Who's smoking meat this weekend?

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I've smoked cheese before. I made the mistake of tasting it after pulling from the smoker- it tasted like an ashtray.
the trick is to wrap tight with saran wrap or vac seal and let mellow for a few weeks to a month to allow the smoke to mellow. It was excellent after about three weeks.
 
Cheese takes smoke very well. You just have to watch the temps so it doesn't melt .Wrap it ,chill it for a day or so and you can't leave it alone. Mmmm.
 
BaylessBrewer said:
I use my own mix of spices. I'm sure you could use beef and it would turn out perfectly fine.
Here's what I use for a 5lb batch that is 80/20 venison/pork fat
2.5T Kosher salt
2.5T Sugar
2T fresh ground black pepper
1t Cure # 1 (pink cure)
1.5t nutmeg
1.5t curry powder
1.5t garlic powder (granulated)
1.5t mustard powder
1.5t onion powder (granulated)
1.5t red pepper flakes
1/2C cold water
Grind the meat with a fine texture plate or twice with a coarse plate and set in the fridge while u assemble spices.
Mix all spices together in a bowl and add the cold water and mix till combined and salt and sugar dissolve.
Remove meat mixture from the fridge and add the spice/water mix. Mix by hand for 5 min to make sure all spices and cure are evenly distributed.
Stuff In collagen casings or leave naked and form into logs. I use 21mm casings. Refrigerate over nite.
Preheat smoker to 150 and smoke at 150 for 1-2hr
Raise temp to 170 and smoke until internal temp 150.
Remove from the smoker and let air dry for an hour or two. Don't dunk in ice water bath. Let them naturally cool.
That's it. Enjoy!!
The cure #1 is important if you want to smoke at a low temp. I don't recommend smoking at this low of a temp with out it.
Click to expand...

Sweet recipe and those look awesome . I agree the cure is important for low temp smoking and also very important if you are going to store for any amount of time which is hard to do because people usually eat the jerky up before it goes bad technically any jerky should be kept in the fridge unless its cured.. note a small amount of cure is being used because this is going to be ingested cure and not cured outside in but everybody on this forum knows this so I don't know why I'm saying this. I've seen the jerky gun to make the logs I've never stuffed collagen and usually roll them out but I eat them so fast it's hard to say it really matters I'm more of the soy sauce brown sugar teriyaki kind of jerky Guy. I think I would like to make five pounds of ground beef jerky but stuff them in the collagen make great snacks for the kids. Here is chart I found online use at your own risk

View attachment 1449014418252.jpg
 
I have smoked cheese many times and your right it's tricky to get it to absorb the smoke. I try to keep it between 90*-100* is best for most cheeses. When it's soft and has a oily shine to it. And most store bought "smoked cheese" is just sprayed with liquid smoke.
 
I tried but I couldn't keep it lit... groan

I skimmed the first few pages of this thread and I can't believe no one took the low hanging fruit.

Dang you all have been posting some great food on here. Reminds me that when I move out of the apartment and into larger lodgings, I'll be looking for a smoker. It will be a fairly high priority item. Then, after a few weeks, I'll balloon up to 400lbs like a tick on the artery of a well fed deer.
 
bacon

001_zpsaqey9nzs.jpg


002_zps2z8worng.jpg


003_zpsbgarrkft.jpg


004_zps7iagi7ow.jpg


005_zpshmdxmtea.jpg


003_zpsuxipwkgb.jpg


004_zpsh0h9tw6u.jpg


Cheers!
 
I like the idea of smoking with an open top. It would definitely help the meat to take in the smoke over a longer period of time before you reach internal temps.
I made the mistake of missing my target temp and the fat started to render. Completely changes the texture of the side, not to mention how it frys.
 
vanishingpint said:
Cheese takes smoke very well. You just have to watch the temps so it doesn't melt .Wrap it ,chill it for a day or so and you can't leave it alone. Mmmm.
Click to expand...

Definately an art to keeping the temps cool enough (<100 F) with charcoal. I just put a handful of coals in an offset smoker. Add a few wood chips. Works out great. Mesh mats help keep the cheese from drooping down between grates if it gets a bit too warm. Took me a few trys to not make "cheese bats"...melted cheese hanging from the grates. ;)

Just smoked a batch of local queso blanco today. Temps got a litte warm because a piece of wood flared up, so the wedges distorted a bit, but still tasty. Have not tried wrapping and chilling, but usaully do let it cool a few hours before serving.

View attachment 1450033909021.jpg
 
Taking advantage of the cold smoke I had going for cheese to get some smoky on pork chops for dinner tonight. Dry brined, rub, cold smoke, and then finish them on the grill...sounds yummy already.

Interesting side note: my GF was having problems with eating pork a few years ago, but here in the Chriqui Highlands of Panama she can eat it just fine. The local agro vet tells us the farmers here dont inject their pigs with a bunch of meds like is so common these days. Nice to live near our food source so we know what we are eating...getting hard to do in developed countries.

View attachment 1450034947110.jpg
 
Curtis2010 said:
Taking advantage of the cold smoke I had going for cheese to get some smoky on pork chops for dinner tonight. Dry brined, rub, cold smoke, and then finish them on the grill...sounds yummy already.

Interesting side note: my GF was having problems with eating pork a few years ago, but here in the Chriqui Highlands of Panama she can eat it just fine. The local agro vet tells us the farmers here dont inject their pigs with a bunch of meds like is so common these days. Nice to live near our food source so we know what we are eating...getting hard to do in developed countries.
Click to expand...

Damn, these turned out good! Best chops I've made.

Finished on the grill: brought to target temp (145F+) on indirect side and then reverse seared on hot side. Held in my "redneck cambro" (cheap styrofoam cooler) for about an hour while guests arrived and had cocktails, then served up still warm and moist.

View attachment 1450097813834.jpg
 
Those chops look good!! Ribs late night came out great. Ended up with one St. Louis rack and a baby back. Managed to snap one pic just before slicing and then my phone died on me. Had a nice smoke ring, and very tender. One and a half racks shown here. The St. Louis rack was my favorite on this batch, but both pretty darn good. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1450101807.869240.jpg
 
BrewinBromanite said:
Those chops look good!! Ribs late night came out great. Ended up with one St. Louis rack and a baby back. Managed to snap one pic just before slicing and then my phone died on me. Had a nice smoke ring, and very tender. One and a half racks shown here. The St. Louis rack was my favorite on this batch, but both pretty darn good. View attachment 322655
Click to expand...

Yumm...can be challenging to get high quality specific cuts down here.
 
Quick little loin that I threw on this morning. Nice and juicy pulled at 147. Cold this morning here smoker dropped to 190 for a few minutes that's still safe obviously right. Smoker thermometers has 275 internal says 203 on my sur la tab thermometer. I don't know if 200 is too low but it's really good. Have some ribs on there too they are the beef kind meh. Getting warmer and now it says 235

View attachment 1450546939180.jpg
 
applescrap said:
Left ribs on for another 6 hours while we went away they're overdone but better than they were last time. The pork baby backs just have way more meat
Click to expand...

I found it challenging to get tender beef ribs, esp here in Pamama where I dont have many options in quality of cut. So, I started Sous Vide cooking them first and then finishing on the grill...yummy & tender.
 
Turkey Halves PBC style. I cut the backbone out of a small 11# bird, halved it, hung it over lump at 350* for 1.5 hrs and presto chango... we have dinner.

001_zpsmcin9whu.jpg


002_zpsjdtoqxyo.jpg


003_zpsbcc2emsn.jpg


004_zpscrpuld1n.jpg


005_zpswnzayuei.jpg
 
Got a couple racks of St Louis style on right now. They should be about set but I'm leaving them on a bit longer as the side dishes finish up. unfortunately I can't post pics or I'd show off.
 
Curtis2010 said:
Merry Christmas to me! Ordered a ThermoPro wifi dual probe thermo. Way cool. Now I can sit on my ass, drink beer, smoke cigars, and remotely monitor the grill !

Cooking a nice big red snapper now.
Click to expand...


I have the same unit and love it. Throw away the batteries that came with it and you'll be good to go.
 
BaylessBrewer said:
I have the same unit and love it. Throw away the batteries that came with it and you'll be good to go.
Click to expand...

Good to hear. Most other units on Amazon have a significant % of negative reviews. This one did not.

Not knowing it came with batteries, I bought some good old Duracells on the way home. Here in Central America anything else is likely junk.

Worked as advertised during my first cook with it tonight.

Only two negatives Ive found so far: you can only increment alarm values in ascending order...so must cycle all the way around to set a lower number. 2, can't fathom how they intended the clip for the grill temp to work. Most have two parallel legs that clip between bars of the grate, but this one has two thin flat legs that lay against each other???

Other than that...way cool.
 
Not sure that you can place the grill temp sending unit in the heated chamber? I just stand it up and place it on top of my smoker. Also if it's raining put a ziplock over the sending unit. It's not waterproof
 
Smoked some venison this weekend. Sirloins and some steak we cut up and made Philly cheesesteaks with. It was awesome. My wife who has a 'thing' against eating deer was pumped about it. Some DAMN good venison....
 
It's been dumping 80 million gallons of liquid bulls**t here lately. This weekend, however, it's supposed to be dry. I'm going to take this opportunity to cook a traditional Christmas dinner of baby back ribs, mashed potatoes, bacon-wrapped tater tots, and a whole lotta beer.
 
FloppyKnockers said:
It's been dumping 80 million gallons of liquid bulls**t here lately. This weekend, however, it's supposed to be dry. I'm going to take this opportunity to cook a traditional Christmas dinner of baby back ribs, mashed potatoes, bacon-wrapped tater tots, and a whole lotta beer.
Click to expand...

What unusual about that in portland? Hope it clears for you!
 

Similar threads

D
🔥 Smoking cured sausage to IT 152F within 4h without rendering fat (?)
Replies
7
Views
621
beren
beren
R
My Smoke Vault Propane smoker
Replies
19
Views
1K
faithie999
F
TallDan
What happened with my pulled pork today?
Replies
10
Views
2K
betarhoalphadelta
betarhoalphadelta
D
Smoking mountain lion meat???
2
Replies
53
Views
10K
TGFV
T
odorf
prepare to drool
Replies
20
Views
2K
Zuljin
Zuljin
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top