Loco Moco breakfast that I made. Loco Moco is a Hawaiian breakfast dish which normally includes brown gravy over rice, fried spam, a couple fried eggs on top and garnished with chopped green onions. I used the pork belly instead of the spam.

Brine your slab of pork belly over night. You can use either apple juice or water with the kosher salt. Smoke the pork belly using fruit wood at 225 degrees until the internal temp is about 160. Should take 4-5 hours. Baste the belly with bbq sauce during the 2nd half of the smoking process. I then let the belly cool down and placed it in the fridge overnight to use the next morning. I cut the pork belly into half inch thick strip and fried them in a pan to get the outside nice and crisp before plating them with the Loco Moco.

VM

That sounds freakin delish VM!

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
That sounds freakin delish VM!

second that!

So Vino Me . . . did you use the gravy in your recipe or did the BBQ sauce sub in for gravy?

I used a brown gravy that I added a little hoisin sauce to for a little oriental kick. The last time I made it, I also topped the rice with some leftover pulled pork that I smoked the week before.

I served it to LostVerse, Allred and our wives and didn't hear any complaints.

VM

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Me:
I used a brown gravy that I added a little hoisin sauce to for a little oriental kick. The last time I made it, I also topped the rice with some leftover pulled pork that I smoked the week before.

I served it to LostVerse, Allred and our wives and didn't hear any complaints.

VM

No complaints here at all - it was delicious.

Skin on the belly or off?

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Me:
Smoked Pork Belly
I incorporated a smoked pork belly into a version of a Loco Moco breakfast that I made. Loco Moco is a Hawaiian breakfast dish which normally includes brown gravy over rice, fried spam, a couple fried eggs on top and garnished with chopped green onions. I used the pork belly instead of the spam.

Brine your slab of pork belly over night. You can use either apple juice or water with the kosher salt. Smoke the pork belly using fruit wood at 225 degrees until the internal temp is about 160. Should take 4-5 hours. Baste the belly with bbq sauce during the 2nd half of the smoking process. I then let the belly cool down and placed it in the fridge overnight to use the next morning. I cut the pork belly into half inch thick strip and fried them in a pan to get the outside nice and crisp before plating them with the Loco Moco.

VM

quote:

Originally posted by GalvezGuy:
Skin on the belly or off?

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Me:
Smoked Pork Belly
I incorporated a smoked pork belly into a version of a Loco Moco breakfast that I made. Loco Moco is a Hawaiian breakfast dish which normally includes brown gravy over rice, fried spam, a couple fried eggs on top and garnished with chopped green onions. I used the pork belly instead of the spam.

Brine your slab of pork belly over night. You can use either apple juice or water with the kosher salt. Smoke the pork belly using fruit wood at 225 degrees until the internal temp is about 160. Should take 4-5 hours. Baste the belly with bbq sauce during the 2nd half of the smoking process. I then let the belly cool down and placed it in the fridge overnight to use the next morning. I cut the pork belly into half inch thick strip and fried them in a pan to get the outside nice and crisp before plating them with the Loco Moco.

VM

i skin it personally

the skin gets kinda tough when smoked

Baby back ribs last night. Great set of ribs with about an inch and a half of meat above the bone. Hot smoked for 5 hours at 225 using peach chips. The peach smoke with pork is even better than my former favorite apple. One of my best efforts, first time with ribs in the new setup.

after enjoying smoking on the Big Green Egg for many many years, but finding less and less time to do it, I caved and bought a pellet smoker . . .

Yes, you no longer get the satisfaction of building, tending to, and maintenance your own fire, but you can smoke spur of the moment, leave and go to the gym 5 minutes after you press the start button and set the temp, go work out, work for a few hours, and come home to delicious smoked meat.

Anyway, I digress . . .in the past two days:
-smoked chicken wings with apple wood pellets (then tossed in a hot cast iron pan with a habanero-mango bbq sauce)
-Baby back ribs (ala TDUB recipe) last night smoked with pecan wood pellets. Served with a few different bbq sauces on the side.

Still have my Big Green Egg and look forward to using it when I have the time. But, with the pellet grill, I have a feeling that smoking will become a much more regular occurrence around here

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:
after enjoying smoking on the Big Green Egg for many many years, but finding less and less time to do it, I caved and bought a pellet smoker . . .

Yes, you no longer get the satisfaction of building, tending to, and maintenance your own fire, but you can smoke spur of the moment, leave and go to the gym 5 minutes after you press the start button and set the temp, go work out, work for a few hours, and come home to delicious smoked meat.

Anyway, I digress . . .in the past two days:
-smoked chicken wings with apple wood pellets (then tossed in a hot cast iron pan with a habanero-mango bbq sauce)
-Baby back ribs (ala TDUB recipe) last night smoked with pecan wood pellets. Served with a few different bbq sauces on the side.

Still have my Big Green Egg and look forward to using it when I have the time. But, with the pellet grill, I have a feeling that smoking will become a much more regular occurrence around here

but how else can you get a bunch of guys sitting around a big charcoal fire drinking first growths??

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:
after enjoying smoking on the Big Green Egg for many many years, but finding less and less time to do it, I caved and bought a pellet smoker . . .

Yes, you no longer get the satisfaction of building, tending to, and maintenance your own fire, but you can smoke spur of the moment, leave and go to the gym 5 minutes after you press the start button and set the temp, go work out, work for a few hours, and come home to delicious smoked meat.

Anyway, I digress . . .in the past two days:
-smoked chicken wings with apple wood pellets (then tossed in a hot cast iron pan with a habanero-mango bbq sauce)
-Baby back ribs (ala TDUB recipe) last night smoked with pecan wood pellets. Served with a few different bbq sauces on the side.

Still have my Big Green Egg and look forward to using it when I have the time. But, with the pellet grill, I have a feeling that smoking will become a much more regular occurrence around here

but how else can you get a bunch of guys sitting around a big charcoal fire drinking first growths??

'

Just more drinking time while we all sit around and say things like "is that thing still working" . . . response will be "yup" and then you take another sip!

Cured pork loin going in the smoker tomorrow morning. Will smoke with maple chips at 225 until it reaches 160. Thinking of adding a glaze of maple syrup and dark brown sugar near the end of cooking. After it is removed and cools down half will be sliced into chops and the other half thin cut for back bacon.

Update, turned out pretty well. The sweetness of the glaze was very nice against the smoky salty meat. Will be a little better with some time to integrate more of the sweetness.

Smoked a brisket tonight -prepared pastrami style- over hickory. Went on at 5:30am, came off at 4:30pm. Sliced on a deli slicer and made some pastrami reubens

Bought a whole Kurobuta ham from Snake River Farms. This is going to get double smoked over Memorial Day weekend. This is basically the "Kobe" of pork.

Two different smokes today.

Started with a pork shoulder. I put it in the smoker for 5 hours over hickory and am finishing it in the oven now. I had to do that last time since I couldn't keep the fire going and it turned out great.

So, after 5 hours, I switched to alder wood and put a salmon and trout on.

Did a 9lb packer brisket yesterday that turned out well. into the egg at 7:30 am, mix of hickory & apple chunks. held it between 250-275F all day, and it hit 205F internal around 6:30pm.

Smoked an 8 pound pork shoulder on Saturday. Golf was out for the day with lousy weather, so I decided to go lower than normal (225-250). Put it on the smoker at 9 AM and it was on for 11 hours. It was delicious and I love when the smoker runs all day.

Used the pulled pork for breakfast on Sunday with a modified version of Loco Moco using pulled pork instead of spam.

Sunday I smoked a fatty. Kept it simple by rolling out the sausage, seasoning both sides with a dry rub and added some deli ham, onions and some shredded cheese. Roll it back up, and smoked it low (225) with some hickory and pecan.

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:
Sunday I smoked a fatty. Kept it simple by rolling out the sausage, seasoning both sides with a dry rub and added some deli ham, onions and some shredded cheese. Roll it back up, and smoked it low (225) with some hickory and pecan.

I've done the same, but have you tried it inside a bacon weave?

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:
Sunday I smoked a fatty. Kept it simple by rolling out the sausage, seasoning both sides with a dry rub and added some deli ham, onions and some shredded cheese. Roll it back up, and smoked it low (225) with some hickory and pecan.

I've done the same, but have you tried it inside a bacon weave?

or coring out the bone of a ham and putting said sausage inside after wrapping it in bacon?

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:
Sunday I smoked a fatty. Kept it simple by rolling out the sausage, seasoning both sides with a dry rub and added some deli ham, onions and some shredded cheese. Roll it back up, and smoked it low (225) with some hickory and pecan.

I've done the same, but have you tried it inside a bacon weave?

I have done the bacon weave, but making everybody sign a waiver before eating it was getting to be a bother.

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:
Sunday I smoked a fatty. Kept it simple by rolling out the sausage, seasoning both sides with a dry rub and added some deli ham, onions and some shredded cheese. Roll it back up, and smoked it low (225) with some hickory and pecan.

I've done the same, but have you tried it inside a bacon weave?

I have done the bacon weave, but making everybody sign a waiver before eating it was getting to be a bother.

True, there is that.

- 9lb pork shoulder on the WSM, East Carolina style.

2x 4lb picnic shoulders in the bge since this morning for carnitas tacos tonight. Skin is scoted, salted and drying in the fridge for crackling.

12 pound brisket in the smoker as I type. Smelling good!

I'm thinking about entering a KCBS competition in July. Have any of you ever done one of these?

did a filet of salmon with some apple wood

I made some Char Siu tonight. I normally cook it indirect on my Weber kettle with some sugar maple wood for smoke. This time I went direct to give it a nice char, no smoke. Also tweaked my marinade recipe, substituting candied ginger slices for grated, and agave syrup for the honey. Big improvement, imo.

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
I made some Char Siu tonight. I normally cook it indirect on my Weber kettle with some sugar maple wood for smoke. This time I went direct to give it a nice char, no smoke. Also tweaked my marinade recipe, substituting candied ginger slices for grated, and agave syrup for the honey. Big improvement, imo.

do you use Chinese five spice in your marinade?

Would be curious to get that recipe. I love making Char Siu and have experimented with a few different recipes in the past

my char siu sauce recipe involves 3 main things
-fermented red bean curd
-shaoxing wine
-5 spice

my five spice
is predominantly crushed white peppercorn and sichaun peppercorn,
with hints of anise, cloves, black pepper

Variations then will be:
dark soy
honey
rice vinegar

or
a more cornstarch base which would be
simple syrup,
cornstarch
soy sauce

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
my char siu sauce recipe involves 3 main things
-fermented red bean curd
-shaoxing wine
-5 spice

my five spice
is predominantly crushed white peppercorn and sichaun peppercorn,
with hints of anise, cloves, black pepper

Variations then will be:
dark soy
honey
rice vinegar

or
a more cornstarch base which would be
simple syrup,
cornstarch
soy sauce

have used red bean curd in the past to get the color (vs. red food dye some recipes call for which I have generally just left out)

Like the home-made 5-spice approach. I have tended to omit because store bought versions can have too much concentration of anise and cloves

For my marinade, I have generally used rice wine vinegar, ketchup (yup, ketchup), hoisin sauce, light soy sauce, honey and cane (or brown) sugar with white and black pepper (occasionally five spice)

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
my char siu sauce recipe involves 3 main things
-fermented red bean curd
-shaoxing wine
-5 spice

my five spice
is predominantly crushed white peppercorn and sichaun peppercorn,
with hints of anise, cloves, black pepper

Variations then will be:
dark soy
honey
rice vinegar

or
a more cornstarch base which would be
simple syrup,
cornstarch
soy sauce

have used red bean curd in the past to get the color (vs. red food dye some recipes call for which I have generally just left out)

Like the home-made 5-spice approach. I have tended to omit because store bought versions can have too much concentration of anise and cloves

For my marinade, I have generally used rice wine vinegar, ketchup (yup, ketchup), hoisin sauce, light soy sauce, honey and cane (or brown) sugar with white and black pepper (occasionally five spice)

let's just throw the kitchen sink at your pork!! =)

haha seriously if you're going to mix it up like that, i'd say save the trouble and just add some MSG and tomato paste!!!!

Crushed white peppercorn, in my opinion, is one of the best spices for pork. It's just awesome. like beef and back pepper, pork and white pepper.

Hoisin though is weird because you get all of the ingredients (minux maybe teh sweet potato starch) from the ingreident list you have.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
my char siu sauce recipe involves 3 main things
-fermented red bean curd
-shaoxing wine
-5 spice

my five spice
is predominantly crushed white peppercorn and sichaun peppercorn,
with hints of anise, cloves, black pepper

Variations then will be:
dark soy
honey
rice vinegar

or
a more cornstarch base which would be
simple syrup,
cornstarch
soy sauce

have used red bean curd in the past to get the color (vs. red food dye some recipes call for which I have generally just left out)

Like the home-made 5-spice approach. I have tended to omit because store bought versions can have too much concentration of anise and cloves

For my marinade, I have generally used rice wine vinegar, ketchup (yup, ketchup), hoisin sauce, light soy sauce, honey and cane (or brown) sugar with white and black pepper (occasionally five spice)

let's just throw the kitchen sink at your pork!! =)

haha seriously if you're going to mix it up like that, i'd say save the trouble and just add some MSG and tomato paste!!!!

Crushed white peppercorn, in my opinion, is one of the best spices for pork. It's just awesome. like beef and back pepper, pork and white pepper.

Hoisin though is weird because you get all of the ingredients (minux maybe teh sweet potato starch) from the ingreident list you have.

I have to admit I never exactly knew what was in soy sauce but just considered it an sweet sauce that could aid in thickening. Just did some googling and saw that you are exactly right . . . The proportions of things I have been using don't exactly make a hoisin sauce but the hoisin itself is redundant because it is already represented in my ingredients . . . one ingredient gone!

st louis two rubs

a garlic/onion based rub
and a paprika rub

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
I made some Char Siu tonight. I normally cook it indirect on my Weber kettle with some sugar maple wood for smoke. This time I went direct to give it a nice char, no smoke. Also tweaked my marinade recipe, substituting candied ginger slices for grated, and agave syrup for the honey. Big improvement, imo.

do you use Chinese five spice in your marinade?

Would be curious to get that recipe. I love making Char Siu and have experimented with a few different recipes in the past

I use very little five spice in mine. To me, a little goes a long way, and when I'm walking through our Chinatown district, I can smell the five spice out on the streets.

This may be a "kitchen sink" approach, but it comes the closest to the best I've had in a local Chinese restaurant known for their bbq.

Char Siu

1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. Yoshida's Gourmet sauce
1/2 c. mirin
1/2 c. Hoisin sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 T. maltose
1 T. agave syrup or honey
1 t. minced garlic
3-4 slices of candied ginger
1/8-1/2 t. Five Spice powder (depends on your taste)
1/2 t. sesame oil
1 t. red food coloring (I like it RED) but this is optional
1/2 pork loin, sliced into long 2-1/2" x 2-1/2 strips, or 4-6 pork tenderloin.

Recipe updated 5-28-16

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan till maltose dissolves. (You will need to heat it just to get the maltose off your spoon. It is insanely thick and sticky, almost like a malleable plastic, but don't substitute anything for it. It is the glue that adheres the sauce to the meat.)
If using pork loin, make sure to remove all silverskin from the meat. I remove the fat also, but that is a personal preference.
Cool, and pour over meat in large ziploc bag. Let rest in refrigerator overnight, or up to 3-4 days.
Makes about 2-1/4 cups.

Thanks . . . this is going to be dinner next Friday. Will report back.

Now just need to procure some maltose. Do you have any experience substituting corn syrup for the maltose?

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
I made some Char Siu tonight. I normally cook it indirect on my Weber kettle with some sugar maple wood for smoke. This time I went direct to give it a nice char, no smoke. Also tweaked my marinade recipe, substituting candied ginger slices for grated, and agave syrup for the honey. Big improvement, imo.

do you use Chinese five spice in your marinade?

Would be curious to get that recipe. I love making Char Siu and have experimented with a few different recipes in the past

I use very little five spice in mine. To me, a little goes a long way, and when I'm walking through our Chinatown district, I can smell the five spice out on the streets.

This may be a "kitchen sink" approach, but it comes the closest to the best I've had in a local Chinese restaurant known for their bbq.

Char Siu

1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. Yoshida's Gourmet sauce
1/2 c. mirin
1/2 c. Hoisin sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 T. maltose
1 T. agave syrup or honey
1 t. minced garlic
3-4 slices of candied ginger
1/8-1/2 t. Five Spice powder (depends on your taste)
1/2 t. sesame oil
1 t. red food coloring (I like it RED) but this is optional
1/2 pork loin, sliced into long 2-1/2" x 2-1/2 strips, or 4-6 pork tenderloin.

Recipe updated 5-28-16

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan till maltose dissolves. (You will need to heat it just to get the maltose off your spoon. It is insanely thick and sticky, almost like a malleable plastic, but don't substitute anything for it. It is the glue that adheres the sauce to the meat.)
If using pork loin, make sure to remove all silverskin from the meat. I remove the fat also, but that is a personal preference.
Cool, and pour over meat in large ziploc bag. Let rest in refrigerator overnight, or up to 3-4 days.
Makes about 2-1/4 cups.

Thanks . . . this is going to be dinner next Friday. Will report back.

Now just need to procure some maltose. Do you have any experience substituting corn syrup for the maltose?

i thgouth maltose is corn syrup?

ever try cornstarch as a substitute for maltose?

or molasses (but lessen the amount of sugar in the other ingredients)

Maltose is a little different than corn syrup . . .

Maltose sugar is (wait for it) maltose. Corn syrup is fructose. But, your point is a good one. I think you could use corn syrup and decrease sugar in other components of the recipe because fructose is sweeter than maltose.

Molasses could work but would change the flavor profile of the sauce

anyway, I'm going to go the corn-syrup route and reduce brown sugar to 1/3 cup (totally random decrease but want to preserve the amount of corn syrup at original maltose amount for consistency purposes)

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:
Maltose is a little different than corn syrup . . .

Maltose sugar is (wait for it) maltose. Corn syrup is fructose. But, your point is a good one. I think you could use corn syrup and decrease sugar in other components of the recipe because fructose is sweeter than maltose.

Molasses could work but would change the flavor profile of the sauce

anyway, I'm going to go the corn-syrup route and reduce brown sugar to 1/3 cup (totally random decrease but want to preserve the amount of corn syrup at original maltose amount for consistency purposes)

http://www.livestrong.com/arti...n-syrup-bad-for-you/

whats high maltose corn syrup then?

It's certainly up to you what you put in it, but imo, the maltose is one of the principle ingredients in the dish. It is much, much thicker than honey, corn syrup, or molasses. It has the look and consistency of fiberglass resin; hard to believe it is edible at all, but I have had the best results using it.

heh imagine your insides!

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
It's certainly up to you what you put in it, but imo, the maltose is one of the principle ingredients in the dish. It is much, much thicker than honey, corn syrup, or molasses. It has the look and consistency of fiberglass resin; hard to believe it is edible at all, but I have had the best results using it.

Cost of entry was pretty easy (~$6) so going to be making this on Friday using your recipe. Will give an update over the weekend

I did a 15 lb. whole Berkshire Kurobuta ham yesterday. It was basically heat-and-eat, but I put about 4 hours of extra apple smoke to it. Came out great. I've never tried Kurobuta pork before, but I'm sold now.

Did a high heat brisket over oak on Memorial Day. Ran the smoker at about 360-375 rather than traditional 225-275. Delicious with some grilled bread, grilled corn and a watermelon and mint salad. First time I've done a high heat brisky, and I'm not sure if I'm sold on the method.

quote:

Did a high heat brisket over oak on Memorial Day. Ran the smoker at about 360-375 rather than traditional 225-275. Delicious with some grilled bread, grilled corn and a watermelon and mint salad. First time I've done a high heat brisky, and I'm not sure if I'm sold on the method.

Very interesting. Never heard of this before. Any details you can provide or a link to a recipe? I had someone recently giving me a ton of shit about running at 250 for a brisket...i've found that to be my sweet spot.

quote:

Originally posted by slipstitchpass:

quote:

Did a high heat brisket over oak on Memorial Day. Ran the smoker at about 360-375 rather than traditional 225-275. Delicious with some grilled bread, grilled corn and a watermelon and mint salad. First time I've done a high heat brisky, and I'm not sure if I'm sold on the method.

Very interesting. Never heard of this before. Any details you can provide or a link to a recipe? I had someone recently giving me a ton of shit about running at 250 for a brisket...i've found that to be my sweet spot.

Slip, if you want to run at 250 and that works for you, do it. I don't believe there is a single right (or wrong) way to smoke BBQ.

There is a whole segment of the BBQ world that does high heat brisket. Also, search the forums at VWB for numerous threads of people doing high heat.

I've done a lot of different high heat proteins, but there is just something I really enjoy about low and slow and dialing in the smoker where I want it to be.

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by slipstitchpass:

quote:

Did a high heat brisket over oak on Memorial Day. Ran the smoker at about 360-375 rather than traditional 225-275. Delicious with some grilled bread, grilled corn and a watermelon and mint salad. First time I've done a high heat brisky, and I'm not sure if I'm sold on the method.

Very interesting. Never heard of this before. Any details you can provide or a link to a recipe? I had someone recently giving me a ton of shit about running at 250 for a brisket...i've found that to be my sweet spot.

Slip, if you want to run at 250 and that works for you, do it. I don't believe there is a single right (or wrong) way to smoke BBQ.

There is a whole segment of the BBQ world that does high heat brisket. Also, search the forums at VWB for numerous threads of people doing high heat.

I've done a lot of different high heat proteins, but there is just something I really enjoy about low and slow and dialing in the smoker where I want it to be.

TLV . . . agree there is no one right way. Did a 10-ish pound pastrami-d brisket a few weeks ago at 210 for about 16 hours.

One take on that temperature: why the heck do you want it to take so long for your meat to get done? My answer - don't know; just playing around with temps.

Actually have never tried the high temp before but going to check out the thread you posted. It seems a little counter-intuitive to do such a fatty piece of meat at such a high temp but interested in checking the comments out

Aaron Franklin smokes his brisket at 250°. Lots of people like it.
I tend to get better results at 225°-230°.

Did 8.66kg of pork shoulder overnight Friday for my son's bday festivities yesterday. Salt/fennel rub, all applewood. Shredded it up with crackling, served with buns, slaw and some sauces.

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
It's certainly up to you what you put in it, but imo, the maltose is one of the principle ingredients in the dish. It is much, much thicker than honey, corn syrup, or molasses. It has the look and consistency of fiberglass resin; hard to believe it is edible at all, but I have had the best results using it.

Cost of entry was pretty easy (~$6) so going to be making this on Friday using your recipe. Will give an update over the weekend

Mneeley . . . made your char siu recipe for dinner last night. The pork loin had only been marinating for 10 hours so last night was a test run. Very good on this first pass.

Cooking up the remainder for dinner tomorrow night and going to reduce the sauce a little to serve on top of the pork and rice

And you were absolutely right. . . that maltose syrup is like soft melted plastic

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:
Mneeley . . . made your char siu recipe for dinner last night. The pork loin had only been marinating for 10 hours so last night was a test run. Very good on this first pass.

Cooking up the remainder for dinner tomorrow night and going to reduce the sauce a little to serve on top of the pork and rice

And you were absolutely right. . . that maltose syrup is like soft melted plastic

Glad you liked it. I like to let it marinate for about 2-3 days.

I smoked baby backs today. I'd like to make a couple of shout outs.

I bought this book Low and Slow when I got my smoker and went through it. The rub recipes he gives are really excellent. Today we used the "rudimentary rub" which was paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne, and it made an awesome bark on our ribs.

We buy BBQ sauce from Head Country Head Country in Oklahoma. I grew up in Oklahoma, but only discovered this long after I had moved away thanks to a recommendation from my mom. We've been ordering it by the case ever since. I like the spicy and the mild, but my wife thinks the spicy is too spicy. Good stuff.

The ribs today were fine with and without the sauce.

Have always used a weber grill for smoking (indirect method) but finally broke down and bought the Weber Rocky Mountain smoker (gman's advice).

First time using it this past weekend:

- pork ribs (5 racks, dry rubbed w/ my own bbq rub)
- whole chickens (dry rubbed, herbs)
- 2.5 lb salmon fillet (lemon, tarragon, salt, pepper)

The ribs were good. Overdone a bit (which Gman was kind enough to message me about after seeing my facebook post) but the group loved them. The flavor was good, homemade bbq sauce was a hit and my family wants me to start jarring it for them (have made it this way for years). Just need to work on timing, the pork spent too much time in the smoker.

Chickens were incredibly moist. Served with olive oil and lemons, huge hit.

Salmon was good, pulled it off a bit medium rare and it went over well with the group.

Very excited to get this thing going again in the near future, next up will be a whole turkey and a duck.

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:
Have always used a weber grill for smoking (indirect method) but finally broke down and bought the Weber Rocky Mountain smoker (gman's advice).

First time using it this past weekend:

- pork ribs (5 racks, dry rubbed w/ my own bbq rub)
- whole chickens (dry rubbed, herbs)
- 2.5 lb salmon fillet (lemon, tarragon, salt, pepper)

The ribs were good. Overdone a bit (which Gman was kind enough to message me about after seeing my facebook post) but the group loved them. The flavor was good, homemade bbq sauce was a hit and my family wants me to start jarring it for them (have made it this way for years). Just need to work on timing, the pork spent too much time in the smoker.

Chickens were incredibly moist. Served with olive oil and lemons, huge hit.

Salmon was good, pulled it off a bit medium rare and it went over well with the group.

Very excited to get this thing going again in the near future, next up will be a whole turkey and a duck.

I found out your mistake.

it's the weber smokey mountain you were suppose to buy, not the weber rocky mountain.

no wonder your stuff wasnt as good as it was suppose to be!

ya I just filled mine with rocks instead of smoke

(i did buy smokey mountain, oops)

so what do people use for charcoal? I've used a couple of different kinds of lump with pretty uneven results.

I smoked up a mess of bacon wrapped, de-boned chicken thighs over the weekend. Damn they were good.

for the wsm i use kingsford charcoal as a starter batch.

I layer woods and their competition briquets around the side as per the "minion" method.

Smoked a whole chicken using apple wood. Brined it over night. Stuffed with apple, lemon, onion and garlic. Coated the outside with olive oil and rubbed with kosher salt, pepper and paprika. Smoked at 250 for about 6 hours to 170 degrees internal. Sit for 20 minutes and then pulled it to serve.

VM

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Me:
Smoked a whole chicken using apple wood. Brined it over night. Stuffed with apple, lemon, onion and garlic. Coated the outside with olive oil and rubbed with kosher salt, pepper and paprika. Smoked at 250 for about 6 hours to 170 degrees internal. Sit for 20 minutes and then pulled it to serve.

VM

Sounds delicious.

Got up at 3am to throw a couple 9+ lb. pork butts into the smoker. Hopefully will be done by dinner time, but you never know for sure. Using a combination of woods; hickory, maple, and cherry.

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
Got up at 3am to throw a couple 9+ lb. pork butts into the smoker. Hopefully will be done by dinner time, but you never know for sure. Using a combination of woods; hickory, maple, and cherry.

Those are some big butts. Smoking a 5.5 lb butt

I've got a 3.5 lb butt in now,
Been going 1.5 hours will go another 5 or so, or until temp.

Also 2 racks of ribs going in soon.

2 massive bone in ribeyes as well, but will sear them on the grill and cook over hard wood (not in the smoker).

quote:

Originally posted by ThistlinTom:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
Got up at 3am to throw a couple 9+ lb. pork butts into the smoker. Hopefully will be done by dinner time, but you never know for sure. Using a combination of woods; hickory, maple, and cherry.

Those are some big butts. Smoking a 5.5 lb butt

I get mine at a wholesaler. Go big, or go home, I say.
Unfortunately, (probably due to the size) they took quite a while to hit 205° internal, so I was pulling about 9pm last night. Oh well, it tasted great tonight!

I like to go traditional with pulled pork sandwhiches. Cheap hamburger buns, pork, cole slaw, and my award winning bbq sauce.
I say, "award winning" in that I entered it a couple years ago in the state fair, and it won 2nd place...for canning technique. Turns out, they don't even taste the entries, fearing botulism. When told that afterward, my autistic son pipes up, "MY DAD DOES NOT PUT BOTULISM IN HIS BARBECUE SAUCE!"

I ran into a similar issue this past weekend mneeley. I put a almost 7 lb on my new smoker and we were eating it at 10:30 that night.

Starting at midnight this weekend.

What wireless thermometer is everyone using/recommending?

That's on my list to buy this week.

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:
What wireless thermometer is everyone using/recommending?

That's on my list to buy this week.

Thanks

I've been using an Oregon Scientific for what feels like a decade, but she's starting to show her age, but did log a solid 16 hours this past weekend so the old girl isn't giving it up just yet.

Anyway I started my search again recently so this is a bit top of mind for me.

Most of the new contenders offer integration with your mobile device via bluetooth or wifi rather than a dedicated remote.

iGrill is a popular one, but what I'm leaning towards at the moment is a product called Tappecue. Pricy, but I like the option of wifi enabled and remote visibility for those long smokes.

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
I ran into a similar issue this past weekend mneeley. I put a almost 7 lb on my new smoker and we were eating it at 10:30 that night.

Starting at midnight this weekend.

for a pork butt?

what time did you start?

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
I ran into a similar issue this past weekend mneeley. I put a almost 7 lb on my new smoker and we were eating it at 10:30 that night.

Starting at midnight this weekend.

for a pork butt?

what time did you start?

I put it on at 6 a.m., pulled from fridge and started smoker about 45 min earlier. @225

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
I ran into a similar issue this past weekend mneeley. I put a almost 7 lb on my new smoker and we were eating it at 10:30 that night.

Starting at midnight this weekend.

for a pork butt?

what time did you start?

I put it on at 6 a.m., pulled from fridge and started smoker about 45 min earlier. @225

dannng and it was completed 16 hours later?!?!

Yup. Now it's a brand new smoker so I'll allow that I haven't validated the internal temp to what the meter says, but my old one was the same way. I never got 2 hrs. per pound at 225. But DAMN was it good.

Had a similar situation on Sunday snipes. Decided to slip a 7 lb pork shoulder into our oven to finish up. The troops were getting restless. Still, plenty of nice smoke flavor from the first several hours in the smoker.

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Yup. Now it's a brand new smoker so I'll allow that I haven't validated the internal temp to what the meter says, but my old one was the same way. I never got 2 hrs. per pound at 225. But DAMN was it good.

It's done when it's done. Although, that had to be a pretty serious stall. Did you foil?

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Yup. Now it's a brand new smoker so I'll allow that I haven't validated the internal temp to what the meter says, but my old one was the same way. I never got 2 hrs. per pound at 225. But DAMN was it good.

It's done when it's done. Although, that had to be a pretty serious stall. Did you foil?

yea that's what i was thinking

I foil because of that after the 3 hour mark.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Yup. Now it's a brand new smoker so I'll allow that I haven't validated the internal temp to what the meter says, but my old one was the same way. I never got 2 hrs. per pound at 225. But DAMN was it good.

It's done when it's done. Although, that had to be a pretty serious stall. Did you foil?

yea that's what i was thinking

I foil because of that after the 3 hour mark.

I usually go four hours and then foil. I really like to use the jus after I put it through a fat separator as a sauce. I've also used on later butts if I'm injecting.

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Yup. Now it's a brand new smoker so I'll allow that I haven't validated the internal temp to what the meter says, but my old one was the same way. I never got 2 hrs. per pound at 225. But DAMN was it good.

It's done when it's done. Although, that had to be a pretty serious stall. Did you foil?

yea that's what i was thinking

I foil because of that after the 3 hour mark.

I usually go four hours and then foil. I really like to use the jus after I put it through a fat separator as a sauce. I've also used on later butts if I'm injecting.

oh you put a drip pan under the meat as you're smoking?

wsm it just goes straight into the water bowl, i'd be scared to pull anything outta that water since i only rinse off the bowl as oppose to actually cleaning it thoroughly

i do use the juice that drips out from the foil though. good stuff right there!

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:
What wireless thermometer is everyone using/recommending?

That's on my list to buy this week.

Thanks

I've been using the Maverick ET-733 for the last few years and am very happy with it. I actually have two in case I'm smoking several proteins at once. It is dual probe, but I like to use one probe for the temp at the cooking grate.

heh, you guys dont use the stick your finger in it approach?

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Yup. Now it's a brand new smoker so I'll allow that I haven't validated the internal temp to what the meter says, but my old one was the same way. I never got 2 hrs. per pound at 225. But DAMN was it good.

It's done when it's done. Although, that had to be a pretty serious stall. Did you foil?

yea that's what i was thinking

I foil because of that after the 3 hour mark.

I usually go four hours and then foil. I really like to use the jus after I put it through a fat separator as a sauce. I've also used on later butts if I'm injecting.

oh you put a drip pan under the meat as you're smoking?

wsm it just goes straight into the water bowl, i'd be scared to pull anything outta that water since i only rinse off the bowl as oppose to actually cleaning it thoroughly

i do use the juice that drips out from the foil though. good stuff right there!

No, I'm talking about the juice that is retained in the foil. As for the water pan, I don't typically use water as I don't find it necessary. Instead, I normally foil the water pan so that I don't need to clean it after a cook.

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

Instead, I normally foil the water pan so that I don't need to clean it after a cook.

you just gave me an ah-ha moment.

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Yup. Now it's a brand new smoker so I'll allow that I haven't validated the internal temp to what the meter says, but my old one was the same way. I never got 2 hrs. per pound at 225. But DAMN was it good.

It's done when it's done. Although, that had to be a pretty serious stall. Did you foil?

I foiled it this time, but a bit different than the norm. I left it on until it passed the stall ~170 and then put the butt in a cheap aluminum throw away pan, added some liquid (dr. pepper) and foiled over the top. -Tried a new technique...meh.

I don't typically foil any of my bbq, but may have to rethink that if I start doing more butts again. I did it on my original charcoal smoker years ago, but at the time didn't quite grasp the nuances on why I was doing it and the juices were a PIA along with losing some of the crust.

Just threw a TBone on it, well heating it up now. First time. I'm going to finish on a cast iron skillet for sear.

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Yup. Now it's a brand new smoker so I'll allow that I haven't validated the internal temp to what the meter says, but my old one was the same way. I never got 2 hrs. per pound at 225. But DAMN was it good.

It's done when it's done. Although, that had to be a pretty serious stall. Did you foil?

I foiled it this time, but a bit different than the norm. I left it on until it passed the stall ~170 and then put the butt in a cheap aluminum throw away pan, added some liquid (dr. pepper) and foiled over the top. -Tried a new technique...meh.

I don't typically foil any of my bbq, but may have to rethink that if I start doing more butts again. I did it on my original charcoal smoker years ago, but at the time didn't quite grasp the nuances on why I was doing it and the juices were a PIA along with losing some of the crust.

i believe teh science behind it is that once you open it up from the foil, you once again will immediately go back into a stall and basically waste 2-3 hours until you get back over that hump again.

A few things:
I use a Maverick ET-732 remote thermometer, around $60; a slightly older model than the 733. It still works like a champ and I highly recommend it for overnight cooks. You can monitor meat temp and smoker temp from the comfort of your warm bed, instead of babysitting the smoker all night.

Cooking time is only an estimate. Every piece of meat is different, and cooks differently. I've had an 8 lb. pork butt take only 6 hours, and I've had one go 16, with identical smoking techniques. The ones I did Sunday never did an actual stall, but moved steadily but slowly upward. Even so, I still foiled at 165° IT, and I also save the juices to pour back onto the meat after pulling. The gravy separator is a must, as about 1/3 of it is fat. Then comes a vinegar-based finishing sauce for an extra layer of flavor.

The water bowl serves 2 purposes. It keeps the smoker environment moist on long smokes for lean cuts of meat like brisket (not necessary for fatty things like pork butt), and it acts as a heat sink to help regulate and steady the temp inside the smoker. When smoking something that doesn't need extra moisture, I fill mine with playground sand and foil the top. That way I still get the benefit of the heat sink feature.

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
A few things:
I use a Maverick ET-732 remote thermometer, around $60; a slightly older model than the 733. It still works like a champ and I highly recommend it for overnight cooks. You can monitor meat temp and smoker temp from the comfort of your warm bed, instead of babysitting the smoker all night.

Cooking time is only an estimate. Every piece of meat is different, and cooks differently. I've had an 8 lb. pork butt take only 6 hours, and I've had one go 16, with identical smoking techniques. The ones I did Sunday never did an actual stall, but moved steadily but slowly upward. Even so, I still foiled at 165° IT, and I also save the juices to pour back onto the meat after pulling. The gravy separator is a must, as about 1/3 of it is fat. Then comes a vinegar-based finishing sauce for an extra layer of flavor.

The water bowl serves 2 purposes. It keeps the smoker environment moist on long smokes for lean cuts of meat like brisket (not necessary for fatty things like pork butt), and it acts as a heat sink to help regulate and steady the temp inside the smoker. When smoking something that doesn't need extra moisture, I fill mine with playground sand and foil the top. That way I still get the benefit of the heat sink feature.

Mneeley . . . would you ever consider a smoking tutorial for forumites? I don't come to Seattle often for work, but reading through many of your posts it strikes me that I and many of us could really benefit from your smoking skills and suggestions.

I feel like I have developed some pretty solid skills over the years, but when I read your posts I am reminded of how junior-league I am !!

-this is a totally serious question btw

+1 - My efforts to make a good quality brisket have failed. That's one cut I'd love to nail down and it's always disappointing after all of that time and $.

where do you guys pick up your packer briskets

I'm happy to give tips to anyone that wants them. But I can only tell you what I do; there are a million ways to make good bbq, and no one way is "correct".

Briskets are probably the toughest things to do well consistently. Very few people can, and they are almost all on the professional BBQ circuit. I think the trick is finding a good supplier and getting a consistent product, like Aaron Franklin does. I usually get my packers from either Cash and Carry, or Restaurant Depot. But Costco has been selling some Prime brisket packers for a pretty good price lately.
I still think one of the best I ever did was my very first one, and I've smoked dozens since.
One quick tip on brisket; it is done when you can slide a toothpick into it with little resistance. It should go in like warm butter. Internal temp for slicing should be around 195°, but again, every piece is different. And with packers, you're in it for the long haul. I've had many go over 24 hours, smoking at 225°.

what';s the cost of a 11 lb packer usually?

90$?

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
I'm happy to give tips to anyone that wants them.

Tips, shmips. I say... BBQ and IPA offline at mneeleys.

PH

quote:

Originally posted by PurpleHaze:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
I'm happy to give tips to anyone that wants them.

Tips, shmips. I say... BBQ and IPA offline at mneeleys.

PH

In!

quote:

Originally posted by Red guy in a blue state:

quote:

Originally posted by PurpleHaze:

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:
I'm happy to give tips to anyone that wants them.

Tips, shmips. I say... BBQ and IPA offline at mneeleys.

If an offline at Mneeley's with cooking tips included ever gets set up, I'll fly out with a bottle of Screaming Eagle (seriously). Would be a lot of fun and the hands-on learning would last a lifetime

That all said, agree with MNeeley's comments about brisket being different every time

This is actually the one cut of meat I've done pretty well with but it's incredibly effortful IMO. On my BGE, I have had whole packer briskets (about 11-13 pounds) go as little as 15 hours and as long as 26+. I rarely use the "Texas crutch" foil-method but that's only because I am still experimenting and trying to learn through doing. Greatest difficulty for me is trying to maintain a consistent temp (within ~25 or so degrees) on the BGE. I use the Maverick dual thermometer and have on probe in the brisket (shooting for anywhere between 190 - 203 depending on what I am going to do with the brisket) and one probe hovering ~1 inch above the grates. I have the grate thermometer alarm whenever the temp goes below 205 or above 250. The results in maintaining this stable temp are always great but makes for some horrible interruptions to my sleep . . . and my wife now makes me sleep in the basement if I am going to have the grill alarm going through the night!

PH

In!

Well after many years of running a smoker I did my first overnight smoke Friday night. I put a pair of 9 lb. butts on at 9 pm and took them off at 1 pm the following day. They held temp in a cooler until we pulled them for dinner and man they turned out good.

Ended up doing pulled pork tacos on corn tortillas. Excellent all the way around.

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Well after many years of running a smoker I did my first overnight smoke Friday night. I put a pair of 9 lb. butts on at 9 pm and took them off at 1 pm the following day. They held temp in a cooler until we pulled them for dinner and man they turned out good.

Ended up doing pulled pork tacos on corn tortillas. Excellent all the way around.

Love pulled pork tacos.
Tonight I'm using some of the pulled pork from earlier and trying out a recipe for Bitterballen. Sort of a Dutch croquette.

Cooks illustrated has a great recipe for smoked pork loin this month

Pretty basic recipe:

Overnight dry brine in a 2:1 light brown sugar/kosher salt rub. Cook at 300 degrees on whatever grill you like with some type of non-mesquite wood (I used hickory). Done!
(I tweaked by cooking at 250 to an internal temp of 131 -and not the 140 CI suggested- and then seared on a searing hot grill for a total of 2 minutes bringing internal temp to ~135)

They have a nice chutney recipe to go along with it

Made some Cuban sandwiches with the left-overs today, again courtesy of a Cooks-illustrated suggestion

I've been using the smoker for about a year. Love it, but I'm still a newb. Overnight last night I did brisket for the 2nd time. I was surprised both times about how quickly they were done. The first full brisket was 13 lbs and this one was 15 lbs, both before trimming fat. Both were done in about 10 hours with the temp in the WSM around 230-250 the whole time. I would have expected it to take a lot longer.

anybody use those condensed coconut husk charcoals? the ones that burn for like 5-6 hours @ high temps?

Put a couple slabs of baby backs on at noon with a rub my son and I put together recently. The ribs are from a new-to-me local butcher. Family run operation and has been in business for 61 years. The breakfast sausage was phenomenal.

I too did baby backs yesterday. By far one of the most satisfying batches I have done. I used a higher temp than normal (300) and got outstanding results. They were moist without being overly fatty and the meat fell off of the bone.

do you guys wet brine or dry brine?

been hearing from folks there's really no point in wet brining anymore

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
do you guys wet brine or dry brine?

been hearing from folks there's really no point in wet brining anymore

I would say it depends on what you're brining, and your level of expertise, or comfort level. Also, are we talking about brining or curing? There is a big difference.
I wet brine chicken for a few hours, and turkeys up to 2 days. But if you're curing something like bacon, it can be done either wet or dry.
I've done both, but I still use a fool-proof wet cure for bacon and always get good results. I also like the texture of the finished product a little more, but many people swear by dry. However, imo, working with nitrites (cure) in dry brining is generally not for first timers. You need to pay close attention to weights and percentages. Too little, and your bacon can grow toxics and kill you. Too much, and you can die from nitrite poisoning. You need some experience to know what's "just right".

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
do you guys wet brine or dry brine?

been hearing from folks there's really no point in wet brining anymore

Both, I think wet works best for fowl and salmon. I prefer dry for beef and pork. Every time I dry-brine salmon it is too salty for me.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
do you guys wet brine or dry brine?

been hearing from folks there's really no point in wet brining anymore

So, I'm going to speak to brining only and not curing. Other than using Prague Powder in very small quantities using a time-tested recipe with very exacting quantities for a week long brisket brine (to make corned beef or pastrami), I have not touched curing for the reasons Mneeley mentioned. I do not feel like I know enough about how to do this properly for uncooked meats to do it safely.

That said, here goes:
-Fish: wet brine in a 3% salt solution for 15 and no more than 30 minutes
-Chicken / Turkey: Used to wet brine, but I have found that dry brining produces what is to my palate similar results without the space and time requirements of wet brining. For chicken I rub the chicken with ~3% salt by total bird weight and let this dry brine in the fridge for at least 2 hours and preferably overnight. For Turkey I like to get this dry brine on for at least 1 day and preferably 2
-Beef/pork/lamb/duck: dry brine with salt (again ~3% by meat weight) for at least 1 hour and up to overnight
-Pork: sometimes I dry brine with a 2/3rd to 1/3rd brine of brown sugar and salt again trying to ensure that total salt does not exceed 3-5% of total pork weight. In this instance, I wrap the pork tightly in plastic wrap while brining (or will vacuum seal if I have the time) to prevent all the moisture from just spilling on the plate holding the meat

There are some pretty good articles on wet vs. dry brining on seriouseats.com and on amazingribs.com

I do think that ultimately your preferred method will depend on your tastes and the different textures these different approaches may produce for you

quote:

Originally posted by mneeley490:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
do you guys wet brine or dry brine?

been hearing from folks there's really no point in wet brining anymore

I would say it depends on what you're brining, and your level of expertise, or comfort level. Also, are we talking about brining or curing? There is a big difference.
I wet brine chicken for a few hours, and turkeys up to 2 days. But if you're curing something like bacon, it can be done either wet or dry.
I've done both, but I still use a fool-proof wet cure for bacon and always get good results. I also like the texture of the finished product a little more, but many people swear by dry. However, imo, working with nitrites (cure) in dry brining is generally not for first timers. You need to pay close attention to weights and percentages. Too little, and your bacon can grow toxics and kill you. Too much, and you can die from nitrite poisoning. You need some experience to know what's "just right".

only talking about brining

been curing for the past 2 years and havne't killed myself yet ;-)

the idea is, wet brine you waste alot of water and salt and space in the fridge

dry brine you just slap it on, wrap in paper towel, let it come to room temp and put it down to the smoker.

was curious about people's experiences

I think i'm in agreement with galvezguy, I'm just not good at dry-brining salmon, comes out way too salty

looks like teh lowest published lethal dose of sodium nitrite is 71mg/kg . so fat person like me needs 6.4gs of immediate consumption before it'd kill me =)

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
only talking about brining

been curing for the past 2 years and havne't killed myself yet ;-)

the idea is, wet brine you waste alot of water and salt and space in the fridge
This is true. I've outgrown my mini beer fridge, and am looking at buying a used, full size for the garage, if I can ever clear enough space.

dry brine you just slap it on, wrap in paper towel, let it come to room temp and put it down to the smoker.

was curious about people's experiences

I think i'm in agreement with galvezguy, I'm just not good at dry-brining salmon, comes out way too salty Also true with me. I've had many people rave over my smoked salmon, but it never seems quite right to me. I like a harder, sweeter version, as opposed to something like lox. Sometimes called squaw candy around here.

looks like teh lowest published lethal dose of sodium nitrite is 71mg/kg . so fat person like me needs 6.4gs of immediate consumption before it'd kill me =)

heh i've got 5 gallons cold chilling in my fridge right now ;-)

wet brining a ham/butt means i've onyl got room left for some hot sauce and the gallon of milk for the kids!

Looks like you have your priorities in order.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
heh i've got 5 gallons cold chilling in my fridge right now ;-)

wet brining a ham/butt means i've onyl got room left for some hot sauce and the gallon of milk for the kids!

~7.5 lb pork shoulder just went on with apple wood, will brush every 45 mins with an apple cider vinegar based liquid, for pulled pork tonight

Plan on brining to ~195, which apparently is best for making the pork pull easily. Any other advice is appreciated, have about 8 hours to make adjustments

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:
~7.5 lb pork shoulder just went on with apple wood, will brush every 45 mins with an apple cider vinegar based liquid, for pulled pork tonight

Plan on brining to ~195, which apparently is best for making the pork pull easily. Any other advice is appreciated, have about 8 hours to make adjustments

opening the wsm every 45 minutes will have you hitting the stall for alot longer.

i'd highly recommend injecting the pork shoulder with your liquid then covering it and just walk away for a few hours

or, texas crutch it.

the science behind it is that the meat sweats as you cook it. like when a person sweats, it cools off the temperature of the meat. you'd need the humidity of the WSM to match the liquid on the meat otherwise you'd hit the stall (a very long one too if you're just opening and letting humidity out every 45 minutes)

Sorry gman hoping for an expert to chime in

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:
~7.5 lb pork shoulder just went on with apple wood, will brush every 45 mins with an apple cider vinegar based liquid, for pulled pork tonight

Plan on brining to ~195, which apparently is best for making the pork pull easily. Any other advice is appreciated, have about 8 hours to make adjustments

I have terrible luck trying to get my butts to cook at an hour a pound. I do something similar, but baste every hour. It's easier for me to keep track if it's the same time every hour. I prefer a spray bottle to a mop/brush, but in the end they both work.
Keep the tin foil wrap trick in mind if you think you are going to overshoot the mark by several hours as in, if you aren't at 160º AT LEAST three hours before you want to eat I'd start contingency planning. 195 is a good minimum and all the way up to 205 doesn't hurt either.

Enjoy. I'm sure it will be fantastic

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:
Sorry gman hoping for an expert to chime in

Tis OK. I'll post pics of my ready to eat pulled pork while you're still basting

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:
Sorry gman hoping for an expert to chime in

Tis OK. I'll post pics of my ready to eat pulled pork while you're still basting

hot dogs bro

sarbuze - How did it turn out?

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by sarbuze:
~7.5 lb pork shoulder just went on with apple wood, will brush every 45 mins with an apple cider vinegar based liquid, for pulled pork tonight

Plan on brining to ~195, which apparently is best for making the pork pull easily. Any other advice is appreciated, have about 8 hours to make adjustments

opening the wsm every 45 minutes will have you hitting the stall for alot longer.

I never start spritzing until after the three hour mark, and then only if the bark is set. If you spray or mop before bark set, the crust, rub and the all important Maillard reaction will fall off when you foil. I almost always foil - don't give me any of your Texas crutch crap.

Once I put the pork butt on the smoker, I don't open the lid for three hours. If the bark is set sufficiently at that point, I will spritz every hour until I hit the stall. Once it hits the stall, I foil with some liquid (apple juice or beer or whatever is on hand), and let it go to 195 before I start checking for probe tender. BBQ is done when it's done - don't get caught up in x/lbs per hour. Once it is probe tender (be it 195 or 205), I take it off the smoker and open the foil to stop the cooking. Once the temp gets back down to 170 or so, I'll pull if eating soon, or seal in the foil to hold until pulling later. Once I've pulled the butt from the smoker, I pour off the liquid from the foil and de-fat it, using the au jus if necessary in the pulled product. I've also frozen the remaining au jus to use for injection on the next butt, but I don't always inject.

Turned out good, had a few bites of great, but overall not exceptional (though we enjoyed it).

I hit ~190 and we pulled it. 1/2 of it was perfectly tender, fall apart in your hands. The other 1/2 needed that extra hour or two to get to ~200, but we were hungry

I think I would have hit the temp, without foil, had I let it go. That said, I will try the foil method next go at it and will probably use a version of the method posted by thelostverse for fun.

Most importantly, wife loved it! I did mention to her that there was much to improve and we'll have to experiment with it often, which she supports.

I look forward to continuing to learn from those of you who have been doing this a long time, even gman

muhahahah,

told you to get the hot dogs ready ;-)

i wont take mine off until they hit 205f these days - i find pulling at 195 leaves them a bit too 'held together(?)' - not tough, but but not that awesome fall apart if you give a dirty look glistening with glycerin I really like in my shoulder. I have never foiled, but that's on a BGE.

I have always shot for 203 (rec from amazingribs for brisket but works great for pork shoulder as well).

Like Snipes said, I don't think I've ever been able to hit temp at an average of 1 hour per pound. Last 10 pound pork butt I cooked took almost 18 hours

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

I never start spritzing until after the three hour mark, and then only if the bark is set. If you spray or mop before bark set, the crust, rub and the all important Maillard reaction will fall off when you foil. I almost always foil - don't give me any of your Texas crutch crap.

Once I put the pork butt on the smoker, I don't open the lid for three hours. If the bark is set sufficiently at that point, I will spritz every hour until I hit the stall. Once it hits the stall, I foil with some liquid (apple juice or beer or whatever is on hand), and let it go to 195 before I start checking for probe tender. BBQ is done when it's done - don't get caught up in x/lbs per hour. Once it is probe tender (be it 195 or 205), I take it off the smoker and open the foil to stop the cooking. Once the temp gets back down to 170 or so, I'll pull if eating soon, or seal in the foil to hold until pulling later. Once I've pulled the butt from the smoker, I pour off the liquid from the foil and de-fat it, using the au jus if necessary in the pulled product. I've also frozen the remaining au jus to use for injection on the next butt, but I don't always inject.

That's very close to what I do. Pork butt is the most forgiving cut there is. It's hard to screw it up too badly. I usually go with injection though, so I don't have to be opening up the smoker and losing heat and time, and take it to 205°.
"If you're lookin', you ain't cookin'."

- 8lb butt (injected) & 2 racks of spare ribs on the Smokey Mountain.

Doing my first beef brisket tomorrow. Reading up on techniques. I'm not a texas crutch guy, but will do it on this thing.

Unsure exactly what I have, as the in-laws brought it with them yesterday. It's 6 1/2 lbs. and part of a butchered half a cow they purchased.

That size is right in the window between start before bed or first thing in the a.m.

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
I'm not a texas crutch guy

I never quite understand why people are anti-foil/butcher paper. To me, it's merely a tool that makes most BBQ taste better. It also happens to speed up the cooking time on some things, but if I'm BBQ'ing, I'm never in a hurry anyway.

I'm not specifically talking about you here snipes, your post just happened to catch my attention this morning. Good luck with the brisket - I'm still struggling with that particular cut myself.

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
I'm not a texas crutch guy

I never quite understand why people are anti-foil/butcher paper. To me, it's merely a tool that makes most BBQ taste better. It also happens to speed up the cooking time on some things, but if I'm BBQ'ing, I'm never in a hurry anyway.

I'm not specifically talking about you here snipes, your post just happened to catch my attention this morning. Good luck with the brisket - I'm still struggling with that particular cut myself.

I foil when I do ribs and brisket only. I understand why some don't like it because I've found that if you leave the meat in the foil too long the meat gets mushy like it does when it's parboiled before being smoked, and falls of the bone when doing ribs, neither of which you want.

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
Doing my first beef brisket tomorrow. Reading up on techniques. I'm not a texas crutch guy, but will do it on this thing.

Unsure exactly what I have, as the in-laws brought it with them yesterday. It's 6 1/2 lbs. and part of a butchered half a cow they purchased.

That size is right in the window between start before bed or first thing in the a.m.

That is probably just the flat then. We had it with a fourth of a cow we purchased. It was fine, but cooked pretty quickly - I want to say it was done in like 6 hours - and I remember scrambling to figure out how to keep it warm until we were ready to eat.

quote:

Originally posted by CSM:

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by snipes:
I'm not a texas crutch guy

I never quite understand why people are anti-foil/butcher paper. To me, it's merely a tool that makes most BBQ taste better. It also happens to speed up the cooking time on some things, but if I'm BBQ'ing, I'm never in a hurry anyway.

I'm not specifically talking about you here snipes, your post just happened to catch my attention this morning. Good luck with the brisket - I'm still struggling with that particular cut myself.

if you leave the meat in the foil too long the meat gets mushy like it does when it's parboiled before being smoked, and falls of the bone when doing ribs, neither of which you want.

I'm in full agreement on mushy meat or ribs falling off the bone. But if that happens, it's not the foil's fault - that's just overcooking the protein. It's done when it's done - not at a certain preconceived time.

quote:

Originally posted by aphilla:
and I remember scrambling to figure out how to keep it warm until we were ready to eat.

A finished brisket will hold for hours if you wrap it in foil after finished cooking (let the temp come down to about 170* to stop the carryover before wrapping it in foil), wrap it in several towels, and hold it in an empty cooler.