Who's smoking meat this weekend?

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Two questions.

1) What do you all use for a rub on your brisket. I haven't figured mine out yet.

2) I bought a digiq a couple years ago and it appears to have died on me. I pulled out out and the fan would not turn on. Turns out that the solder in the fan had broken so I bought a new fan. Got the new fanand tried again and the new fan only had one speed constant on and defeated the purpose of the temp controller. Did singe googling and found that the digiq is borked and mine is out of warranty.
Does anyone have suggestions for a replacement that handles being outside and can take the dew from overnight smokes without making me too poor?
I have a wsm currently but am eyeballing a ceramic komodo upgrade and may pull the trigger on it this year.
 
Two questions.

1) What do you all use for a rub on your brisket. I haven't figured mine out yet.

I have a wsm currently but am eyeballing a ceramic komodo upgrade and may pull the trigger on it this year.

I generally just buy rubs. I like the Oakridge BBQ Black Ops. For brisket, simple salt & pepper isn't bad. Sometimes I'll rub the brisket with Sriracha rather than worcestershire or mustard to get the rub to adhere as well. Gives it a slight bit more kick.

But for brisket, I don't think the rub is as important as it is for something like ribs, because the surface area per slice is much smaller.

I highly recommend kamado grills... I have two Kamado Joes, the Big Joe and the Joe Jr. Both get used multiple times weekly as grills, and the Big Joe is great as a smoker.
 
Two questions.

1) What do you all use for a rub on your brisket. I haven't figured mine out yet.

Just to chime in. We honed in on using multiple ingredients. We use a combination of salt, pepper, the brisket rub in the picture and a Hickory/brown sugar rub..which I can't find online and we're on vacation so no pic.

Once the brisket hits about 170ish, we'll take it off the smoke, place in a pan with a can or bottle of your favorite beer/onions/garlic, double wrap with foil then finish off in oven at 300F until internal temp hits 195F. Total time is about 10-11hrs for a 15lb. I usually get up at 5am to start the fire and by 6pm we're munching. Love to do a true 16hr@200 just to experience the difference but our set up works for now.

For smoke we do 3/4 Oak and 1/4 Mesquite.

Oh and we do a full turkey with the same rub but pull it at 165F. No pan needed. I'll stuff it with apple slices first...this is a family favorite in hotter summer weather.

Screenshot_2018-03-15-10-51-40.png
 
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For me, salt and pepper only on brisket. It is hard to go wrong with it. Also I have never wrapped a brisket but that method outlined above sounds good.

I have and still strongly recommend the mes 30 and everyone here who has bought one is enjoying it. Maybe kev will chime in on how he feels about it. I saw they were 179 on prime and routinely i see them at 150, which is what i paid. The company has been great to work with when I called them. I have helped people find kamados used if you need it and here in denver the medium size can be seen for as low as 3 or 4 hundred on Craigslist.
 
I prefer Black’s rub on brisket but when I’m out I use salt and pepper.
 
Nice looking dinner. I wont have corned beef today, but after I pick up a bunch half off next week, I will be in hog heaven.
 
That I will have to try. Thanks for sharing.

Sure thing, here's the full recipe:

1 head of cabbage
1/2-3/4 bottle white wine
3 cups water
1/2 red onion
1 stick butter
1.5lbs thick cut bacon
salt & pepper to taste
4 tablespoons minced garlic (the garlic was an afterthought and went on top of the weave which actually worked out since it got roasted sitting on top as you can see in the pic)

I smoked it at 250F for ~3hrs. Next time I'll probably go for about 2hrs at 250F then crank it up to 350-400F for 15 minutes or so to get a better crisp on the bacon. A few minutes under the broiler would do the trick too
 
Two questions.

1) What do you all use for a rub on your brisket. I haven't figured mine out yet.

2) I bought a digiq a couple years ago and it appears to have died on me. I pulled out out and the fan would not turn on. Turns out that the solder in the fan had broken so I bought a new fan. Got the new fanand tried again and the new fan only had one speed constant on and defeated the purpose of the temp controller. Did singe googling and found that the digiq is borked and mine is out of warranty.
Does anyone have suggestions for a replacement that handles being outside and can take the dew from overnight smokes without making me too poor?
I have a wsm currently but am eyeballing a ceramic komodo upgrade and may pull the trigger on it this year.


I also like to keep brisket rub simple. Salt, Black Pepper, and Red Pepper. I use aleppo pepper flakes myself. After using it on a beef chuck I had left over from this clod recipe I decided that simple is better when it comes to smoked beef - especially if the brisket it wagyu or prime.

https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/texas-clod-barbecued-beef-shoulder/
 
Drip pan is your friend with a rotisserie. You can even put some cut up potatoes in there to cook in the drippings.
lots of drippings, made the mistake after smoking several birds, then days later was gonna make a steak, turned the burners on high came back with flames shootn out the back 3 to 4 feet. removed the propane and let it burn itself out.
 
Haha that's great, albeit a little weird. I've never used pecan but I've read that just like Mesquite it can be a little intense if it's the only wood.

Edit, for my own curiosity and not wanting to be a complete idiot, I did some reading. It seems people do smoke with pecan and even some famous barbecue chains and competition barbecuers. I read somewhere that it was a species of Hickory and tasted similar. I don't know if that is true but for some reason I just don't think Hickory and pecan will mix very well together. I do think Oak and pecan will. As I was reading different people's opinions, someone really knowledgeable mentioned that taste is subjective and to smoke with it is the only way to really know what you like. And then blend it with other things and see how that goes. I would think pecan and apple would go together and I'm sure some people like pecan and Cherry but that doesn't seem right to me. If pecan truly does have a delicate sweet flavor then almost any wood would probably drown that out. Hope you tell us how it turns out.

By the way has anyone mixed cherry and mesquite? Another combination I would like to try is oak and apple?
 
Yikes! Is that really a thing?
No it's two roasts and some Tenderloins. More of a joke. Doing multiple cuts of meat to fill a smoker. I want to do some beef.

I haven't smoked much beef in all my years. I have traditionally smoked pork and chicken. Most of my beef has been apple pellet cold smoked with the thought to grill it later, or to drop it into a crock pot. Mainly T-Bone steaks and pot roasts.

A briefly, heavily smoked, beef pot roast is to DIE FOR in crock pot. Add potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, garlic and onions and a roast with some black pepper and rosemary ....g'damn.

I used a drip pan with a water pan in the smoker under the roast to collect drippings with the thought to have the smoked water to add to a crock pot. You can't go wrong with that.
 
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No joking...

I was drinking a Pastrami Pilsner beer tonight by Schmaltz brewing.

It's got a horseradish nose with a peppery and mustard finish. They use ground caraway too. Understand they have rye in the grist, supposedly adds some peppery taste. It's has a barely detectable smoke taste too. Says they use rauch malt.

A good beer to drink while smoking some beef....if you don't have a sammich to choke down.

pastrami-pilsner.png
 
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No joking...

I was drinking a Pastrami Pilsner beer tonight by Schmaltz brewing.

It's got a horseradish nose with a peppery and mustard finish. They use ground caraway too. Understand they have rye in the grist, supposedly adds some peppery taste. It's has a barely detectable smoke taste too. Says they use rauch malt.

A good beer to drink while smoking some beef....if you don't have a sammich to choke down.

View attachment 563283

You don't need a sammich...it is the sammich.

Nice "baby"...LOL!
 
Holy crap. Talk about great customer service. Sent an email to the BBQ Guru support team regarding my smoker temp controller that wasn't behaving with the blower always on. Its out of warranty and I was just fishing to see if I could get it tested and serviced. They are sending me a new one.

"I am sorry you are having trouble with your Digi Q. I am going to send you a new Digi Q device as a courtesy. Once you receive it please test with your new fan to make certain everything is functioning correctly.

I will ship this out to you today so you should receive this in 1-2 business days.

Please let me know if you have any questions."
Made my morning.
 
I picked up a 2# corned beef brisket point at the store for like 3 bucks today. Is it worth trying to smoke that small (time isn't a concern) or should I just cook in the oven?
 
I picked up a 2# corned beef brisket point at the store for like 3 bucks today. Is it worth trying to smoke that small (time isn't a concern) or should I just cook in the oven?
Yes, imo. Its always worth it. Sometimes when I do something like that I will do some other stuff while i am at it, hot dogs, pork chops, chicken breast, whatever is getting older in freezer.
 
I'm gonna try a leg of lamb roast this week on apple & cherry smoke. This will be my first smoked lamb.

I haven't done that one yet either. Looking forward to hearing your results. I really like lamb but rarely cook it because I'd likely be eating it by myself. I think SWMBO is opposed to lamb because they're "cute" but I don't see her turning down bacon and pigs are pretty cute too!

I have often debated getting a rotisserie setup and leg of lamb is one of the things I'd really like to do. After spending quite a bit of time in Europe, I feel there's something special about letting a leg spin until the outside gets nice and browned, shaving it off and then letting the next layer sear.

Good luck with the leg of lamb and please be sure to report back with meat porn :mug:
 
Sorry, I'm not much of a photographer, but the lamb came out pretty tasty.

I salted as usual with half teaspoon of kosher salt per lb of meat. Then I fried some onions, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and mint in olive oil and put it inside the roast. I trussed it up in the mesh sleeve it came in and a little twine. I smoked it at 300 to an internal temp of 125F. Sliced and served with roasted brussel sprouts and Sriracha mayo. I wish I had some blue cheese to go with the lamb, I think that would've made it perfect, but I ain't complaining.

My SWMBO is opposed to the cuteness as well, but couldn't deny the deliciousness. I think I'll be adding lamb to the regular rotation.
 
Weird question but figure it might benefit others too. How often do you clean clean your smoker, how thoroughly do you do it, and how do you do it?

I will admit I have been a bit lax with mine. I scrape out the inside when it has sat too lomg and gotten gross inside and follow with a hot burn. Will use grill cleaner on the racks and dump the old ash from the coals a day or so after the smoke session. What about the rest of you?
 
Weird question but figure it might benefit others too. How often do you clean clean your smoker, how thoroughly do you do it, and how do you do it?

I will admit I have been a bit lax with mine. I scrape out the inside when it has sat too lomg and gotten gross inside and follow with a hot burn. Will use grill cleaner on the racks and dump the old ash from the coals a day or so after the smoke session. What about the rest of you?

What? You're supposed to clean them? ;)

Actually, with the ugly drum, I flip it over once in a while and knock out the loose stuff. Otherwise, I just wire brush the racks before use.
 
What? You're supposed to clean them? ;)

Actually, with the ugly drum, I flip it over once in a while and knock out the loose stuff. Otherwise, I just wire brush the racks before use.
Good. Glad im not completely disgusting then. What do you do if the smoker starts growing hair? I tend to make it real hot and sorta sterilize it that way.
 
Great question and i dont like anything not clean really. I had an answer but figured a better one would show up so deleted it. Its some sort of vinegar solution. Rubber gloves would be mandatory for me and i do everything with them on pretty much. All the exposed parts of my smoker are foil covered. I foil cover the water pan for every smoke. I scrape loose stuff falling off it, and use it often. I think a product that didn't smell like a.. (vinegar) would be ideal. Then season according to master built. When i clean it I will keep up with it better. But until then smoking this weekend!

Pork butt defrosting. Any good homemade rub ideas? My usual is only 2 to 1 sugar to salt. And have been using homemade pumpkin pie spice rub. I like cinnamon and ginger type rubs.
 
Got a request for pulled pork for a party this weekend, so two 8 lb'ers are going on the WSM tonight. Loving the fact that pork butt is still $1.39/lb.

I also saw that the local Farm & Fleet has Yardbird rub, which I've always wanted to try. I might have to leave the smoker out and do chicken on Sunday.
 
Weird question but figure it might benefit others too. How often do you clean clean your smoker, how thoroughly do you do it, and how do you do it?

That's the nice thing about a kamado. I just fire it up with the vents open, let it get itself up to 800-900 degrees, and after the burn is complete, it's plenty clean. It's basically the same principle as a self-cleaning oven. Get it hot enough and you're done.
 
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