Slow Smoking Meat: I'm a Microbiologist, Dumbass.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Slow Smoking Meat: I'm a Microbiologist, Dumbass.

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

I didn't expect a thread about smoking meat to contain so many graphs. I'd try smoking some meat myself, but my CCNA has expired.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2012 17:00

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# ¿ May 4, 2024 23:55

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

I mentioned this in the chat thread, but my dad attempted to smoke some pork back ribs and they ended up smelling like a house fire and tasting bitter and sooty on the outside. I don't think he did poo poo to monitor the temp inside the weber. Could that be the problem? Too much smoke? Wood burning at the wrong temperature? I need to tell him how to fix this.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2013 15:04

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

The top was open, but it was thick white smoke. I think he had coals burning and then aluminum foil packets of wood chips that he kept throwing in. Should the wood chips be left to get nice and charred before the meat goes on?

# ¿ Jul 5, 2013 17:11

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

They came out tough and sooty. He also had a pan of water in there because someone said to.

I think he had the heat way too high, probably had the meat on too soon, and god knows what else. These things were awful.

edit: To keep the heat down, I guess keep the bottom vent closed?

# ¿ Jul 5, 2013 17:58

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Mach420 posted:

The smoke's taste was the thick white smoke. Thin blue is what you want, and you get that with properly seasoned wood burning at the right temperature. Thin blue is tasty. Thick white, dark gray, and dark yellow smoke are nasty, nastier, and nastiest, in that order.

I see you're using coals, so try adding the wood earlier, then let the wood "cook" for a little while. That'll dry it out some and gives it time to release all the nasty stuff that makes for white smoke. After it dies down to thin blue smoke, put your meat on.

My general workflow for a weber smokey mountain style smoker is basically...

1. Start off about 10-15 briquettes or the equivalent in lump charcoal in a chimney.
2. Throw a mix of wood chunks and charcoal into the charcoal basket. An 8 pound pork shoulder needs smoke wood chunks equal to two small closed fists in my experience. Have 1 chunk of wood level with the top of the coal pile and the other chunks buried at various depths inside the coal pile. If you have a vertical smoker, read up on the minion method of lighting a coal pile. This is what I do.
3. Charcoal chimney's going good. Dump it on top of the pile of charcoal.
4. Vents wide open, intake and exhaust. Watch the temperature after a few minutes. You will probably be getting thick white or grayish smoke at this point. I also add the water pan at this point.
5. As it starts nearing 180-200F, start closing the intake vent to begin your temperature control. It's better to let it get up to temp slowly then to overshoot and try to bring it down from 300F. Stay by the smoker and look at the thermometer every 5 minutes. Close the vents down more and more as you get closer to temp.
6. About half an hour to 45 minutes after adding the lit charcoal, your pit should be close to the proper temperature and the smoke should be thinning out and turning blue. Once this happens, put the food on. The smoke may turn thick white again because you opened the bbq, but don't worry. It should thin itself back to blue after a while as long as you don't keep opening the thing up to peek at the food.
7. After this, I check grate temperatures every hour or so. Maybe give the coals a stir after several hours to knock off the ash, etc.

As far as my suggestions, try and get some chunk wood instead of chips. They're so much easier to use. Fist size is good.

Water pan is good for temperature control. If your fire is a 300F fire, the water pan will help keep it around 225 or so. It's a decent crutch to use if your fire control isn't quite there yet. You want to find the smallest intake vent setting that will maintain your temperature. If you want to smoke above 225F, like chicken, for example, take out the water pan or you won't get the temps you need.

On that note, your pit temp will drop when you put in your cold food. You could leave it alone and accept it or you can temporarily bump the vents open a bit more to make up for that, but then again, an hour or two later, you could have a fire that's going too hot if you don't watch it. Your choice.

Most important thing is to give it some time to warm up. Don't rush the preheat and your BBQ will come out much better, and the fire will be of a better quality too.

You can't unsmoke something that's too smokey. You want to go easy on the smoke wood until you get a feel for how much smokiness you prefer.

Great advice, thanks. I will help him give it another shot!

# ¿ Jul 6, 2013 03:19

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

nummy posted:

Nice. Like I said, I haven't done a whole turkey. That's just what I had heard. As far as I'm concerned though, smoked turkey is the only way to go. Deep fried is good too, but smoked is better. If it isn't smoked or deep fried, don't eat it!

Look at this guy who's never had sous vide turkey.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2013 17:17

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Rand alPaul posted:

Aww poo poo, the turkey was "enhanced" with a flavor solution at the factory, I'm now scared to brine it in case it has too much salt. Should I cut back on the salt or just skip brining all together?

I wouldn't brine it if it's already been injected. You really run the risk of creating a salt bomb if you do.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2013 14:54

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

pr0k posted:

I smoked a pork butt this weekend and it was divine. Rub, hickory smoke for four hours at 210F or so, then just roasted in there until dark. Then covered in foil on a half sheet in the oven at 250F until I could twist a nice tasting hunk out with a fork. 10-11 hours maybe?

You don't post in this thread much for a dude that has like four smokers on his deck.

# ¿ Dec 29, 2013 12:45

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

McSpankWich posted:

One of my favorite things in the world is after a brisket has been smoking for like 14 hours, the fat layer between the brisket and point just totally liquefies and you can just push it right off with your gloved hand. So awesome.

That happens if you boil it too. Just takes a lot less than 14 hours.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2014 21:23

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Ok help me smoke babby's first brisket.

I got a big green egg knockoff. I have lump charcoal. I have hardwood chunks. I have thermometers. I will soon have a brisket.

I know to keep it low and slow, but questions I have:

1. Do I soak the smoking wood?
2. Does it go directly on the coals?
3. Do I let it get ashy before I add the brisket?
4. How long? Am i going for an internal temp or just a specific amount of time?
5. Just dry rub the brisket before it goes on?

I will probably have more questions. Thanks.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2015 00:43

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

sellouts posted:

Have you cooked with your bge knockoff before? If not, I urge you to cook a pork shoulder first so you can learn temp control. It's infinitely more forgiving.

So:

Watch this: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTzdMHu5KU

1. Don't soak the wood.
2. What? Put it on the grate. Mix chips in with lump.
3. It won't get ashy, they're not briquettes. It'll just get red and hot. Don't do that. Close grill vent to proper size for temp you want before you get there so you don't overshoot. Do this 20-30 min before you put brisket on to make sure you're stabilized at that temp. I like 250. 225 is cool too but will take longer and is harder to maintain in my experience.
4. Always cook to temp. Franklin cooks to 201. I would probably do 185? Prepare for 1.25-1.5 hrs/ lb and don't be worried when the temp stalls out.
5. I like the dry rub.

All great advice, thanks. I will smoke a butt first. I've heard of the temp stalling, do I then wrap it in foil or just let it keep smoking?

edit: Ratio of lump to chips? Does it all go in the chimney starter or just start the charcoal that way?

# ¿ Jun 19, 2015 01:15

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

OK I will finally be testing my new BGE knockoff tomorrow when I smoke a butt. Couple questions:

�Should I "season" the grill by burning charcoal in it with nothing on it first? Are there typically bad stuff inside that I want to cook away before my food goes in?
�Water filled drip pan or nah?
�Should I have a pizza stone in there to act as a diffuser and allow it to cook with more indirect heat?

# ¿ Jun 26, 2015 16:05

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

niss posted:

I would do an initial burn in it, one to clear it out and get a bit used to how adjustments affect the temp.
I typically use a pan, with just a bit of water in it. Mainly just to not get drippings everywhere.
You def want to have some type of deflector so you can cook indirect

Fantastic, thanks.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2015 16:50

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Thought of another Q. With a BGE style cooker, how should the vents be configured to keep the temp low. Both mostly closed? Bottom closed and top open? Top completely closed?

# ¿ Jun 26, 2015 22:00

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Anyone have a preferred pork butt rub?

# ¿ Jun 26, 2015 22:47

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Do you guys inject your butts?

# ¿ Jun 27, 2015 00:23

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

I'm having trouble keeping the temp down even with all vents all the way closed. Did I use too much charcoal? I used a full chimney starter of it.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2015 14:54

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

It seems to have stabilized. I think it was too many lumps lit all at once. Thanks!

# ¿ Jun 27, 2015 15:27

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

But reading your post makes me think I should have used more charcoal. The only charcoal input in was the chimney starter full which was enough to make a nice even layer on top of which I tossed chunks of hickory.

Soon...am I hosed? I was thinking if I need to add more later would I be better if starting in the chimney starter and adding it already lit?

# ¿ Jun 27, 2015 15:32

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Thanks for all the help everyone. This poo poo is delicious.

Thinking about doing some thigh and leg quarters tomorrow. Any preparation you particularly recommend?

# ¿ Jun 27, 2015 23:34

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Wasn't sure if this was charcuterie or smoking so I'm going with smoking because the only reason I made bacon was because I now (barely) know how to smoke.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2015 22:08

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

ada shatan posted:

That's really good looking. How long did you cure that?

Thanks. 10 days, then two days air drying in the fridge before smoking.

# ¿ Jul 6, 2015 02:27

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

I will finally attempt a brisket this weekend. How far in advance do I want to season it?

# ¿ Jul 6, 2015 17:18

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

What do you guys use to monitor the temp of your smoker and meat? I was looking at the Thermoworks ThermaQ options which seem nice but pricey. I was also thinking a wireless remote option would be nice to have but wasn't sure if any of them were worth a drat.

# ¿ Jul 6, 2015 20:09

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

What are you folks' opinions on trimming the fat on a brisket pre-cook? The Franklin guy cuts his way down to � inch. Is that what I should do? I have a prime flat if that matters.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2015 16:59

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

I assume the fat just acts like a blanket to prevent surface evaporation?

# ¿ Jul 10, 2015 19:40

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Now you can have a dedicated smoker for long pig.

fake edit: My brisket went on at 8 this morning. Fingers crossed

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 14:43

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

So if my rig is holding temperature but I don't see any smoke, do I need more smoking wood? It still smells good so I assume there's stuff in the air, but I just don't know.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 14:54

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

niss posted:

The best smoke is the kind you can barely see.

Cool. I'm just seeing occasional wisps. It smells hella good though. 2 hours down, 8 or 10 to go.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 14:59

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Jamsta posted:

photos pls when done

Will do.

Here's a shot 3 � hours in. Does it look about right color wise?

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 16:32

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

sellouts posted:

if you lookin you aint cookin

That was the first opening to put the probe in. The second time I opened it is when I wrapped it. In the oven now.

And I'm still learning so I like to see what progress looks like.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 18:23

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

So it's crutched in the oven now, thermometer registers 190 after 6 hours. Can that be right? Smoker temp was 225 (allegedly) most of the cook, although it ventured close to 250 a couple of times when it got windy. Seemed to stall at 170 so I wrapped it then then put in a 225 convection oven.

edit: It was a prime (not sure if that affects cooking time) flat, a little under 8 pounds once trimmed.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 18:58

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Trip report: babby's first brisket

Pros: Moistest brisket I've ever had. Tender. Tasty.

Cons: Not as smoky as I would have preferred. Needs salt.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2015 00:54

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Crossposting from the post what you made thread:

Maple cured and apple wood smoked. I got the salt level right on this one, and it is loving fantastic:

Bonus infrared of the smoker:

# ¿ Jul 25, 2015 01:42

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

BraveUlysses posted:

Chunks are ideal. chips tend to burn off much faster.

The counter to this is that in my (knockoff) egg, fuel burns so slowly that for short smokes I've found I'm better off using chips, as I don't get enough smoke otherwise.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2015 17:24

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Jose posted:

how well does smoked pork shoulder/rib keep and what are some other uses for it?

I've found that pulled pork freezes really well. Just avoid drying it out when you reheat it and you'll be fine.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2015 18:51

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Gonna smoke a butt this weekend. Is hickory the preferred wood? Right now I have hickory, mesquite, apple, pear and red oak.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2015 17:17

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Right, I think I have pecan as well. Maybe I'll go with a mix.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2015 17:30

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

If I'm gonna try my hand at smoking ribs for the first time, what do you recommend I go with? St. Louis, or back ribs?

# ¿ Aug 26, 2015 17:45

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# ¿ May 4, 2024 23:55

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Okay next question: Should I get a rack to hold them or roll and skewer them like that one dude?

# ¿ Aug 26, 2015 21:43

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Slow Smoking Meat: I'm a Microbiologist, Dumbass.

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