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I had the same issues with the A-MAZE-N and my MES. As doom rooster said, make sure your pellets are dry and that you thoroughly light them and let them burn for a while. I have found that air flow was also a problem on mine and that it would often stall out after an hour or two. Try opening the top vent a bit and see if that helps. I actually ended up doing a mailbox mod on mine so that I could easily cold smoke, and running the A-MAZE-N from the mailbox alleviated fixed all of the problems. So that's something to look into, but is also indicative of airflow being a factor.
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Aug 4, 2018 01:59
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Trastion posted:Anyone that has a MES and an A-Maze-N that can give me pointers? I just got my A-Maze-N and the first two times it barely burned any pellets. I usually keep the top vent almost closed. Do I need to open that more or maybe pull the bottom normal load chute for wood chip out a bit to get more air flow? Yeah, you need airflow. 1) Yank out the ash pan. 2) Don't use any water pan. 3) Pull out the 'chip filler' tube a tad. 4) Open top vent full bore. Pellets absorb moisture. You can dry them out in the oven or via microwave.
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Aug 4, 2018 05:31
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C-Bangin' it 
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Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:I have acquired a 3.25-lb tomahawk ribeye, and I plan to reverse-sear it. I have never reverse-seared anything or cooked a tomahawk ribeye before. Recipe suggestions welcome. If you've never reverse seared anything before I'd probably use an oven and a cast iron pan first before I threw the egg into the mix. Mainly so you can figure out the relationship between temp when it comes out of the oven, temp when it comes off the sear, and temp that you want to eat it. Also because going from ~225 to grilling temps on an egg kinda sucks and from my experience results in smoke so copious it may result in the fire department being called by a neighbor. Also this is from like 3 months ago because I don't check in here that often but I think the people giving you poo poo about the amount of wood chunks you were using on the egg were full of poo poo.
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Aug 5, 2018 05:39
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Thanks for the A-Maze-N and MES info guys. I will try that next time I smoke something. They actually sent me one that was welded wrong (the holes to light it are not on the ends) so they are sending a new one. I was still able to light it just did it from the top instead of using the hole. I will check the pellets for the moisture issue. One bag was open in the box and that was the flavor I used for the first two cooks so it's probably that.
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Aug 5, 2018 13:39
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You'll be sort of surprised how much moisture you pull out when drying them.
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Aug 5, 2018 19:32
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The lasagna cook is a go for tonight. I repeat it is a go. T-3 hours and counting before it goes on. Hard to type. Wiping the sweat from my brow and my hands are shaking due to not loving this cook up. Colostomy Bag fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Aug 5, 2018 |
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Aug 5, 2018 19:35
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I recently found a ~5lb brisket flat at the bottom of my freezer that I'd received as a thank you / trade from a restaurant last summer and then forgotten about. It was wrapped in a million layers of saran wrap rather than vacpacked, so I was expecting pretty awful burning, but it didn't take as much trimming as I thought. Looks pretty decent. I didn't trim the fat very aggressively due to reading about people with dry brisket on the SE comment thread, possibly from lack of fat. None of the people who will be coming over tomorrow will mind either eating it or removing it after it's been sliced. https://imgur.com/a/biOJ8pe The plan is to pretty much follow the SE recipe/method, but maybe with some BBQ rub to cover up potentially stale tasting meat as well. It's started cooking sous-vide at 155F at 1pm today. Plan on giving it 24 hours, then take it out, 2 hours in an ice bath, season (it's already been salted, but nothing else), then 3 hours on the grill at 250F with as much smoke as I can drum up from some hickory on my gas Weber. Rest 15 mins, serve at 6:30pm tomorrow. Any suggestions? Obviously some stuff is too late to change.
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Aug 5, 2018 21:18
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Colostomy Bag posted:The lasagna cook is a go for tonight. I repeat it is a go. 
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Aug 5, 2018 22:02
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veiled boner fuel posted:Also because going from ~225 to grilling temps on an egg kinda sucks and from my experience results in smoke so copious it may result in the fire department being called by a neighbor. Are you taking the remaining wood chunk debris out first? I grill on the egg all the time and I don’t find that it’s worse going from a smoking config than going from cold.
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Aug 5, 2018 22:31
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Going with hickory, smoker almost up to temps. First issue was removing the plastic film from this 34oz frozen bastard. Next thing I noticed the lack of QA in how the lasagna looked. No matter. Will go forward shortly.
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Aug 5, 2018 22:37
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Not enough pictures of said lasagna.
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Aug 5, 2018 22:38
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Moey posted:Not enough pictures of said lasagna. lol, the plan was going to take a couple pics. Yanked my phone out of my pocket and it was dead. Charging now. Hopefully in 15 minutes you will see it before it hits the smoker.
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Aug 5, 2018 22:46
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At long last... What I'm working with...  You can see the lovely asymmetrical loading of pasta and meats in the tray. I have removed the plastic film (which they instruct you should leave on) but for smoking I've made the only choice possible...to remove it to for the smoke. Now on the smoker...  You will notice I somewhat deflowered the paper tray from the sides of the lasagna to receive more smoke penetration. GOD HELP ME.
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Aug 5, 2018 23:13
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This is definitely going to end well.
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Aug 6, 2018 00:12
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Colostomy Bag posted:
God help us all
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Aug 6, 2018 00:26
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This reminds me of when my dad decided to smoke some tater tots. They ended up mushy and waaaaay too much smoke flavor.
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Aug 6, 2018 01:28
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Ok, honest to hell the lasagna (all things considered) was a smashing success. Far far exceeded my expectations.
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Aug 6, 2018 01:39
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Colostomy Bag posted:Ok, honest to hell the lasagna (all things considered) was a smashing success. 
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Aug 6, 2018 01:56
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My expectations were low...hell haven't had a frozen Stouffer's lasagna in years. We like to make our own. But for this experiment I wasn't about to attempt using a home-made one and gently caress it up in this hare-brained scheme. Instead I opted for the $6 frozen special from Walmart. Wife said "WTF, smoked lasagna...interesting" when she saw it. But everyone got seconds. Including my kid so I was surprised. Nothing but compliments. I won't do a Stouffer's tuna casserole though. Someone else can try that one. And for a moment tonight, as I stood there taking the temp of a packaged lasagna with my thermapen...all was right with the world.
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Aug 6, 2018 02:24
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I tried a few smoked salmon recipes this weekend, and found huge fuckin success with one of them. I forgot to take many pictures, mostly because it was an effort not to just devour the whole thing right after pulling it off the grill.  It was incredibly juicy and tender, and a bit of the soy chili flavor got through. Super loving delicious. This was the brine I used: https://keviniscooking.com/smoked-salmon-brine-recipe/ That guy's cooking instructions are crazy though, I just put the fish on at 200 and tried not to let the kettle get much above 230, and pulled it off at 137f internal temp or so . I did some other batches with different brines, glazes, and so on but this one was by far the best. Some of the latter ones didnt get much time air drying in the fridge to form a pellicle, and the difference in the smoke flavor + texture on the top was pretty noticeable. So, uh, I guess, don't skip that part. e: One thing about pulling it at this temp is, it's definitely not as firm as you'd usually have smoked fish, so if you like it a little more toothsome, I'd probably let it go to 145 or so. Gwaihir fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Aug 6, 2018 |
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Aug 6, 2018 02:56
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I've heard more than a few people say fish can really stink up a smoker, anybody experienced that? Having what sounds like a very nice recipe that still involves cooking to a normal 'safe' temp sounds good to me too.
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Aug 6, 2018 04:17
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I haven't noticed any extreme odors in mine, but I haven't gone smelling it closely either. I didn't have the fish on the grate directly, it was on a second rack that i used to dry it in the fridge, which also fits in the dish washer. I definitely foiled my drip pan too though.
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Aug 6, 2018 05:05
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Colostomy Bag posted:My expectations were low...hell haven't had a frozen Stouffer's lasagna in years. We like to make our own. Awesome. Thanks for sciencing this. The wife got a kick out of your write up. We may do it at some point. I'll be sure to post pictures.
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Aug 6, 2018 05:23
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Colostomy Bag posted:My expectations were low...hell haven't had a frozen Stouffer's lasagna in years. We like to make our own. Cool, but are there pictures of the finished product? Any sort of a smoke ring? 
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Aug 6, 2018 05:48
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Rescue Toaster posted:I've heard more than a few people say fish can really stink up a smoker, anybody experienced that? I used to be worried about this. For 1 or 2 smokes after salmon, I can definitely tell that salmon was in there. It's not gross or overpowering, but it's distinct. That being said, even being paranoid about it and trying to pick out the flavor, I absolutely can't tell by tasting the new food, that it came after fish. I always put a makeshift foil pouch on the rack under any fish I smoke to catch drips though. It'd probably be a lot worse if you just let fish juice/oil drip down onto the bottom.
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Aug 6, 2018 08:40
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so i tried something new this weekend, i split my half a pork shoulder into thirds. With the goals being: try something new, get more bark, and cook it faster.  What happened: - It cooked much much faster - to the point where i may have over cooked it and dried it out a little. - because it cooked much faster, i sorta missed the 160 degrees mark, where i typically wrap the pork shoulder in tinfoil for the middle stage. - much more bark - tasty! anyone else tried this before?
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Aug 6, 2018 14:42
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Moey posted:Not enough pictures of said lasagna.
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Aug 6, 2018 17:47
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A friend offered to take us to Costco, and I was hoping we could find some of that $3-4/lb packer brisket that was mentioned in this thread in the past. No such luck, but we decided to try tri tip instead. Made sure to get USDA Prime while we're at it. It looks great, it tastes good, but I don't think it's $10/lb good? I don't get the hype.  It was convenient to just toss something on the grill and have it ready in two hours. But it feels like it's something that would be better served sous vide, where it could be held at temperature for longer periods of time and probably get a nicer texture. Jan fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Aug 6, 2018 |
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Aug 6, 2018 18:00
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Jan posted:A friend offered to take us to Costco, and I was hoping we could find some of that $3-4/lb packer brisket that was mentioned in this thread in the past. No such luck, but we decided to try tri tip instead. Made sure to get USDA Prime while we're at it. Looks tasty! Tri-tip is one of my favorite cuts. $10/lb is indeed pretty crazy for it though, yeah. Here it's usually $5-6, and $8ish when they have Wagyu tri-tip in. As for texture, you cut it wayyyyyy too thick. You shouldn't quite be trying to shave it off, but thin slices is what you are going for. When sliced thin, it's got the perfect texture of super tender, with just enough chew to still feel substantial.
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Aug 6, 2018 18:39
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Great Scott, due to popular demand I present the lasagna money shot after coming off the smoker: Again, Stouffer's half-assed manufacturing methods or logistics (or perhaps Walmart's?) makes it look like a 3 or 4 when drunk at a bar in regard to frozen food items. But hell, it put out. After visiting the Stouffer's website, I'm going to try to grab the bacon mashed potatoes https://www.stouffers.com/our-dishes/classics/family/cheddar-bacon-potatoes and try those next. edit: I think the best part of this entire fiasco is I'm still chuckling. Yesterday before I even started the wife stated she was going to run to the store, and asked if there were plans for dinner. With bravado I said "Honey, I got this covered." And then I turned my head away and made the most cringeworthy face known to man. Colostomy Bag fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Aug 6, 2018 |
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Aug 6, 2018 18:56
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Has anyone smoked Cheez-its? I came across this album on Imgur and I am intrigued... https://imgur.com/gallery/Pse9R2F
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Aug 7, 2018 16:51
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Trastion posted:Has anyone smoked Cheez-its? Hell I'll do it. Around xmas time I always make a bunch of Chex-mix. I always wanted to smoke a batch of it.
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Aug 7, 2018 17:59
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CoolHandMat posted:so i tried something new this weekend, i split my half a pork shoulder into thirds. With the goals being: try something new, get more bark, and cook it faster. Thought about it. But then I would have to debone the thing. Did you do that or grab it from Costco? And from the pics/angles it looks like a ham.
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Aug 7, 2018 18:07
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Colostomy Bag posted:Great Scott, due to popular demand I present the lasagna money shot after coming off the smoker: But.. But how did this taste?
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Aug 7, 2018 18:24
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Colostomy Bag posted:Great Scott, due to popular demand I present the lasagna money shot after coming off the smoker: Half-assed deliver, OP. No shot of a cut piece? No melty cheese? A money shot that ain't. Next time you experiment with a mass-produced brick of carb you need to honor that poo poo and post dish pics. Trastion posted:Has anyone smoked Cheez-its? I've done this and it's awesome. Toss them in a little olive oil and rub before you put them on...gives them a little flavor-blast goodness.
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Aug 7, 2018 18:42
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Rather than smoke the lasagna - I've made this recipe from Kenji before to excellent results, it uses smoked mozzarella and smoked provolone. If I had to do it again I would skip making the tiny meatballs because that was a huge pain in the rear end.
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Aug 7, 2018 18:50
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Mikey Purp posted:Half-assed deliver, OP. No shot of a cut piece? No melty cheese? A money shot that ain't. Next time you experiment with a mass-produced brick of carb you need to honor that poo poo and post dish pics. My apologies. 
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Aug 7, 2018 18:56
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dy. posted:Rather than smoke the lasagna - I've made this recipe from Kenji before to excellent results, it uses smoked mozzarella and smoked provolone. Did you smoke the cheese yourself?
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Aug 7, 2018 19:10
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Subjunctive posted:Did you smoke the cheese yourself? The smoke flavor from the cheese really absorbs in though - it was super smoky.
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Aug 7, 2018 22:09
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Okay which one of you is going to pony up on this. Saw this on my facebook feed. Can't say it looks that good to be honesty. Smoked Watermelon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2yJQeVYv24 sterster fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Aug 8, 2018 |
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Aug 8, 2018 03:38
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