Who's smoking meat this weekend?

So I’ve had my WSM since 2011 and I’ve only ever busted it out for big cooks - pork butts, briskets, many racks of baby backs, whole chickens (and can’t fire it up for just one, has to be multiple chickens!) etc. I guess I figured it used so much charcoal or was a challenge to set up or whatever, I never thought to use it for a small cook.
Well, I stocked up like crazy at the Memorial Day weekend charcoal sales I felt like Ah, screw it - I’ll fire it up for five, yes, five chicken thighs.

I should have been doing that for years. I never appreciated how little charcoal is needed for a cook like that and how simple it was (and the results were awesome!) Definitely going to do that lots more in the future.

JonM said:

So I’ve had my WSM since 2011 and I’ve only ever busted it out for big cooks - pork butts, briskets, many racks of baby backs, whole chickens (and can’t fire it up for just one, has to be multiple chickens!) etc. I guess I figured it used so much charcoal or was a challenge to set up or whatever, I never thought to use it for a small cook.
Well, I stocked up like crazy at the Memorial Day weekend charcoal sales I felt like Ah, screw it - I’ll fire it up for five, yes, five chicken thighs.

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I've only had mine 6 months and that has been my mind set too.
5 smoked chicken thighs sound pretty darn tasty (usually we're grinding 40lbs for cat food). At what temperature did you run the WSM? How long till they reached 170?

I’ve fired my WSM up for a single rack of ribs, beer can chicken, etc. Although, I’ll be doing the first pork butt of the summer on it tomorrow.

Just bought a smoking tube for my grill. Uses pellets. Was using wood chips before, but I could only get about an hour per container. The tube let's me get up to 4 hours. So far I've done a brisket point, some chicken wings and ribs. Doing a rack of St Louis style ribs and some chicken for Father's Day. Should be a good weekend!

Inkleg said:

I've only had mine 6 months and that has been my mind set too.
5 smoked chicken thighs sound pretty darn tasty (usually we're grinding 40lbs for cat food). At what temperature did you run the WSM? How long till they reached 170?

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What in the world are you doing for cat food and is this something I should be doing for my dogs?

I have considered switching them to a natural diet but I can barely cook for me and my wife lol. If there is a solution to grind/cook 40lbs all at once, I'm all ears!

I think I can also answer your question about the chicken. There is little to no benefit to be gained from cooking poultry at low temps. Just crank it up to 350-400 and pull it when done!

About to go get the coals going on the weber kettle. I've got a 5.5 pound pork shoulder that I'm smoking today. Will post pics after it's done!

Got some split chicken breasts and a huge pork tenderloin to smoke.

Going to try a couple different rubs on the loin ( cutting it into thirds of approx 4 lbs each ). Using a blend of apple, maple and pecan along with a small amount of hickory)

Loin or tenderloin? I take them to 140ish, if you needed a temp that is. Would love to see them as i like to smoke them too. Hope you share if you find a nice rub for them.

heading over to a friend's house to get my grubby paws on this beast he aged for 81 days

Yikes! Why would you smoke a tenderloin? That's waay too good of a cut of meat. Also, not enough fat to get any benefit from the low and slow process.

arturo7 said:

Yikes! Why would you smoke a tenderloin? That's waay too good of a cut of meat. Also, not enough fat to get any benefit from the low and slow process.

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Blasphemy! No such thing as too good of a cut for smoking. You would be more likely to hear me say "that's too good of a cut to NOT smoke"

Pork tenderloin and split chicken breasts..smoked with nothing but apple/pecan/maple/hickory blend...

The third loin is already gone! These are going to the freezer for later eating.

Each of the loins are 4 lbs...

arturo7 said:

Yikes! Why would you smoke a tenderloin? That's waay too good of a cut of meat. Also, not enough fat to get any benefit from the low and slow process.

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This is some sort of joke right? I mean you are totally just messing around, arent you?

universalfrost said:

View attachment 575431 View attachment 575396

Pork tenderloin and split chicken breasts..smoked with nothing but apple/pecan/maple/hickory blend...

The third loin is already gone! These are going to the freezer for later eating.

Each of the loins are 4 lbs...

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Thats loin, the tenderloin is skinny like a kids arm. They look great. I like to shave the leftovers for lunch meat. How was the blend? The chicken looks tasty.

Doing smoked Mexican burgers today. Making patties half ground beef/half sausage, smoking 45 min alongside poblano peppers, then will finish on the grill. First time trying these.

treacheroustexan said:

Doing smoked Mexican burgers today. Making patties half ground beef/half sausage, smoking 45 min alongside poblano peppers, then will finish on the grill. First time trying these.

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That sounds like it could be really good. What temp on the smoker?

schematix said:

That sounds like it could be really good. What temp on the smoker?

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I'm gonna try to keep the smoker around 225. Probably smoke until IT is 130-140, then sear over direct heat charcoal.

treacheroustexan said:

I'm gonna try to keep the smoker around 225. Probably smoke until IT is 130-140, then sear over direct heat charcoal.

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I'm expecting to see pictures btw....

schematix said:

I'm expecting to see pictures btw....

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Havarti cheese, poblano and Sriracha on the bun. I have more pics but it won't let me upload.

I am smoking a 13 lb Prime Packer. We have baked beans, cole slaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, watermelon, all kinds of BBQ sauces (for those who use it), chips and dip. I have an English Summer Ale, an American Pale Ale (both homebrew), Diet Coke for Nana, and fruit drink for the kids.

We’ll have three (adult) kids and five of the G kids for a (hopefully) drama-free, relaxing dinner.

Just put baby backs on. Apple and Pecan mix.

9 hours 20 minutes in my flat is only at 154 degrees.. gonna be a late dinner!

Good night see ya tomorrow morning

5 1/2 hours later. Pulled at 190, very tender!

Curious how is the pecan apple mix, hoppydaze? The ribs look awesome. I read somewhere that pecan is either love it or hate it and that it is difficult to mix with other woods. Also read that many competition people use it. Really curious about pecan right now.
I am quickly tiring of apple and oak. Need to get some cherry soon.

I couldn't really pick up the apple much. The pecan has a unique flavor that must be hard to overtake. Maybe that's why people say it doesn't mix well with others? I had two tuna can sized chunks of pecan and one a bit bigger than that of the apple.

A little off topic, but the other day my wife mentioned that she prefers rice cooked in the oven (1hr) over stovetop (20min) but that stovetop seems to heat up the house a lot less. That got me thinking, if I don't put in the wood chips or water tray, isn't my electric cabinet smoker just an outdoor oven? Any reason I couldn't 'bake' anything in there?

bleme said:

A little off topic, but the other day my wife mentioned that she prefers rice cooked in the oven (1hr) over stovetop (20min) but that stovetop seems to heat up the house a lot less. That got me thinking, if I don't put in the wood chips or water tray, isn't my electric cabinet smoker just an outdoor oven? Any reason I couldn't 'bake' anything in there?

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Basically yes. Heck, my kamado, even though it uses charcoal, is an excellent oven.

However it's probably useful to compare the temp hysteresis between your smoker and the oven. If your temps swing too much, you might have inconsistent cooking.

I'm not sure how big the hysteresis is on an oven OR on an electric cabinet smoker, but it's worth looking at.

I've heard it's common for some ovens to fluctuate as much as 50 degrees

@bleme sure. Would work great for oven, grills too. When we remodeled our kitchen we used our grill like an oven for a long time.

How’s my tan?

2 kilos of brisket and 2,5 kilos of brined kassler.
Mesquite chunks and hickory chips.
4 hours to go...

jammin said:

How’s my tan?

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Beautiful tan

Tasty but not as smoky as we wanted

Got a 10lbs brisket...that's all they had left. Probably no left overs. Pics to come. Doing the mustard/Tony's Creole seasoning on this one. Oak mostly, may add 1/4 Mesquite..

Kharnynb said:

Tasty but not as smoky as we wanted

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Thats still a pretty sweet set up. Did you make it? I admire work like that. Maybe some foil blocking the sides could direct the smoke better? Idk. Anyways looks beautiful there and the food looks great too.

My mom gave me these frozen yardbirds a while ago and they have been defrosting ready today. Penzies butcher rub and oak and apple. We had to go to the movies so let them cook at 225. Came back and they went from 144 to 147, hmm. Upped to 275 and that finished them off. After 8 hours pulled at 162 degrees in breast and the meat easily peeled. Picked it clean and chopped it up. Then swmbo seared carcass in evoo with mirepoix. Added garlic, seasoned, and added water. Last added my home made noodles. It was really good. Here i added sriracha.

In the middle of a stay-cation and the grill couldn't be happier. Started the week off with Brisket, burgers, pizza, and a couple Rib-eyes. On the docket is a pork butt, Spatchcock chicken, and marinated chicken and beef tacos.

I love the smell of hickory and rub at 5 am.

@applescrap I designed it, but it's made by a local prison metal workshop.

Came out pretty good. Pulled a little early but 70% was nice and tender. No complaints!

St. Louis style ribs smoked using the 3-2-1 method. Delicious!