Who's smoking meat this weekend?

[Kent88]

Well the more I think about what I want from a smoker, and read about that camp chef unit, I think it might align with my goals as well as anything else I'm seeing in that price range.

One thing I am surprised by is all the reviews of pellet smokers that claim they just don't impart a strong smoke character in the food they cook. Is that real, or are people who burn chunks and logs just trying to brag themselves up?

My masterbuilt smoker used wood chips to generate smoke, I'm not familiar with how well pellets flavor the food.

 

[Rodent]

Time for another round of bacon-wrapped meatballs on the BGE. each is right at 1/4lb pre-cooked weight

3 pounds of 85-15 hamburger + 1 pound Italian sausage + seasonings, breadcrumbs, eggs, and a generous slathering of Worcestershire sauce smoked @ 250F to an internal temp of 165F

 

[YeastFeast]

Time for another round of bacon-wrapped meatballs on the BGE. each is right at 1/4lb pre-cooked weight

View attachment 833956

3 pounds of 85-15 hamburger + 1 pound Italian sausage + seasonings, breadcrumbs, eggs, and a generous slathering of Worcestershire sauce smoked @ 250F to an internal temp of 165F

Love this idea. Make meatballs on the egg all the time but never tried bacon wrapped. I like it.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

ok heres a real basic question regarding turkey.....was going to wet brine a turkey for 12hrs prior to smoking it spatchcocked on my BGE for thanksgiving. However its a frozen turkey thats been pre-brined in 8% solution. So will this really be too salty if I wet brine it? Most everything I read says don't do it but if anyone here has experiences with this, I'd be glad to hear them. Seems that EVERY turkey you find is pre-brined but just wanted to throw this question out there if anyone has actually wet brined a standard turkey that has been pre-brined (most all are).

 

[Rodent]

I've successfully wet brined turkeys that were 'pre-brined when frozen' The key for me was to reduce the amount of salt in my wet brine solution. I need to check notes, but my memory is hinting I reduced salt by about half. I'll add that I didn't reduce salt my first year smoking a turkey and had no complaints that it was too salty, so YMMV depending on preferences of the gobblers at your table

 

[JenMac]

@Kent88
I haven’t tried other methods but love my Camp Chef pellet grill. Get great smoke flavor and bark when I want it. Here’s todays turkey. I got the sidekick as I like to reverse sear. Have had my smoker a few years now and super happy with how it’s holding up too.

 

[Kent88]

I appreciate you sharing your experience.

I might wait a little longer to buy this new smoker, as it seems to be CC's only smoker that isn't on sale. No sale, no rush to buy. Unless I can talk myself into the Woodwind pellet grill.

Edit: the particular Woodwind I was eyeing if it ended up on a ridiculous sale is... also not on sale. So, no rush.

 

[kaffeenjunkie]

Fresh venison bottom round seasoned with salt and pepper then smoked at 250° to 140° internal temperature. Rested and then seared before slicing. Fried cabbage and fresh wild oyster mushrooms underneath.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Well, turkey of course, smoked one, deep fried one, I liked the smoke one better in a side by side but both bring there own flavors to the table and both got devoured.

 

[RevA]

smoking some venison today - fillet and a small roast. Also smoking some of the off cuts for the dogs.

 

[OleBrewing]

smoking some venison today - fillet and a small roast. Also smoking some of the off cuts for the dogs.

lucky dogs.

 

[jcav]

I am smoking a pork butt right now in my new Pit Boss Pro Elite Series 6 verticle pellet smoker. What an upgrade from my manual electric smoker that I had for over 20 years. Can't get over setting the temp I want and it holds that temp for as long as you like. Also has a smoke mode that puts out tons of smoke if you want more. Smoked ribs earlier this week and they came out spot on! Technology has really changed over the years, and it's about time I upgraded and got with the times!

John

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Started this on the past weekend but wasn't smoked until yesterday. 15 lbs of deer bologna, a couple are jalapeno cheddar, and some are pepperjack. I need to do some plain, ya know for the folks that dont like heat. 4 sticks in the picture (1 hidden) at 3.5lbs each then a 5th that's already cut for a snack for this coming weekend, but the 5th was the leftovers so it was a short stick probably a little over a pound.

 

[passedpawn]

I am smoking a pork butt right now in my new Pit Boss Pro Elite Series 6 verticle pellet smoker. What an upgrade from my manual electric smoker that I had for over 20 years. Can't get over setting the temp I want and it holds that temp for as long as you like. Also has a smoke mode that puts out tons of smoke if you want more. Smoked ribs earlier this week and they came out spot on! Technology has really changed over the years, and it's about time I upgraded and got with the times!

John

No pics ? You must have smoked in that thing 10 times by now John.

 

[passedpawn]

Started this on the past weekend but wasn't smoked until yesterday. 15 lbs of deer bologna, a couple are jalapeno cheddar, and some are pepperjack. I need to do some plain, ya know for the folks that dont like heat. 4 sticks in the picture (1 hidden) at 3.5lbs each then a 5th that's already cut for a snack for this coming weekend, but the 5th was the leftovers so it was a short stick probably a little over a pound.
View attachment 836548

What sort of casing is that?

 

[AzOr]

First attempt at bacon. Just pulled off of smoker, now it’s time to rest it for a day or so.

 

[YeastFeast]

Pulled Beef!
3 lbs of top blade roast on the smoker @ 300ºF. Wrapped in butcher paper when the internal temp hits 175ºF. Pulled off at 210ºF and rested in the butcher paper on the kitchen table for an hour. 4 hours total cook time. Fell apart easily, shredded it with my fingers. Really good.

 

[jcav]

No pics ? You must have smoked in that thing 10 times by now John.

Here you go Andrew!

 

[passedpawn]

Get in me belly! Looks awesome!

 

[AzOr]

First batch of bacon is a success!

 

[passedpawn]

First batch of bacon is a success!
View attachment 836912

you bought a slicer?

 

[AzOr]

Yeah I got it on CL. Pretty happy with it. It’s a small commercial type. Perfect for me.

 

[cfrazier77]

Smoking a whole chicken spatchcocked, dry brined, poured boiling water over skin, this helps so much to get bite through skin. Dried, oiled with olive oil, seasoned, then hot, 425, and smoke from sugar maple from our own tree trimmings. Hope it is good. And, enjoying a wee heavy from Iceland which is an Christmas present from my beloved wife. Merry Christmas all!

 

[cfrazier77]

Done, very tasty

 

[RevA]

Smoked a lovely Gammon today.

 

[Dgallo]

Smoked prime rib, reverse sear. Big hit tonight!

 

[505-Brewer]

Put some pecan and cherry smoke on chuck roast before turning it into Machaca beef in the pressure cooker for Suiza Enchiladas.

Special lady friend may have over done it on the cheese... but only from a pic perspective. So Fn tasty!

Bags of meat and extras for another meal in the fridge.

 

[505-Brewer]

Put some pecan and cherry smoke on some chuck roast before turning it into Machaca beef in the pressure cooker for Suiza Enchiladas.

Special lady friend may have over done it on the cheese... but only from a pic perspective. So Fn tasty!

Bags of meat and extras for another meal in the fridge.

Plus a couple impromptu mexican martinis. Kitchen sink supplies. But also so F’n tasty!

 

[505-Brewer]

Plus a couple impromptu mexican martinis. Kitchen sink supplies. But also so F’n tasty!

Didnt get a pic if the shredded beef this time but from another go last week.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

What sort of casing is that?

Sorry for the delayed response, I missed this post, these are a cloth casing I get from my local butcher, they are semi porous so they allow more smoke to be absorbed into the meat... not edible if that wasnt obvious. About 2 inch diameter and I get 3.5lb of meat in each one.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Smoked Terry the Trout on Christmas Eve. Made a delicious smoked trout dip out of him.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Did a 13.4 lbs spatchcock turkey for Christmas, 225 for 5 hours on my pellet smoker.

Put 2 Costco butts on last night at about 11pm. Combined weight of 18lbs, at 250. Smaller one is about 8lbs and about to finish up. The big ones got few more hours to go.

On warm-up for the butts, I put 3 blocks (8oz each) of extra-sharp cheese on for about 40-minutes.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

On the Big Joe and Joe Jr, I've had some cracking of the firebox (and fire ring for the Jr) but have largely avoided messing around with it. But the fire ring crack on the Joe Jr is impacting the ability to set the grate on it, as the crack is right in the middle of the detente that the grate riser sits in.

So I opened up some warranty claims for both. BTW for those looking at grills like this, *this* is the reason you opt for the BGE or KJ (or I think Vision and a few others) which offer lifetime warranty on those parts... At least until I can afford a Komodo Kamado, that is...

Checking warranty, it seems that the heat deflectors are only warrantied for 3 years--and I've had the grills WAY longer than that. One head deflector for the Big Joe has been cracked through for a long time and the other has some visible cracks but hasn't separated, and the Joe Jr head deflector is cracked in half as well. I almost never use the one for the Joe Jr so I'm just going to pitch it. But for the Big Joe I use them all the time so I'm trying some cheaper ones from Amazon ($50/for the set vs $90 from KJ) to see if they'll hold up.

My wife got me a new Kick Ash Basket for the Big Joe for Christmas, as I've basically burned through the old one over time. It looks like they changed their design such that they're using heavier gauge steel now, so it's a lot less likely I'll burn through this one.

 

[apache_brew]

Christmas Eve I did a 14 lb bone in rib roast. The week before I seasoned and herb butter crusted it before vacuum sealing in in the fridge. Put on the Weber at 2:30 and added charcoal once to the pile mid cook and let it smoke @ ~250F with some apple wood chips for 4.5 hours until reaching 125F internal. Let it sit tented for about 40 minutes then sliced to serve. I was real happy with the results.

 

[Dgallo]

Made Barria Flatbread on the Traeger -

chipotle sauce topped with braised beef rib(the rack from the prime rib) and chuck steak, red onions, jalapeños, queso fresco, cilantro, and lime-avacado crema.

Came out really good!

 

[505-Brewer]

F!
That looks tasty!!

 

[MrClint]

Folks, if you want to dip your toe in the smoker game without breaking the bank or burning up a metric ton of forest, consider taking the Ninja Woodfire Grill for a spin. I have been smoking regularly since I picked up this unit on a black Friday sale. As we speak I am cold smoking some cheese for a get together this Friday. I will also smoke a Beef Picanha roast on Friday. Last night I smoked a Cornish Game Hen broiler for my wife and I. Everything I have smoked so far has been excellent. Will it win me a National BBQ championship medal? No, but that isn't the goal. I can't say enough good things about this little unit.

 

[Brew_Dude41]

Another option for a very cheap entry point to smoking is a small pellet tube that you can use with your propane grills.

https://www.amazon.com/LIZZQ-Premiu...2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

I will use this for things like wings or cold smoking. I love to dry rub the wings over night, hit them with the tube over an hour or so with low heat (indirect) and then crank the heat up to crisp up the skin and finish them off. Also good for cold smoking now that the weather is getting cooler.

 

[MrClint]

Another option for a very cheap entry point to smoking is a small pellet tube that you can use with your propane grills.

Yes, I've used those for a long time, they work really well in a small BBQ like the Weber Go-Anywhere. Marginally well (for me) in my large propane grill. This Woodfire Grill has a convection fan and puts a whole lot more smoke flavor with only a cup of pellets. It can dehydrate, roast, grill, and air fry with added smoke -- as well as function as a smoker.

 

[AzOr]

Folks, if you want to dip your toe in the smoker game without breaking the bank or burning up a metric ton of forest, consider taking the Ninja Woodfire Grill for a spin. I have been smoking regularly since I picked up this unit on a black Friday sale. As we speak I am cold smoking some cheese for a get together this Friday. I will also smoke a Beef Picanha roast on Friday. Last night I smoked a Cornish Game Hen broiler for my wife and I. Everything I have smoked so far has been excellent. Will it win me a National BBQ championship medal? No, but that isn't the goal. I can't say enough good things about this little unit.

FYI- if this is your first time smoking cheese, be careful. Normally you should cold smoke then vac seal it and put away in fridge to mellow for several weeks if not months.

Cheese just off of smoker can taste like an ashtray until it mellows.