Who's smoking meat this weekend?

[jammin]

Been trying out a new brand of pellets lately - made in Oregon and only $0.25/lb. best price I’ve found by a landslide.

https://imgur.com/a/iu47xBA

 

[treacheroustexan]

I found a good deal at the store earlier and got a 4# whole chicken for a few dollars. I've never messed with a whole chicken before, but it says giblets and neck removed already. Is there anything else I need to do with it at that point or just season it and throw it on the smoker?

 

[schematix]

I found a good deal at the store earlier and got a 4# whole chicken for a few dollars. I've never messed with a whole chicken before, but it says giblets and neck removed already. Is there anything else I need to do with it at that point or just season it and throw it on the smoker?

I've been buying whole birds since i was a teenager... always save the carcasses to make chicken stock. I've got about 8 sitting in the freezer now waiting for a nice fall soup day.

I like both moist breast meat and tender fully rendered dark meat. Unfortunately you can't get both on a whole bird because white meat is bone dry by 165-170, and that's where dark meat just starts to get good.

So I quarter whole chickens and cook the breast+wing to about 155 and let the thigh+leg go to about 175. I usually put the leg+thigh pieces on before the breast+wing pieces.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I've been buying whole birds since i was a teenager... always save the carcasses to make chicken stock. I've got about 8 sitting in the freezer now waiting for a nice fall soup day.

I like both moist breast meat and tender fully rendered dark meat. Unfortunately you can't get both on a whole bird because white meat is bone dry by 165-170, and that's where dark meat just starts to get good.

So I quarter whole chickens and cook the breast+wing to about 155 and let the thigh+leg go to about 175. I usually put the leg+thigh pieces on before the breast+wing pieces.

Good advice! Thank you!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I found a good deal at the store earlier and got a 4# whole chicken for a few dollars. I've never messed with a whole chicken before, but it says giblets and neck removed already. Is there anything else I need to do with it at that point or just season it and throw it on the smoker?

I'm a fan of spatchcocking it... You basically cut out the spine [and a little area of cartilage on the inside of the sternum] so it'll lay flat. Helps it to cook more evenly. Especially because it makes the leg/thigh more "exposed" so they reach the higher IT earlier than the breast. So you can cook it and have leg/thigh at 175 right about the time the breast is getting to 155 or so.

 

[masonsjax]

I always spatchcock a full bird on the smoker. If you have time, curing it with prague powder beforehand makes for some amazing meals!

 

[bleme]

I always spatchcock a full bird on the smoker. If you have time, curing it with prague powder beforehand makes for some amazing meals!

This got me googling for cured chicken recipes and I came up empty. Can you post?

 

[masonsjax]

This got me googling for cured chicken recipes and I came up empty. Can you post?

Read this page, prague powder can be deadly if not handled with respect. There's a lot of info about curing safely and a calculator to help you build a recipe. As far as spices, herbs, etc, anything you would normally use in a brine or marinade recipe should work great.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-reci...ing-and-injecting/science-curing-meats-safely

 

[applescrap]

Cured, smoked chicken! Interesting. Prague powder, cure number 2, whatever its called its sodium nitrite. I have posted legit info on amounts and usage on either this thread or others. Man wish i knew how to find stuff. Obviously i hold no liability for any info or anyones usage of sodium nitrite and everything is imo, and usage is at your own risk. Ok, that said, cures use different amounts than ground meat. Because ingesting is different to curing large cuts. With chicken, spatchcocked, i see the potential for ingesting too much from underside. Im guessing a serious rinse is needed after curing. Sadly, i have let my charcuterie skills wane a little as sodium nitrite isnt probably the best for you. Love hamburger jerky though. Ultimately there's no need to cure beef jerky, because it won't last long enough to need it. Making your own hot dogs, salami, pepperoni, bacon, and pastrami are all worthwhile endeavors im sure.

 

[masonsjax]

I use cure #1, as per the reasons listed in the link I posted. Follow the instructions there carefully and use the calculated parameters and you will be safe.

But yeah, cured smoked chicken is awesome! I also like to make poor man's pastrami using cured chuck roast and it's pretty amazing.

 

[applescrap]

Oh wow, never thought of that. I love smoked chuck.

 

[bleme]

https://amazingribs.com/tested-reci...ing-and-injecting/science-curing-meats-safely

I had read that page before I started my bacon but I just noticed that the calculator doesn’t have any regular salt at all. Is it needed?

 

[applescrap]

No, not usually. The cures are salty. Well now not sure, maybe adjusted. I would probably leave it out. Loved that article. I didnt know dry cure was not recommended. Seems most rub, seal, and flip in fridge. Wil have to try wet cure and need to get #1 because i only have number 2. The chart I posted makes me wonder what i have. Edit, my cure is number one.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Not this weekend, but smoking two (half) butts and a 10# ham tomorrow.

After they're done I'm smoking some jalapeno's (into Chipoltle) and some other hot peppers. Probably about 6 dozen all together. Then I'll finish them off in a couple of dehydrators and grind to a finish.

 

[murphyslaw]

I don't have a ton of experience smoking meat. I've made ribs twice and pork butt 3 or 4 times.

I have some guys coming over Saturday afternoon and just picked up the smallest brisket at Costco--16lbs!

I've got Meatheads book and I'll follow his advice, but what time do you think I should put this on if I want it to be done around 2:30 pm Saturday?

 

[homebrewer_99]

I don't have a ton of experience smoking meat. I've made ribs twice and pork butt 3 or 4 times.

I have some guys coming over Saturday afternoon and just picked up the smallest brisket at Costco--16lbs!

I've got Meatheads book and I'll follow his advice, but what time do you think I should put this on if I want it to be done around 2:30 pm Saturday?

Well, chances are after you trim the brisket you're going to lose about 4# to fat...I hate buying fat for $5/lb.

I'd figure 12 to 20 hours depending on your cooking temp and weather conditions.

Looking down at a packer, I always cut mine where the flat and point meet and cook them separately. The flat cooks faster because it's more thin.

Here are a couple of sites you might be interested in:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/

ARTICLE: https://www.smoking-meat.com/august-27-2015-brisket-smoking-tutorial-for-dummies

I have a 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain so I'm also on here: https://tvwbb.com/forum.php (if you have a Weber).

 

[arturo7]

I've got Meatheads book and I'll follow his advice, but what time do you think I should put this on if I want it to be done around 2:30 pm Saturday?

I'm going to assume you'd rather not tend you smoker all night. Meat will not absorb smoke once it reaches 125 deg. It takes about 4 hours to get there. My advice would be to start it Friday evening. Give it 4-5 hours of smoke, then put in the oven at 225 until the next morning. Figure 11+ total hours to hit your target temp.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

I don't have a ton of experience smoking meat. I've made ribs twice and pork butt 3 or 4 times.

I have some guys coming over Saturday afternoon and just picked up the smallest brisket at Costco--16lbs!

I've got Meatheads book and I'll follow his advice, but what time do you think I should put this on if I want it to be done around 2:30 pm Saturday?

Everyone has a different setup and time. For ours I usually start 6-7am. I add a large bowl of water between smoker box and meat to help regulate the temp to around 250. By 3pm or so it's usually barely past the 160 stall zone but will have penty of smoke. We then place into a large turkey throw away pan, double foil wrap it and add a beer, onions, garlic then throw into the oven at around 300-325. Monitor the temp and pull at 197. Let sit for at least 30min before slicing. Haven't made a bad one yet. We always target a 5-5:30 eat time.

For your 2:30 final time you'd definitely start closer to 3am then get in oven by noon doing this method. We do 12-13lbs ourselves.

 

[murphyslaw]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll start around 10pm Friday. If it goes quick--12 hours or so--I can stick it in the cooler and if its looking more like 20hrs I'll try raising the temp first thing in the morning.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

For your first one, you may want to foil. When it hits the stall around 160 degrees, wrap it in foil. You can finish in the smoker, or as @PianoMan says, finish in the oven. Briskets can be tricky, and foil will definitely keep it moist.

The one thing I would say is that you're not cooking to IT, you're cooking until it's tender. That can be at different finishing temps based on a whole bunch of factors. The way I check tenderness is the "probe test", where I use the instant-read thermometer to poke the brisket in a number of areas and make sure it goes in without much resistance [once you get through the bark]. So I don't normally advocate pulling it off the smoker at a set temperature, the probe test will tell you when it's done.

 

[treacheroustexan]

For your first one, you may want to foil. When it hits the stall around 160 degrees, wrap it in foil. You can finish in the smoker, or as @PianoMan says, finish in the oven. Briskets can be tricky, and foil will definitely keep it moist.

The one thing I would say is that you're not cooking to IT, you're cooking until it's tender. That can be at different finishing temps based on a whole bunch of factors. The way I check tenderness is the "probe test", where I use the instant-read thermometer to poke the brisket in a number of areas and make sure it goes in without much resistance [once you get through the bark]. So I don't normally advocate pulling it off the smoker at a set temperature, the probe test will tell you when it's done.

I've only attempted one brisket and this was my issue. I pulled it when I thought the IT was good, but when it came time to eat it wasn't tender at all. I was super disappointed. I'll make sure to follow the probe advice next time.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Keep us informed with pics...

Won't be doing a brisket till we get back from SLO, Ca in 2 weeks. Drooling now from reading threads/articles...thanks! [emoji39]

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

I've only attempted one brisket and this was my issue. I pulled it when I thought the IT was good, but when it came time to eat it wasn't tender at all. I was super disappointed. I'll make sure to follow the probe advice next time.

If I were to guess, most folks 1st one was probably more steak like then tender. Mine was. When seeing that temp rise to 180-190 like a panic set in as we're not used to "cooking" red meat that high. Don't be discouraged!

 

[Red_Scooter]

Made some poor man's burnt ends for the game tonight. Turned out great!

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

So recommendations. Trying to move past grocery store brisket for our family reunion. Local Austin meat store. CAB Choice Natural for 7/lbs or Akausi (wegyu- lineage) breed beef for $9/lbs? Looking at 14lbs.

 

[Red_Scooter]

So recommendations. Trying to move past grocery store brisket for our family reunion. Local Austin meat store. CAB Choice Natural for 7/lbs or Akausi (wegyu- lineage) breed beef for $9/lbs? Looking at 14lbs.

Akausi is what I would go with if it looked good. Since it's waygu lineage, I assume it's prime +?.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Akausi is what I would go with if it looked good. Since it's waygu lineage, I assume it's prime +?.

Actually that's a good question. CAB is choice. Akaushi IDK. Email didn't say. From what I understand, wagyu is basicly prime meat anyway. All Texas grown.

 

[Red_Scooter]

Actually that's a good question. CAB is choice. Akaushi IDK. Email didn't say. From what I understand, wagyu is basicly prime meat anyway. All Texas grown.

Go with that. If I was in the area, I would offer to come over and critique for you.

 

[azdavid]

I have a couple of 15 lb. Briskets planned for Family get together on Sunday.
I usually get them from our local Costco $3.79 per lb for USDA Prime can't find a better deal anywhere around here.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've been buying whole birds since i was a teenager... always save the carcasses to make chicken stock. I've got about 8 sitting in the freezer now waiting for a nice fall soup day.

I like both moist breast meat and tender fully rendered dark meat. Unfortunately you can't get both on a whole bird because white meat is bone dry by 165-170, and that's where dark meat just starts to get good.

So I quarter whole chickens and cook the breast+wing to about 155 and let the thigh+leg go to about 175. I usually put the leg+thigh pieces on before the breast+wing pieces.

You need to try brining... cook the breast to 165F. These are the chickens I smoked on the fourth of July using pecan.

The breasts and thighs are always moist.

Excerpt from the link below.

" Why Brine A Chicken?
Brine smoked chicken is an American classic dish that requires a long time commitment with a great tasting result. You will be surprised how well brining the chicken really works at keeping your chicken from drying out. Brining is the process of soaking the chicken in a salty water mixture for a number of hours so the bird retains the moisture during the cooking process. There is nothing worse than a dry piece of chicken off a smoker and brining solves this age old problem that is known to happen with lean poultry meat. You want to smoke the chicken at a long and slow temperature of 225-250 degrees Fahrenheit. This will allow the smoke from your wood chips to flavor the meat throughout the cooking process. You should expect the chicken to smoke for an average of about 4 hours depending on the size and smoker temperature. You will know when your smoked chicken is done when the internal breast temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The brine smoked chicken recipe below will provide step by step instructions on how to brine and smoke the chicken, recipe ingredients, cooking time, and other smoking tips

"Brine Smoked Chicken Recipe
Because chicken is such a lean meat, it has the tendency to dry out quicker than other fatty meats. Brining a chicken is a popular method of keeping your chicken moist by forcing water into the muscle of the chicken. While brining, you can also add seasoning to your mixture that will flavor the meat. You can also think of brining as a way to marinade the chicken by adding the seasoning to your brine recipe which penetrates the inside of the bird."


https://www.smokegrillbbq.com/brine-smoked-chicken-recipe.html