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THE MACHO MAN posted:I read about people doing it at 250, but I was worried about having my meat turn out dry. I don't know if that's really a concern. In my experience, pork butts have so much fat tissue throughout them that it is really hard to cook it to the point of it being dried out. Not to say it can't happen but it takes a serious error.
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Aug 20, 2014 22:41
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I am very surprised that a 9lb butt or whatever he had cooked that fast at 225.
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Aug 21, 2014 02:28
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203 is the temp at which a lot of competitive guys and gals will pull their shoulder. 190 is a bit cold in my mind for a really good pulled pork. That said it'd chop fine and that has it's merits, too. For those who like bark I often will halve a shoulder along the bone, a lot more surface area and a shorter cook, too. If you're worried about moisture you can inject but a pork butt is pretty loaded with fat and you'd have to really gently caress it up to dry it out. Hell, pork butt is so fatty/moist I don't bother foiling it—I'd rather keep my bark pristine.
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Aug 21, 2014 03:00
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So I haven't been here since I had to move and lose my smoker. Finally I moved to a new place, but unfortunately it's apartment complex in Fairfax County which has an ordinance against open flames in the units. Can anyone suggest some alternatives or am I just out of luck again?
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Aug 21, 2014 14:55
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Woof! Woof! posted:Who's got experience with BBQ PID Systems / Fans / Managers? The HeaterMeter has fan control built in where you can set a target temperature and it'll vary the fan speed between 0-100% to try to maintain the temperature. If i recall correctly, you can control alot of variables like minimum/max fan speed, how quick/slow it ramps the fans up, etc. Random Hero posted:I would like to build my own HM because it seems like a fun project, but the only piece I'm having trouble finding more info on is the connector from the fan to a 18 WSM. I'm probably just not looking in the right place but any help here would be appreciated. Do you mean how the fan will physically attach to the WSM? My smoker is a cheap chinese WSM knockoff, I bought some sheet stainless steel that was thin enough to work with using hand tools. Just using some tin snips, a straight edge and a hammer was enough. I cut a hole in the door of the smoker, attached a metal rantangular tube to the hole (it has a "flap" at the top and bottom to make it sit in place) and then my fan attaches at the other end of the tube. I dont have a pic but here's a lovely MSpaint:  It keeps the fan far enough away from the fire that it doesnt melt, but still seems to get plenty of air on the fire. The fan is this type: 
Ahdinko fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Aug 21, 2014 |
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Aug 21, 2014 15:36
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Gravel Gravy posted:So I haven't been here since I had to move and lose my smoker. Finally I moved to a new place, but unfortunately it's apartment complex in Fairfax County which has an ordinance against open flames in the units. Can anyone suggest some alternatives or am I just out of luck again? I mean you can use electric perhaps, they're vastly inferior, but you can still make good, edible food. I don't know if smoldering wood counts as open flame. Their primary problem is twofold however. Firstly, they lack moving air because they do not need air to generate heat (as opposed to a combusting source, which sucks in air in order to produce heat). Secondly, they lack a lot of the combustion gasses of hot coals so they fall short on some flavors, as well. They can produce quality fish and I grew up smoking fish with my dad on one to great results, but in terms of classic BBQ when I got started I was never able to produce a super great smoke ring or quality bark until I went coal. That said if it was my only option I'd be at the store buying one right now.
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Aug 21, 2014 15:58
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Ahdinko posted:The HeaterMeter has fan control built in where you can set a target temperature and it'll vary the fan speed between 0-100% to try to maintain the temperature. If i recall correctly, you can control alot of variables like minimum/max fan speed, how quick/slow it ramps the fans up, etc. Thanks for the idea and sweet Paint drawing.
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Aug 21, 2014 18:23
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Gravel Gravy posted:So I haven't been here since I had to move and lose my smoker. Finally I moved to a new place, but unfortunately it's apartment complex in Fairfax County which has an ordinance against open flames in the units. Can anyone suggest some alternatives or am I just out of luck again? Pretty much have to go electric. I have a real nice one from Smokin-It that I use sometimes. Very high quality construction, stable heat, thermostat is pretty good. Can't get up to chicken smoking temps but good on low temps for fish. I've also gotten pretty solid bark on my butts when I chose to use that one over my WSM for one reason or another.
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Aug 21, 2014 19:45
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ut755ln posted:I may have posted this before, but when it comes to smoking there is an easier method. Heat your kettle, green egg, smoker to 300 degrees. Cook your brisket, pork shoulder for 2 hours. At this point it will have developed a bark and a decent smoke ring. Double wrap the meat in heavy foil. Place the foil wrapped meat in a cheap sleeping bag. Take the meat and jam it in a cooler, the tighter fit the better. Let it sit for six to 8 hours and you are done. How's that now? Have you tried this? It sounds like a blueprint for food poisoning to me. Why would you simply not leave the food on the cooker?
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Aug 21, 2014 23:57
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The advantage would probably be that you can then go to sleep or take that cooler somewhere, but I'm with you, I can't imagine that turning out well at all
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Aug 22, 2014 14:57
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Stubear St. Pierre posted:The advantage would probably be that you can then go to sleep or take that cooler somewhere, but I'm with you, I can't imagine that turning out well at all You can do those things anyway... I regularly smoke butts/brisket overnight.
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Aug 22, 2014 15:01
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Just threw my first chicken on the smoker, a 3.5lb Amish chicken. What temp should I pull it at?
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Aug 23, 2014 17:34
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revmoo posted:Just threw my first chicken on the smoker, a 3.5lb Amish chicken. 165F?
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Aug 23, 2014 18:52
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are you going to try to crisp up the skin? pull it a bit early and throw it under a broiler if you can.
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Aug 23, 2014 19:59
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How early? I'm at 152 now.
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Aug 23, 2014 20:03
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I pulled mine off at 185. It remained juicy and was insanely tender.
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Aug 23, 2014 20:50
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Has anyone here made pepper stout beef? I've got some in the oven that I'm trying to finish but there's still a tough stringy bit in the middle of the meat that is preventing it from pulling easily. The rest of the meat pulled just fine, there's just this one big tough bit left. Is that something that will melt eventually or should I just pull around it? On a side note, the bits I have pulled are delicious, I can't believe I never heard of this recipe until recently.
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Aug 23, 2014 22:10
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Pulled at 155 due to a storm, broiled for 30, overshot the temp.......delicious and totally moist. No brine or anything.
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Aug 23, 2014 23:15
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Crispy skin? That's my biggest failure when I smoke chicken
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Aug 24, 2014 02:51
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internet celebrity posted:Has anyone here made pepper stout beef? I've got some in the oven that I'm trying to finish but there's still a tough stringy bit in the middle of the meat that is preventing it from pulling easily. The rest of the meat pulled just fine, there's just this one big tough bit left. Is that something that will melt eventually or should I just pull around it? I make this a lot because it's incredible. It could even have passed up pork shoulder in terms of which shredded meat sandwich I'd rather eat. In any case, just leave it covered in the oven longer, time heals all pulling wounds. The sheer amount of liquid in the recipe makes it basically impossible to dry the meat out as long as it's still covered. I've used super tough London broil cuts that have taken as long as two more hours than expected. They still come out amazing as long as you have the patience to let them get to where they need to be.
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Aug 24, 2014 04:44
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BraveUlysses posted:Crispy skin? That's my biggest failure when I smoke chicken Unless you're doing something else (broiling mostly) it's p. hard to get crisp skin from a smoker, the process tends to rubberize the skin pretty often.
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Aug 24, 2014 18:48
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Woof! Woof! posted:Unless you're doing something else (broiling mostly) it's p. hard to get crisp skin from a smoker, the process tends to rubberize the skin pretty often. I used to pull the chicken at 155ish, take the top part of my WSM off, and then push all the remaining coals against the outside of the charcoal ring. Drop the top grate right on top of the ring toss the chicken on and keep a close eye on it. It will finish up in 10-15 minutes with crispy skin.
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Aug 24, 2014 21:15
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DJCobol posted:I used to pull the chicken at 155ish, take the top part of my WSM off, and then push all the remaining coals against the outside of the charcoal ring. Drop the top grate right on top of the ring toss the chicken on and keep a close eye on it. It will finish up in 10-15 minutes with crispy skin. Yup, but as you said you have to watch out. The first time I tried this I didn't move the coals out of the way and I got burnt chicken in 30 seconds.
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Aug 24, 2014 22:16
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Canuckistan posted:Yup, but as you said you have to watch out. The first time I tried this I didn't move the coals out of the way and I got burnt chicken in 30 seconds. Happened to me too the first time I made dry rubbed & smoked wings. Had to peel all the charred skin off before I could eat them, which kind of negated the dry rub.
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Aug 24, 2014 23:05
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DJCobol posted:Happened to me too the first time I made dry rubbed & smoked wings. Had to peel all the charred skin off before I could eat them, which kind of negated the dry rub. Well…so does rubbery skin, no? Maybe this is cheating but I used to crisp mine up in the oven at 425 or so in my electric smoking days.
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Aug 26, 2014 01:40
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I am sure this has come up a few times in this thread (I don't have search), but what are the thoughts on this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Brinkmann-Smoke-N-Grill-Charcoal-Smoker-and-Grill-810-5302-S/100606041?N=5yc1vZbx92 I have read it has some problems out of the box, but with a few homebrew mods it can become something decent especially for the price. Is there anything that might be slightly pricier, but with the same size and dual purpose grill/smoker?
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Aug 26, 2014 23:45
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The double 20 lb bags of Kingsford are on sale for 9.88 at Lowe's again. Probably the same at Home Depot. I'll probably get another 200 lbs since this sale doesn't come around again until Memorial day, I think.
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Aug 27, 2014 06:44
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coronaball posted:The double 20 lb bags of Kingsford are on sale for 9.88 at Lowe's again. Probably the same at Home Depot. I'll probably get another 200 lbs since this sale doesn't come around again until Memorial day, I think. Reddit seems to think there is a code to get this. http://www.reddit.com/r/BBQ/comments/2en7w4/kingsford_40_lbs_for_988_deal_back_at_lowes/
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Aug 27, 2014 07:37
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I bought some today and didn't need any codes (DC MD suburbs)
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Aug 28, 2014 01:44
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Just picked up an 18.5 WSM on craiglist for $180, brand new in box. The seller already had one and then won this one in a raffle that he didn't know he entered. This will replace my propane smoker for most items except for my bacon/belly smokes. The height of the propane box allows me to smoke at least 30 pounds of belly at once. Super excited!
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Aug 28, 2014 16:14
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Nice score. That's half the price of one in Canada. Get yourself a Weber charcoal chimney and read up on the minion method for extending your fuel time. Also paint it like R2D2.
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Aug 28, 2014 16:18
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So I was looking at cooking up some ribs for this weekend, and I found this dry rub recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rib-dry-rub-recipe.html I have all the ingredients, but I am curious of how it should be grilled up. Going off of other recipes, it looks like putting it in foil, baking at 250* for 2 1/2 hours, then later, grill over medium heat for about an hour? I was looking to do 2 racks with that dry rub, and one with this rather more thorough recipe on cooking and everything: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/neelys-wet-bbq-ribs-recipe.html
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Aug 30, 2014 03:05
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I wouldn't follow the cooking instructions on that last link you posted, since it says to cook at 250 for 3 hours and then 300 for another 3 hours. They'll end up over-cooked to poo poo. I like cooking ribs somewhere between 2225 and 250 for about 4 hours for baby backs, maybe a little less if the fire is hot or more if it's having trouble keeping temp. The key is to test them, you can saw one off and try it or use the bend test, where you grab the rack and bounce it a little and if the meat gives and cracks, it's about ready.  That rub looks nice though, it looks like everything I would want in a rib rub. Make sure to have some sauce on hand since not everyone likes a dry rib.
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Aug 30, 2014 07:59
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Drowning Rabbit posted:
That's not smoking meat, that's roasting meat and finishing it on a grill. It's pretty easy to get started on barbecuing* ribs so I'd encourage you to actually smoke them. *roasting via convective (indirect) heat and smoke generated by coals or wood. The guy above got you started, here's where a lot of his good advice comes from: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/best_BBQ_ribs_ever.html It's the right place to start if you want to actually smoke meat (not just bake it, like you're thinking). Woof! Woof! fucked around with this message at 08:36 on Aug 30, 2014 |
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Aug 30, 2014 08:27
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coronaball posted:I wouldn't follow the cooking instructions on that last link you posted, since it says to cook at 250 for 3 hours and then 300 for another 3 hours. They'll end up over-cooked to poo poo. That was ridiculously helpful bud thanks! One question though, will I be drawn and quartered if I admit my brother in law has a gas grill? I don't know that he really can go the indirect heat way with that. I know how to do it with the obvious charcoal grill. Well, I watched a video and it made perfect logical sense. The dry rub I was really happy with, but the sauce I cooked for the one rack smelled of many things I'm personally not a fan of, but others will be (like that amount of ketchup and other various spices, stuff is POWERFUL smelling). I'll have to give a trip report when I get back, or even later today. I assume pictures are appreciated, although I'm sure they won't be nearly as sexy as a seasoned pro's meats. Thanks for the advice to all who helped me out preparing for this weekend 
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Aug 30, 2014 13:30
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Drowning Rabbit posted:That was ridiculously helpful bud thanks! One question though, will I be drawn and quartered if I admit my brother in law has a gas grill? I don't know that he really can go the indirect heat way with that. I know how to do it with the obvious charcoal grill. Again, you're no longer smoking meat if you're using a gas grill with no charcoal or wood, but if it has multiple burners you should be able to turn on one and then just arrange the ribs over the non-lit burners to create indirect heat.
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Aug 30, 2014 17:00
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coronaball posted:The key is to test them, you can saw one off and try it or use the bend test, where you grab the rack and bounce it a little and if the meat gives and cracks, it's about ready. I don't really follow or post in this thread because I'm super poor and don't have enough room for a smoker, but I did want to add that I worked in a barbecue restaurant for about 3 years in South Carolina, and this is the "test" we trained all of the pit cooks to perform. I'm also pretty sure (this was a long time ago) that we did 4 hours at 225 before the pit cook would start pulling and testing slabs. You'd pick up one side of the slab with tongs and angle it downwards, if the weight of the slab doesn't cause the meat to pull cleanly away from the bone, it goes back in until that does happen.
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Aug 30, 2014 17:44
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I did the "bend test" a couple times and found it really is just testing how dried out the outside is, which lead to a lot of overcooked ribs. My method is more-- 1. Look at the color, they should be dark red/brown although lighter in the center is fine 2. Look at the bones, at least some of them should be sticking out of the meat now and looking pretty dried out. 3. If the meat passes #1 and 2, try pulling apart two ribs in the center of each rack--note this can all be done without taking them out of the smoker or their rib racks. If they pull apart pretty easily (a little resistance is fine, but you shouldn't be putting any real effort into it) then they're done. Here are some I just did yesterday  It's admittedly a bit tougher to do by feel, sort of reeks of that "feel the inside of your hand" bullshit for steaks, but the general idea is just that these are your ribs that you're going to be pulling apart, and you want to see how easy they are to pull apart. This works better for me because I really don't like ribs to be "falling off the bone," which they generally will be with the bend test. I think one of the biggest draws for ribs is that visceral feel of pulling them apart and tearing the meat off with your teeth, which you lose if they're all floppy and overcooked.
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Aug 31, 2014 13:43
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Stubear St. Pierre posted:1. Look at the color, they should be dark red/brown although lighter in the center is fine You can just poke it with a toothpick, too. If you don't want to start pulling your meat apart on the smoker.
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Sep 1, 2014 08:04
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Smoked Hatch Green Chili Meatloaf with bbq sauce glaze... Turned out incredible. I will definitely be doing this more often, and I would absolutely recommend it for anyone that likes meatloaf but wants to try a different take on it.
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Sep 2, 2014 14:53
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