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Meclin posted:Thanks a lot for the advice guys! I had to try a beef brisket again today, just to see how the higher temps would work and couldn't be more happy with the results. I did a pork shoulder at the same time, so it drew out the cooking time a bit, but I smoked most the day around 240-245 and foiled around 150 internal temperature. When I pulled the beef off it was right around 190 internal. I remember someone in the thread mentioned putting in the thermometer should feel like you are sticking it into butter--it was! Here are the results: tender with a great smoke ring. Bark is much more pronounced as well. That is a nice looking brisket.
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Aug 4, 2013 04:58
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| # ? May 14, 2024 17:46 |
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It's caribana weekend here up north, so I thought I'd make a jerk covered pork butt to celebrate with everyone else. Pic is of it in rub that it's been sitting in for almost a day and just before it hits the smoker until dinner time.
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Aug 4, 2013 17:40
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Well I've gotten good enough with the charcoal grill and slow cooking that its now hindering my results. Time to graduate to a smoker. The brands at local retailers are the -Cuisinart 30 (masterbuilt knock off with poo poo reviews) -Masterbuilt 30 -Traeger(sp?) These are like $900 and the spouse says no. -Bradley It seems the Bradleys at $400 are the best built entry level smokers around town, However I don't know much about their puck system. Can I just use standard chips or am I forced into their puck system ? I can get the Cuisinart 30 for $199, or the Masterbuilt for $280. I don't know if the lovely Cuisinart reviews also extend to the master built. They're mostly complaints about the door seal leaking at the bottom, and the door latch rivets falling apart.
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Aug 4, 2013 17:59
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Just get a weber smokey mountain off of amazon for like 250 or 300.
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Aug 4, 2013 18:01
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sellouts posted:Just get a weber smokey mountain off of amazon for like 250 or 300. Forgot to mention I need an electric. The nature of my career doesn't allow me to make plans more than 1 hour in advance, and its cold for a large portion of the year, so I will be using the smoker in my shop indoors with an exhaust system I'm going to rig up. Basically I need to be able to push a button, and come back 12 hours later to check on it. Also, the Weber is $550 for the small and $750 for the 22.5", from Amazon.ca, and they won't ship. This far north shipping would probably cost $200. jonathan fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Aug 4, 2013 |
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Aug 4, 2013 18:39
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If you need or require electric, you won't go wrong with the masterbuilt and the AMNPS. It'll let you do 12 hour unattended smokes and pellets come in many flavours from multiple suppliers. There's many good recommendations for the combo in this thread.
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Aug 4, 2013 21:41
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Does anyone have any experience with making a smoker out of an old metal filing cabinet? It seems in the surface to be a very cool idea that would work well.
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Aug 6, 2013 14:59
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I don't think it would work particularly well, especially when you can make an ugly drum smoker for about 100 bucks. File cabinets are generally cheaply made--you will have many potential air leak sources.
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Aug 6, 2013 21:11
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Sticky, gummy and resinous smoke tar in all of the sliding rails and rollers. It sounds like a nightmare after the first few smokes. At some point, you'll close it up, and once it cools, you won't be able to open it again once the tar cools and hardens. You'll also have to get all of the paint off somehow, and that doesn't sound like any fun.
Mach420 fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Aug 7, 2013 |
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Aug 7, 2013 03:59
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2.6LB boneless pork shoulder. I picked this up and then realised I have a max cook time of roughly 4 hours. Can I do this on the grill at 300 degrees or so, or should I hold off and cook it tomorrow for longer ? It's one of those pre-marinated things, It says to cook in oven for 450 for 30 mins and then reduce temp to 350 and cook for 1 hour. If I can cook it slower over charcoal I assume I could atleast get it to taste better than the oven, correct ? Edit: Too late, it's on the grill. I'll just keep checking and cooking it until it gets to 200 or so. Learning! jonathan fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Aug 8, 2013 |
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Aug 8, 2013 02:29
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jonathan posted:2.6LB boneless pork shoulder. I picked this up and then realised I have a max cook time of roughly 4 hours. Can I do this on the grill at 300 degrees or so, or should I hold off and cook it tomorrow for longer ? Even cooking as low as 225 F, pork butt shouldn't take more than an hour per lb. So it should be done in plenty of time.
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Aug 8, 2013 03:56
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Thanks, how high should I bring internal temp up to for max tenderness ? Around 190? I just started bringing the temp down on the grill. Going to get it down to 275 or so, which is about as low as I can get without having to babysit it.
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Aug 8, 2013 04:11
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I'd say 195 for max tenderness. If you can, around 200 since you won't be resting it for super long. I've got a bachelor party this weekend and we're going to a cabin. I'm smoking a picnic and a packer and possibly a beef roast. I will post pictures when I get back.
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Aug 8, 2013 04:43
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Pre marinated pork butt? What? Let us know how it turned out. Just get a plain one next time and do the rub as well. Or buy a rub separately. I'd be concerned with the quality of meat and don't know if I've ever marinated a pork butt before smoking.
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Aug 8, 2013 04:53
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I have a picture I will post tomorrow. The cut was alright. The bark turned out amazing, and it had a visible smoke ring. A first for me. The bad: 4 hours cook time at 300. It stalled at about 132* indicated, forcing me to foil it, left and picked up the girlfriend from work, when I returned it was at 160. Prepared the veggies and side dish and pulled it at 165. So basically it has the flavor and colour of a good BBQ, but it wasn't fall apart tender. I think it needed about 3 more hours. Oh well, like I said, learning!
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Aug 8, 2013 07:18
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There's a reason everyone says low and slow. You can't rush barbecue by turning the heat up.
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Aug 8, 2013 14:51
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Sure you can. I did! Just makes it crappy.
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Aug 8, 2013 17:42
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jonathan posted:4 hours cook time at 300. ... Prepared the veggies and side dish and pulled it at 165. At that point is it flavor, and I smoke all my butts at 225F because: 1) it dehydrates the meat more, giving you more intense flavor. 2) You spend longer absorbing smoke in the lower temps (I think this can be debated but meat absorbs smoke better at lower temps). 3) Longer with a dry exterior gives you more browning and again better flavor. 4) Slower heating gives all the meat time to get tender all over. You can't rush great barbecue but you can definitely get more tenderness by just cooking to a higher temp, although to some detriment of the more outer and more inner bits, and almost positively with some degree of lesser flavor.
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Aug 9, 2013 03:17
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jonathan posted:
Whatever you are using to measure temperature is badly calibrated. Pork shoulder stalls at 155-160 and is pull-able at approx 190-200. Your thing is off almost 30 degrees. A good probe is one of the most important tools you can own when it comes to mastering BBQ. A Thermapen is probably the best instant read probe you can get, but they are not cheap. Saltin fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Aug 9, 2013 |
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Aug 9, 2013 21:19
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For a Thermapen alternative check out RT600C Super-fast Water-resistant Digital Pocket Thermometer. Made by the same company and only costs $20.00. I ended up grabbing one after going through 3 or 4 expensive remote probes, including Maverick and Oregon Scientific, that all failed way too quickly. Wish I had just bought one of these first and pocketed all that wasted money.
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Aug 9, 2013 22:40
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I'll second the RT600C or the RT301WA (the one that I have). Made by Thermoworks, super fast response time and durable. The Thermapen is great, but the price is ridiculous. These cheaper thermometers are 95% of what the Thermapen is. They just aren't pocketable like the Thermapen because you can't just flip the metal probe part into the casing so you have to be a bit careful while carrying it around.
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Aug 9, 2013 23:07
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OK looks like I got lucky. My fiances sisters husband is a dairy farmer and they had to put down a bull recently and the meat was hanging in a cooler. I figured this could be the only chance I get so I asked if I could buy the brisket cut from them. At first they didn't know which cut that was, then when I found an old cookbook that showed the cuts of beef they asked why I wanted that, it was near garbage meat in their opinion, only good for dog food or mixing into cheap lauantai-sausages (a traditional finnish type of sausage). Anywayyy looks like I got hold of some brisket, should have it in a week or so which is in time for the Venetian festival and a perfect time to have a biig cook off. Now I need help, it's my one chance to make brisket and I don't wanna screw it up. What do I dooo?
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Aug 11, 2013 10:11
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His Divine Shadow posted:OK looks like I got lucky. My fiances sisters husband is a dairy farmer and they had to put down a bull recently and the meat was hanging in a cooler. I figured this could be the only chance I get so I asked if I could buy the brisket cut from them. At first they didn't know which cut that was, then when I found an old cookbook that showed the cuts of beef they asked why I wanted that, it was near garbage meat in their opinion, only good for dog food or mixing into cheap lauantai-sausages (a traditional finnish type of sausage). A brisket off an old bull might be close to a baseball glove in terms of texture. Low and slow needs to be your mantra, you will not be able to cheat your way though that piece of meat.
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Aug 11, 2013 21:24
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Owners of the Vision Grills Kamado (it was sold at Costco this summer): how is the cleanup? I'm looking at their models and the C model claims to add some sort of electric starter slot and an ash tray for easy cleaning. I'm trying to figure out if the removable ash drawer is worth an extra expense or just a good source of heat loss.
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Aug 12, 2013 23:51
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Hed posted:Owners of the Vision Grills Kamado (it was sold at Costco this summer): how is the cleanup? I'm looking at their models and the C model claims to add some sort of electric starter slot and an ash tray for easy cleaning. I'm trying to figure out if the removable ash drawer is worth an extra expense or just a good source of heat loss. Cleanup is fine with the standard Costco model. More drawers and doors = more air leaks.
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Aug 13, 2013 01:26
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I know this probably varies by region, but $2.99 is a real good price for USDA choice brisket right? Shamefully, I've never attempted one before but I saw that they were on sale so I'm looking to pop my brisket cherry on Sunday.
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Aug 16, 2013 18:09
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coronaball posted:I know this probably varies by region, but $2.99 is a real good price for USDA choice brisket right? I did my first brisket last weekend and it went great. Mine was $3.49 a lb. How are you planning on doing it? I did a simple rub (salt, pepper and paprika). I have a traeger, so I kept it on the smoke setting for 2 hours, then low and slow at 225 until 135 internal. Foiled it and took it the rest of the way up to 195 internal then pulled it for a rest. I used a mix of oak and hickory and the brisket didn't last long once I carved it. I'm definitely open to suggestions, since this was my first brisket (I normally stick to ribs, pork butts, etc). I think this weekend is going to be my first attempt at a tritip, which I will reverse sear. I've always done my tritip on the grill but I'm anxious to try it on the traeger and get some good smoke on it.
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Aug 16, 2013 19:10
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$2.99 / pound is OK for a packer brisket. If you keep a lookout you can sometimes find them for $1.99 a pound at Wallyworld. That's when you buy three of them 
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Aug 16, 2013 20:01
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GEEKABALL posted:$2.99 / pound is OK for a packer brisket. If you keep a lookout you can sometimes find them for $1.99 a pound at Wallyworld. That's when you buy three of them Eugh. I don't know what it is about beef here, but even on super flash sale this meat is 1 day away from expired, it won't go under $4/lb.
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Aug 16, 2013 20:19
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Rurutia posted:Eugh. I don't know what it is about beef here, but even on super flash sale this meat is 1 day away from expired, it won't go under $4/lb. Yeah, I think 3.79 is the best price I've ever seen them at here. I'm going to try my first chicken smoke in my electric tomorrow but I'm seeing some pretty wildly varying temps and time approximations out there. Anyone here have some advice on what I should be planning for? (Big whole chicken)
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Aug 17, 2013 21:52
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Generalissimo
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Rurutia posted:Eugh. I don't know what it is about beef here, but even on super flash sale this meat is 1 day away from expired, it won't go under $4/lb. Packers are usually 2.18 / lb at HEB. St. Louis ribs and shoulders are usually 1.98. It's a tough life.
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Aug 17, 2013 22:43
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Toast posted:Yeah, I think 3.79 is the best price I've ever seen them at here. There's less need to cook chicken low and slow. You'll want to run the temps hot for a little bit anyway to get the skin nice and crisp. REally anywhere from 225-325 will be fine. Usually when I cook it at 225-250 it takes about 4 hours.
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Aug 18, 2013 01:47
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HolyDukeNukem posted:There's less need to cook chicken low and slow. You'll want to run the temps hot for a little bit anyway to get the skin nice and crisp. REally anywhere from 225-325 will be fine. Usually when I cook it at 225-250 it takes about 4 hours. Yeah, hence why I figured some of these times were bullplop.
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Aug 18, 2013 08:06
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GEEKABALL posted:$2.99 / pound is OK for a packer brisket. If you keep a lookout you can sometimes find them for $1.99 a pound at Wallyworld. That's when you buy three of them 'twas $2.99/lb for a 12 or 14 lb packer. (they didn't bother to put that part in the ad.) Luckily the butcher was cool and gave me the 6 lb point for $3.99. I'm about to rub it down, crash until 7 or 8 AM, then inject it and fire it up.
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Aug 18, 2013 08:32
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Without fail... every time I plan to smoke there's a massive rainstorm.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:20
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cornface posted:Packers are usually 2.18 / lb at HEB. St. Louis ribs and shoulders are usually 1.98. It's a tough life. I live in a big city where the butchers have "figured out" things like ribs and shoulders are prime cuts now. No word of a lie I can pay $6/lb for shoulder. It's "local and organic", but what loving ever.
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Aug 18, 2013 23:06
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5.75 lb brisket point. 3 regrets: 1. Wish I hadn't passed out for 2 hours and let the temp spike to 275 for God knows how long. This led to the texture being a little subpar. 2. Wish I'd put a pan underneath to catch the drippings and put in some beans 3. Wish I hadn't waited so long to try and make brisket. Despite all this it was so goddam good. Not just one of the best things I've ever made, but one of the best things I've ever eaten on my life. Incredible. 
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Aug 19, 2013 19:10
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Thanks whoever suggested the pecan/oak/cherry wood combo. It was pretty good on the ribs but it really worked well with an undetermined cut of beef roast and venison hindquarter.
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Aug 20, 2013 21:50
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Speaking of smoking wood, who else has tried using Manzanita? This shrub is practically a weed around wear I live, and I only have to walk a minute in any direction to find as much dry and weathered branches and stalks on the ground as I can carry. Burning the wood without soaking, say in a campfire or grilling experiment, the stuff burns surprisingly hot and readily but doesn't last long. With chips I cut myself, up to an inch in diameter and with a 3-hour soak, the Manzanita pumps out just as much smoke as anything else and imparts an interesting fruity/smoky taste, but with a tiny bit of acrid flavor. The acrid thing might be do to inadequate ventilation with my DIY smoker, or the fact I'm using old weathered wood. I mean to try cutting some green Manzanita and drying it myself.
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Aug 20, 2013 23:21
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I've used manzanita once. I thought it ended up pretty much like hickory or at least close enough that if I hadn't known I used something different I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.
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Aug 21, 2013 19:06
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