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Siochain posted:Once its below -5C or so, it can't keep up. But, easy trick for that - go grab a welding blanket. Get one that's not the fiberglass itchy stuff, but the smoother sides. Set the smoker, put your stuff in, and wrap it up. Or if you have a detached building that's even mildly heated that you don't mind getting smokey, that'll work to. I just parked mine for most of the winter, because its just too loving cold out to want to bother heh. Water heater blanket might work as well.
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Jun 8, 2013 21:05
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Today I built a thing. It took about 4 beers and other than a brief use of a level, it was all improvised with just a tape, screwgun, and hand saw. Tried to do some chicken in the grill using some bricks to make it into a smoker.  It worked just ok. The temp loss from opening the lid was insane but I did get it to hold at like 305f without messing with it. The idea was to see if I could use the grill for anything if I had a pile of people over and the WSM was full. I think I could get away with fast and hot dry ribs or chicken if I planed it better and brined the parts. I also tried to make some jalapeno cheese things. I took this hot pepper jam my friend made and mixed it with cream cheese and stuffed the peppers.  Sadly, I hosed them up. I put them on the toasting rack in the grill but it was just a bit too low and knocked some of them over, spilling cheese into the grill which I am super excited to clean out tomorrow. The holes in the holder are too small in any event and I am going to open them up a bit so the peppers sit lower and better. Also this guy was loving with me all day:  Then I got drunker and sat around a fire until I was too tired to drink anymore. 
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Jun 9, 2013 04:51
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bunnielab posted:Today I built a thing. That's a perfect day right there.
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Jun 9, 2013 08:16
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bunnielab posted:Today I built a thing. Looks like a decent grill, how did the chicken turn out?
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Jun 9, 2013 20:02
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I cut down some 2" branches from my Japanese willow and I'm trying to find out of it's safe and tasty to smoke with. The only thing I've found is some forum posts by people saying they love smoking with Red Willow. In generally is it a bad idea to smoke with non-standard wood types?
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Jun 10, 2013 01:20
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FlutterShock posted:Looks like a decent grill, how did the chicken turn out? Not well. I made many mistakes in the prep and ended up not leaving enough thaw time (in retrospect I should have brined them as both seasoning and to speed up thawing) and ended up thawing them in the smoker when it hit 150 which (clearly) dried the meat out. I will say my rub is getting better. I think with a brine to get salt into the meat it will be really great. 3 tbsp Black Pepper 3 tbsp Paprika (not the really nice stuff, but the "ok" grocery store stuff) 1 tbsp Garlic Powder 1 tbsp Mustard Powder (I want to switch to the Colmans' powder, might need to back off the amount) 1.5 tbsp Sugar 1 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes 2 tsp Salt It is reasonably spicy and sweet but I am still trying to balance the two. I think next time I might get rid of the mustard powder and the salt try some Soy Sauce in it's place.
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Jun 10, 2013 04:51
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bunnielab posted:Today I built a thing. That peacock looks like a badass. Straight up smoking a chicken is probably going to get you a dry rubbery chicken. I like to take a whole chicken, split it right down the middle and lay it bone-side down over coals. I'll add some hickory or pecan chunks to the coals if I want some smoke flavor. I do not move the chicken halves or turn them, I just mop them three or four times with BBQ sauce- this creates a nice glaze. I leave them until the thermometer (stuck into the meaty part of the thigh) reads 170 degrees F. Friggin chicken turns out perfect every time. I'll try to find a picture of my Memorial Day brisket and post it for some slow smoking content.
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Jun 10, 2013 16:47
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I smoke roasted a whole chicken on my 22" kettle last night, and it came out pretty good. I got air temps at the vent of over 325, which got the skin all brown and crispy. Still, the meat could have been done better, the thighs were alright, but the breast was too hot. I'd normally expect dry chicken out of that but you could cut it with a butter knife. I've tried types of chicken cuts for smoke roasting or indirect grilling, and halves are the best balance of laziness vs. results. Whole chickens are easy but don't give the best results (typically overdone breast meat like a turkey). Pieces cook quickly, and you can pull them at the appropriate temperature for the piece, but it's easier to mess up the timing or the placement and get overdone meat. Halves take a little longer to cook, but much less prep time and they are easy to turn and baste. As for direct grilling, I am way too lazy to direct grill chicken. With indirect grilling, sometimes I overcook things if I am away for too long. With direct grilling you can't leave at all and you can get flare ups, or even charcoal your chicken by lighting it on fire with relative ease. As for smoking chicken low and slow, it's ok, but indirect grilling at over 300 for a crispier skin is better.
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Jun 10, 2013 18:59
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How does one convince a somewhat elderly curmudgeon that he needs to get a smoker (or even better switch from gas to charcoal)
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Jun 10, 2013 20:45
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I didn't have a lot of time this weekend, so I decided to give tenderloins another go. The trick to keeping them moist is to pull them right at 135, and using the insulating properties provided by oceans of spicy molten cheese. 
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Jun 10, 2013 20:52
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That looks really nice... what did you spice it with?
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Jun 10, 2013 21:07
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FlutterShock posted:That looks really nice... what did you spice it with? The two cheesy ones are rubbed with leftover seasoning from the last time I made chili. Chipotle, ancho, cumin, mexican oregano, hot paprika, etc, stuffed with colby jack and jalapenos someone at work brought in from their garden. I made fajitas out of the first one, the second one will probably end up the same. The other one is a sweeter rub and stuffed with butter and mashed up garlic. They only take about an hour and a half, I pretty much just light the smoker, put them on, and leave the vents open until they hit 135.
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Jun 10, 2013 23:38
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I'm looking at picking up a Weber One Touch Silver kettle hopefully over the Fathers Day sales. It will be an upgrade from my ECB that I've been fighting with for a couple years. Budget is the biggest concern for me so I'm thinking the 22" One Touch Silver and a smokenator will set me up nicely. Thoughts or Comments?
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Jun 10, 2013 23:51
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Hello again friends Today, I share with you the bacon explosion. It was a pretty easy smoke and only took about 4 hours. Besides being somewhat a novelty, it is actually quite delicious. Unfortunately, I brought it into work the next day to share with co-workers (it was inspired by a co-workers idea) and I forgot to take post-carving pictures. If you're unfamiliar with the bacon explosion, Google it, it is pretty much the stuff the stuff that inspires young men join militant Islamic groups. The sausage patty was homemade, and the links and bacon were bought from a local store that packages their own sausage and makes their own bacon. The links aren't a part of the original recipe and were something I decided to do on my own. The little yellow pieces are minced garlic.   Rolled up and ready for smoking  Slathered in several coats of Sweet Baby Ray's and ready to clog some arteries! 
Dattserberg fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Jun 11, 2013 |
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Jun 11, 2013 02:49
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cobra_64 posted:I'm looking at picking up a Weber One Touch Silver kettle hopefully over the Fathers Day sales. It will be an upgrade from my ECB that I've been fighting with for a couple years. Budget is the biggest concern for me so I'm thinking the 22" One Touch Silver and a smokenator will set me up nicely. Thoughts or Comments? Do iiiiiit! You won't regret it!
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Jun 11, 2013 05:22
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Dattserberg posted:Hello again friends Today, I share with you the bacon explosion. It was a pretty easy smoke and only took about 4 hours. Besides being somewhat a novelty, it is actually quite delicious. Unfortunately, I brought it into work the next day to share with co-workers (it was inspired by a co-workers idea) and I forgot to take post-carving pictures. If you're unfamiliar with the bacon explosion, Google it, it is pretty much the stuff the stuff that inspires young men join militant Islamic groups. So it's a form of "Fattie". I've made a few variations, they are good, but are more of a novelty, IMHO.
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Jun 11, 2013 06:34
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AxeBreaker posted:I smoke roasted a whole chicken on my 22" kettle last night, and it came out pretty good. I got air temps at the vent of over 325, which got the skin all brown and crispy. Still, the meat could have been done better, the thighs were alright, but the breast was too hot. I'd normally expect dry chicken out of that but you could cut it with a butter knife. I've tried types of chicken cuts for smoke roasting or indirect grilling, and halves are the best balance of laziness vs. results. Whole chickens are easy but don't give the best results (typically overdone breast meat like a turkey). Pieces cook quickly, and you can pull them at the appropriate temperature for the piece, but it's easier to mess up the timing or the placement and get overdone meat. Halves take a little longer to cook, but much less prep time and they are easy to turn and baste. Heh, I do mine 3 hours at 225 in the MES with smoke, then transfer to the BBQ at 450'ish for 20 minutes or so at the end to really crisp her up. Best of both worlds, and I do them whole. Have not had a bad chicken yet (well, the one time I used some different brand of woodchips that were just horrible, but, that was my bad). I should try the split-and-smoke though, might be worth a shot.
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Jun 11, 2013 20:00
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cobra_64 posted:I'm looking at picking up a Weber One Touch Silver kettle hopefully over the Fathers Day sales. It will be an upgrade from my ECB that I've been fighting with for a couple years. Budget is the biggest concern for me so I'm thinking the 22" One Touch Silver and a smokenator will set me up nicely. Thoughts or Comments? I got a 22" weber with the smokinator and it's pretty impressive at stabilizing temperatures. Smoked for 6 hours on one batch of fuel. Some notes: Although they say you can use the charcoal grate as a second food tier, the temperature down there is pretty different from the main food grate so it involves some juggling of different batches of food with different cooking temps and times. You need to refill the water every 90 minutes or so. Multiple thermometers is really helpful.
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Jun 11, 2013 22:09
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Steve Yun posted:I got a 22" weber with the smokinator and it's pretty impressive at stabilizing temperatures. Smoked for 6 hours on one batch of fuel. Some notes: Do you have experience with the floating rack or whatever it is called, to get more space up in the dome?
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Jun 11, 2013 22:21
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It's sort of a wash compared to a standing rib rack. It was designed with the assumption that you're going to lay all your ribs flat but I think you can get slightly more ribs in using a standing rib rack. The downside to the standing rib rack is that they can flop around a little and touch each other, resulting in no smoke being able to get into those parts. So, pick one or the other. You can't combine the two, the hovergrill doesn't have enough clearance.
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Jun 11, 2013 22:39
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Okay fellow smokegoons, I need some advice. The wife's company picnic is about 10 days away. Its a pot-luck style with 20-30 adults/children. So I want to smoke something. I don't need to provide the full-meal-quantity, but, well, we all know how quickly something good from the smoker can disappear. So...help me decide what to make. I've got my MES 30" and my BBQ, and right now I'm debating between 3 things: A few smoked chickens. I can likely fit 4-6 in the smoker. Smoke them, carve them up, put into a tray to keep warm. Maybe serve with some fresh buns and nice cheese? Ribs. Load up the smoker with as many racks as I can fit, get them done nicely, cut them up, put into a tray to keep warm. Maybe have some home-made BBQ sauce on the side for people who want wet (I do dry-rub and smoke with no sauce). Pulled pork. Just get a nice big shoulder, smoke it overnight, pull it in the morning, and tray and warm. Then I'd need to make 'slaw, sauce and some buns, but that's not too big of a deal. Brisket. I haven't done one before, so that's part of my trepidation on it, but they look pretty simple. Anyone have opinions, advice on something else, etc? Thanks a ton.
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Jun 12, 2013 15:59
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I don't find brisket to be simple at all, but that's just me. I find it to be the most difficult. That many people seems difficult to do ribs for as well just in sheer numbers. If you're comfortable with an overnight smoke, pulled pork is easy to make a large qty. it'll turn out good and if its not just slather in BBQ an slaw.
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Jun 12, 2013 16:20
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Anyone here try tea-smoking? I just had some tea-smoked pork belly from a traditional Chinese place, and it was loving amazing. I want to try it myself once I get my WSM.
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Jun 12, 2013 16:58
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Siochain posted:Okay fellow smokegoons, I need some advice. For a picnic I think pulled pork is your best bet. It is easy to make, everyone likes it, and it comes on a bun. Brisket is good and not that difficult, but it has the highest chance of your three options of coming out badly, especially if it is your first one. Better to experiment when 30 people are expecting to eat it.
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Jun 12, 2013 17:10
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Tandoori Chicken and/or other types of Indian Chicken: Is there any method of slow cooking these in a smoker ? Youtube videos show most methods as high heat fast grilling. I'm curious if a better slow cook method could be done with the tandoori/yogurt/lime flavour...
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Jun 13, 2013 01:17
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Martello posted:Anyone here try tea-smoking? I just had some tea-smoked pork belly from a traditional Chinese place, and it was loving amazing. I want to try it myself once I get my WSM. I too would like to hear about this.
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Jun 13, 2013 02:15
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My wife went to visit her parents for a few days, the Stanley Cup Finals started, and my work shifts got cancelled. So I fired up the ECB with two racks of ribs and some beef short ribs(ok but not great). I used amazingribs.com method on the pork and they turned out great, now my stomach hurts. I guess I can't eat like a teenager anymore.
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Jun 13, 2013 02:58
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Looking to move up from my charcoal-fired offset smoker/grill to something under $300 but either electric or gas, I guess. Would prefer to not have to buy any specific kind of wood pellets. Currently looking at the big chief. Anyone have thoughts?
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Jun 14, 2013 18:57
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When we smoke, it's literally just in an old shed that we hang stuff from the rafters in. Of course, we smoke a lot at once. Is this an option for you?
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Jun 14, 2013 19:12
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In the fantasy world where I have a yard, there is a outdoor kitchen in that yard with a custom-made (by me) wood-fired oven/grill/smokehouse combination unit. In reality I'm only allowed to have one shed by the HOA in my little postage stamp of a yard. And that shed is already occupied to the rafters with various tools and such. I do have a hotplate and an old skillet, I've been tempted to just buy a wire rack and do the cardboard-box smoker trick.
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Jun 14, 2013 19:17
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I am pretty pleased with my 18.5 WSM but that doesn't help with moving away from charcoal. Have you looked around Amazingribs.com? They have a pretty decent review section.
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Jun 14, 2013 19:37
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bunnielab posted:Have you looked around Amazingribs.com? They have a pretty decent review section. Fantastic, just what I needed, thanks! edit: told me what I wanted to hear, too. Goin' with the big chief. edit: dammit, no I'm not. It's perfect, size good, made in USA to boot...but its control is fixed at 160F which is stupid. I'd have to hack it out of the box. edit: poo poo I want this one but I don't think it's big enough :/ http://www.webstaurantstore.com/20-lb-insulated-aluminum-smokehouse-with-smokestack/915SH001.html?utm_source=Amazon Looks like we're goin with this bad boy http://www.amazon.com/Char-Broil-12701705-Vertical-Gas-Smoker/dp/B004J66WWG Edit wow the reviewers HATE it. Grrr. Hm. Maybe this one. Reviewers like it: http://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-20051311-2-Door-Propane-Smoker/dp/B004W4NDPY/ref=lp_553774_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1371240393&sr=1-12 Amazingribs didn't like Masterbuilts, but they did seem to mostly take issue with the electronic elements of their electric smokers. pr0k fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Jun 14, 2013 |
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Jun 14, 2013 19:57
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I can't decide between St. Louis and baby backs for father's day, someone help me!
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Jun 15, 2013 20:02
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Baby backs are too lean. Go spare ribs!
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Jun 15, 2013 20:39
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I smoked my second pork shoulder ever Friday. I use an offset firebox style smoker, a lot of the fun for me is playing with fire. I rubbed the meat about 14 hours before I started. It wasn't ideal, but better than nothing. I don't have a pic of that. About 12:30 am I went outside and started the fire.  Here's what it looked like 4 hours in:  And here's 10:  It stayed on for 13.5 hours or so. I rotated once at 8 hours or so, mopped every 1-2 hours. The meat was 180 to 185 when I pulled it. The box was between 190 and 260. It's hard to maintain temp on an open fire (but fun) And here's it pulled (and some beet slaw to go with it):  The very middle was a bit dry and a but tough still. The outside was excellent. My smoke ring was between 3/4 and 1 inch. I'm thinking about doing a brine next time. And I definitely need to rub at least 24 hours in advance. I also probably need to rub a bit thicker. vvv I don't use a stick burner or anything. I keep a fire going for 14 hours. SoftNum fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 02:23
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Looks good, I think maintaining temp on your stick burner a little better would help you out. I don't ever brine my pork shoulder. I save that for birds.
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Jun 16, 2013 02:30
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coronaball posted:I can't decide between St. Louis and baby backs for father's day, someone help me! I usually stick with St. Louis, mostly because they are cheaper and end up just as tasty if done properly.
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Jun 16, 2013 02:51
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Ok, doing side-ribs in the oven @ 225*F for 3 hours 15 mins, and then the last 45 mins over the charcoal grill. In the oven, each rack is individually wrapped, with CattlesBoys BBQ sauce mixed with some honey mustard, and then rubbed with Montreal chicken spice. 4 hours in the oven this way turned out really well last time, however it lacked the bark on the outside which is important to me. Once I get it out of the oven, I will put them on the grill. Can anyone give me tips for getting the best bark ? I also have mesquite wood chips that I can toss in for some smoke.
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Jun 16, 2013 03:28
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TenjouUtena posted:The very middle was a bit dry and a but tough still. The outside was excellent. My smoke ring was between 3/4 and 1 inch. It was dry and tough because it didn't quite reach the correct temperature. Let it hit 190-200F. Jonathan, the ribs were wrapped in what? You might not need to wrap it.
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Jun 16, 2013 04:41
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TenjouUtena posted:
Stick-burner is slang for a traditional smoker. You burn wood (sticks) as opposed to pellets or gas. Food looks good.
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Jun 16, 2013 04:51
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