Who's smoking meat this weekend?

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treacheroustexan said:
Sorry if this offends anyone, but what is the cheapest cut to buy to make pulled pork? My strange fiance only eats chicken & turkey, but I want to smoke this weekend and make pulled pork sandwiches for one. I know I can vacuum seal and freeze, but the smaller the better. Any recommendations?
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Pork shoulder. I think with bone-in. I bought two at $1.74/lb.
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treacheroustexan said:
Sorry if this offends anyone, but what is the cheapest cut to buy to make pulled pork? My strange fiance only eats chicken & turkey, but I want to smoke this weekend and make pulled pork sandwiches for one. I know I can vacuum seal and freeze, but the smaller the better. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...
IMO Pork Butt or Shoulder. In my area, price ranges anywhere from $1.29-$2.49/lb, depending upon whether on sale somewhere.
 
picnic are fine for pulled pork. if you don't want to do a whole butt (aka shoulder). Boston butt is a cut from the shoulder too, and smaller than whole butt. You can always cut a butt in half or 1/4 to reduce the size too. However leftover pulled pork is easy to freeze.
 
bfish said:
picnic are fine for pulled pork. if you don't want to do a whole butt (aka shoulder). Boston butt is a cut from the shoulder too, and smaller than whole butt. You can always cut a butt in half or 1/4 to reduce the size too. However leftover pulled pork is easy to freeze.
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I bought those two 7 pounders. My wife thought I'd go to waste. I'm like no. Bag in cup amounts of shredded pork. Then bag all those cups into sandwich bags, then throw them in a gallon bag and toss it in the freezer.

Fuggin easy leftovers make a nice Sammiches with Hawaiian Bread, BBQ and creamy Cole slaw.

One 1-cup bag is is two Sammiches.
 
Tonight I pulled the brisket after 22hrs at 225F. Let it rest for a few hours in a cooler wrapped in towels.

Making burnt ends. Cut off the very small point. The last photo is my burnt ends made from the cut off chunk.

Using a few tablespoons of my mop sauce as liquid foundation and topped them cubes with a spicy BBQ sauce. They're sitting on the Traeger now.
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treacheroustexan said:
Sorry if this offends anyone, but what is the cheapest cut to buy to make pulled pork? My strange fiance only eats chicken & turkey, but I want to smoke this weekend and make pulled pork sandwiches for one. I know I can vacuum seal and freeze, but the smaller the better. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...
Haha, probably not what you want to hear, but chicken. The dark especially. Breast or thigh would make a great pulled pork. As long as its pork shoulder, it's what you are looking for. They sale little shoulder blade steaks iirc, and chunks for carnitas, both would work for you I think. Tyson sells a little pork roast that could work, especially if on sale. But honestly the way to go would be to get two huge suckers from Sam's for 20. Cook them right proper and seal them in individual servings, after chopped and cleaned up, and you will, pardon the pun, be in hog heaven for a year. Seriously it is every bit as good reheated. But yeah if you like to smoke on the weekends a couple ideas above. As a final thought chuck steaks could fit the bill too and would be small servings.
 
treacheroustexan said:
Thanks all! Exactly the info I was looking for!
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Check out this website.... I like it a great deal.

https://www.smokegrillbbq.com/smoked-pork-shoulder-recipe.html
applescrap said:
Haha, probably not what you want to hear, but chicken. The dark especially. Breast or thigh would make a great pulled pork. As long as its pork shoulder, it's what you are looking for. They sale little shoulder blade steaks iirc, and chunks for carnitas, both would work for you I think. Tyson sells a little pork roast that could work, especially if on sale. But honestly the way to go would be to get two huge suckers from Sam's for 20. Cook them right proper and seal them in individual servings, after chopped and cleaned up, and you will, pardon the pun, be in hog heaven for a year. Seriously it is every bit as good reheated. But yeah if you like to smoke on the weekends a couple ideas above. As a final thought chuck steaks could fit the bill too and would be small servings.
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Good post! [emoji481]
 
applescrap said:
Haha, probably not what you want to hear, but chicken. The dark especially. Breast or thigh would make a great pulled pork. As long as its pork shoulder, it's what you are looking for. They sale little shoulder blade steaks iirc, and chunks for carnitas, both would work for you I think. Tyson sells a little pork roast that could work, especially if on sale. But honestly the way to go would be to get two huge suckers from Sam's for 20. Cook them right proper and seal them in individual servings, after chopped and cleaned up, and you will, pardon the pun, be in hog heaven for a year. Seriously it is every bit as good reheated. But yeah if you like to smoke on the weekends a couple ideas above. As a final thought chuck steaks could fit the bill too and would be small servings.
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BTW - I fuggin love brined chicken. Whole or leg quarters.

This is to die for when it comes to chicken.

https://www.smokegrillbbq.com/brine-smoked-chicken-recipe.html
 
BrewerBrad82 said:
The bottom rack of a cabinet style smoker, meat (or whatever else) above on the upper racks. I use the pellet tray if I am doing a really long smoke, because my electric cabinet will fill up with wood chip ash before something like a brisket is done. It is also great to supplement the smoke generated by the cabinet itself. I have the 40" Masterbuilt electric - found it on Craigslist for a steal.

Edit: Looks to be the same one as @JCasey1992
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I have the Masterbuilt 135S and it's way slower than my previous Masterbuilt 35B (The Cheap One) and I find I don't get as much smoke from it this may be of great help for that, now if I can just find out how not to have to wake up at 4 am for a brisket I would be set
 
OG-wan Kenobi said:
I have the Masterbuilt 135S and it's way slower than my previous Masterbuilt 35B (The Cheap One) and I find I don't get as much smoke from it this may be of great help for that, now if I can just find out how not to have to wake up at 4 am for a brisket I would be set
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I was up every hour on the hour to baste mine. Was a little tired after lunch, I crashed after it came off the smoker.
 
Schlenkerla said:
Burnt Ends - Not burnt enough, but I'm hangry. Before and after the burnt time on the smoker. View attachment 645018View attachment 645019
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Ditto, awesome trifecta. I will have to try the chicken brine sometime. Also the burnt ends look fabulous. The brisket did as well. I was wondering how beef does with a longer smoke and clearly the results are stellar.
 
I love brined beer can chicken, but I always do it on the weber kettle at higher heat instead of the smoker. I do add a chunk if peach, apple, or cherry to the coals to add some smoke flavor. I don't like the texture of skin for low and slow smoked chicken.

Have tried chicken multiple ways in the smoker and it never really comes out as good as when it is cooked at higher temps. Maybe I am doing something wrong?
 
popquizkid said:
I love brined beer can chicken, but I always do it on the weber kettle at higher heat instead of the smoker. I do add a chunk if peach, apple, or cherry to the coals to add some smoke flavor. I don't like the texture of skin for low and slow smoked chicken.

Have tried chicken multiple ways in the smoker and it never really comes out as good as when it is cooked at higher temps. Maybe I am doing something wrong?
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From what I have read, low and slow tends to not crisp up the skin leaving it kinda “rubbery”. Recommendations are to finish at a higher temp either in smoker or on a gas grill to crisp up the skin.
 
applescrap said:
Ymmv, but for me personally that wouldnt be a problem, iiac you want the smoke going up through the food and exiting. I have never shut my vents and leave them full open, except maybe when it's cold and I am just finishing off something large. There is some debate around this, but I think smoke coming out of lid is ok.
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Smoke is fine. But if it's thick white smoke, billowing out, then it's bad. If it's heavily smoked, but basically thin blue smoke, it's good.
 
treacheroustexan said:
Sorry if this offends anyone, but what is the cheapest cut to buy to make pulled pork? My strange fiance only eats chicken & turkey, but I want to smoke this weekend and make pulled pork sandwiches for one. I know I can vacuum seal and freeze, but the smaller the better. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Pork shoulder. Aka pork "butt". Strangely named because it's not anywhere near the butt, which is the ham.

Pretty much one of the cheapest cuts of meat you can find. I personally like the Costco dual boneless shoulder, but that tends to be 16-20 lbs of meat. You'll pay more per pound at your grocer, but still cheaper than most anything else.
 
Buck*49 said:
From what I have read, low and slow tends to not crisp up the skin leaving it kinda “rubbery”. Recommendations are to finish at a higher temp either in smoker or on a gas grill to crisp up the skin.
Click to expand...

If you want crispy skin [and I do], you need higher temps. No getting around it. Smoked chicken is great, but you're not getting crispy skin at 225.
 
Retired the old (highly modified) Brinkmann bullet smoker and went to the dark side last weekend and bought a Traeger.

After doing the initial seasoning cook, I smoked 3 racks of ribs and a pound of bacon. Same recipe that I have used for years, but turned out so much better. Hell, I even ran to the store twice and mowed the lawn while they were cooking.

Couple days later, I smoked a couple of pizzas. Best pizza I have ever had. Highly recommend. I smoked at 180 for 30 min, then 20 at 350, the crisp it up at 425 for 5.
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Phildo253 said:
Retired the old (highly modified) Brinkmann bullet smoker and went to the dark side last weekend and bought a Traeger.

After doing the initial seasoning cook, I smoked 3 racks of ribs and a pound of bacon. Same recipe that I have used for years, but turned out so much better. Hell, I even ran to the store twice and mowed the lawn while they were cooking.

Couple days later, I smoked a couple of pizzas. Best pizza I have ever had. Highly recommend. I smoked at 180 for 30 min, then 20 at 350, the crisp it up at 425 for 5.View attachment 645161View attachment 645162View attachment 645163
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Looking good.

I really love my offset stick-burner. I tolerate my mini-portable MPS, but works great for its travel purpose (doubles as an oven - fresh baked biscuits & gravy for camp breakfast is amazing). I enjoyed using my bros pellet pooper but 1/2 considering an electric for convenience. Too many options that have plenty +/- depending on your wants/needs.
 
bwarbiany said:
If you want crispy skin [and I do], you need higher temps. No getting around it. Smoked chicken is great, but you're not getting crispy skin at 225.
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I have tried 300 in my smoker and it skin still was not crispy and rendered. I did finish it on my kettle and it crisped up a little, but that kinda defeats the purpose. Maybe I need to do 350? But at that point I am using my kettle. Burns a lot less fuel and it comes out perfect almost every time.
 
bwarbiany said:
If you want crispy skin [and I do], you need higher temps. No getting around it. Smoked chicken is great, but you're not getting crispy skin at 225.
Click to expand...

applescrap said:
I smoke everything at 275, max for masterbuilt and I can report crispy skins.
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popquizkid said:
I have tried 300 in my smoker and it skin still was not crispy and rendered. I did finish it on my kettle and it crisped up a little, but that kinda defeats the purpose. Maybe I need to do 350? But at that point I am using my kettle. Burns a lot less fuel and it comes out perfect almost every time.
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I'm not sure how others do it, but here are a few tips if you're going for crispy skin. Note that I do my chicken indirect in a kamado, typically without "smoke" wood, and generally at 350-375. Right or wrong, my method is basically charcoal-fired baked chicken, not really grilled or smoked.

  1. Skin that is more dry crisps easier. At the very least, leaving the chicken unwrapped in the fridge for several hours prior to cooking helps.
  2. Even better is to use salt and a little bit of baking soda help. Apparently the baking soda raises the pH of the skin and promotes browning/crisping.
  3. I usually apply some grapeseed oil prior to adding my rub. This is both to promote browning using the oil as well as to give the rub something to adhere to.
  4. Obviously temperature matters, and direct vs indirect matters. 275 direct will crisp a lot better than 325 indirect. So you can play around with those variables and see what works for you.
 
Sunday I'll be doing a brisket for Rosh Hashana dinner (yeah, I smoke it; what's it to ya?!)
Going to do my Montreal Smoked Meat inspired.
Basically use Montreal steak spice, with extra garlic powder, crushed coriander seed and black pepper.
PLanning on getting the fire going around 7:30, meat on by 8, dinner around 6. I try to keep the smoker between 225 and 250, and it's come out fine last bunch of times I've done it.
At some point I'll do another, more traditional Texas style. I did one a ways basck 1/2 & 1/2 salt & pepper and it was way too salty. Next time I'll do something like 70/30 pepper to salt.
 
lschiavo said:
What's the details on that?
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I went all in and got wood burning tray and 12 in cast iron that fits like a glove in it. I suspect with the propane and no shield edges burn. With wood burning tray and propane alone, meh, but yeah the wood on that tray will keep it here. The propane heats that tray and area to 800 or so in 15 20 minutes. But then I throw 2 chunks of wood on and turn burner down. The wood fires instantly and the temps go up as fire rolls out front over pizza. Cant wait to heat up the cast iron in it. Hope it's safe, just wanted to chat about that with them and have had a hard time over phone. Should try email. 250 for wood fire alone would work. But man so easy with gas.
 
The uni pro and koda would be worth considering as well as rocc box. Really like uni pro. A real oven outside.
 

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