Who's smoking meat this weekend?

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That looks like a great tool for that. I use a paper towel and it helps me get a nice non slip grip and has worked, really well. Except sometimes if there is not a good place to start. But yeah grabbing it with a paper towel is solid.
 
That looks like a great tool for that. I use a paper towel and it helps me get a nice non slip grip and has worked, really well. Except sometimes if there is not a good place to start. But yeah grabbing it with a paper towel is solid.


x2 on the paper towel technique.
 
2.6lb Tri-Tip, pellet smoker @ 225 for about 1.5 hours then seared to finish
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Smoked some spare ribs. 2 to 1 white sugar and kosher salt. Rubbed with evoo and trimmed as well. 4.5 hours at 275. Smoked with pecan. Skewer went through easily. Pulled and loosely wrapped in parchment. I cut them in two to fit. A thick piece and thinner piece. Finished at same time.
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Getting ready to smoke some pork blade steaks on low for a few hours then reverse sear them.

Mayo Slathered then dusted with Famous Dave's Rib Rub.
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Mayo has eggs in it so it helps with getting a bark on whatever you cook.

I basically smoke for several hours on low ~180F. The internal meat temp to 125-130F for medium rare.

Then the reverse sear, is you take them off cover with foil in a pan. Turn the grill up to high and let it get super hot and do 3 minute sear on each side. Then back into the pan covered for 5 minutes and then eat.

I unfortunately didn't take any photos of the finished shoulder blade steaks.... This works great on big hunking steaks... Like this Fred Flintstone Steak.

This meal all I ate was meat. It was 1.68lbs.
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This ^^^^^ steak would go great this this Mesquite Smoked Rauchbier.

5lbs of Home smoked rauchmalt
5lbs of Wheat malt
4oz of Carafa 3
2oz of Acidulated malt. For pH corrections
1oz of hallertauer at 60
Pitched Fermentus K-97
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Here's some beerfor and after pics.

Slathered with mayo, sprayed with apple juice on the hour every hour for 22hrs. It had a very sticky bark.
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Smoking fish tonight. First time in a long time.

I brined for 24 hours, did the pellicle slime rest for 12 hours. Both are refrigerated. The pellicle slime rest is nothing more than pulling it out of the brine and let it rest. It seems to precipitate a slime on the outside which should be good for collecting smoke.

Now smoking at 180F with blend of apple, cherry and maple. At 145F now. Needs to be at 160F for 30 minutes.

It's 12:45AM now...

So this might be a breakfast for dinner tomorrow. Might do this with scrambled eggs tomorrow night. For veggies I might just say fuggit and add Giardineria to the eggs.

FWIW - The brine is a little spicy....

2 gallons water
1.5 cups picking salt
2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons cayenne.

All boiled and cooled then added my fish to it and then popped into the fridge. I had to drop a dinner plate onto the guys since they wanted to float.

Note to self - Next time I don't need two gallons of brine unless I'm doing a lot more fish.


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I had to drop a dinner plate onto the guys since they wanted to float.

Note to self - Next time I don't need two gallons of brine unless I'm doing a lot more fish.
If they will all fit in a gallon zip-lock, I like to use those so I can push all the air out and don't have to worry about them floating. For bigger brines, I have used 2-gallon zip-locks (a bugger to find), oven bags and crock-pot liners.
 
I did a pair of Butts. Here's how I did it:
smoked at 275° for ~3 hours until internal hit 160°.
Wrapped in foil, smoked at 275° for almost another 3 hours until internal hit 195°. Then rest still covered.
Tastes fine but the bark gets all mushy.

Do most not wrap to get past the stall so the bark is more intact or......?
 
I did a pair of Butts. Here's how I did it:
smoked at 275° for ~3 hours until internal hit 160°.
Wrapped in foil, smoked at 275° for almost another 3 hours until internal hit 195°. Then rest still covered.
Tastes fine but the bark gets all mushy.

Do most not wrap to get past the stall so the bark is more intact or......?
There are a few strategies to get past the stall:
1: Cook hotter (300-350F)
2: Use a water pan - if your whole smoker is humid, it prevents the evaporation that causes the stall
3: Wrap it. Some recommend wrapping with butcher paper so it can breathe a little.
 
I did a pair of Butts. Here's how I did it:
smoked at 275° for ~3 hours until internal hit 160°.
Wrapped in foil, smoked at 275° for almost another 3 hours until internal hit 195°. Then rest still covered.
Tastes fine but the bark gets all mushy.

Do most not wrap to get past the stall so the bark is more intact or......?

I usually don't wrap. I just let it push through the stall on its own time.

That said, for butts I've been doing the "turbo" butt method of late. Run 350-400 and you'll go right through the stall. Only issue is that if your rub contains sugar, you need to stay in the 325-350, rather than 375-400. With the turbo method, I can start them first thing in the morning and be done by dinner, instead of starting at 10PM or midnight the previous night as I often had to do when running at a ~250 temp.
 
Just responding to that "mayo hack"...

& kind of tangential to topic; the BigHair has a recipe for roast turkey where she coats the bird with a layer of garden vegetable cream cheese before throwing in the oven

OMG yum. Crispy skin & moist meat
 
From anyone's experience here, is it easy enough to use a gas grill to smoke? There are some nice pellets at Costco right now. If it's just a matter of a dish of pellets and water or whatever, I wouldn't mind trying my rib recipe outdoors.
Thanks.
 
From anyone's experience here, is it easy enough to use a gas grill to smoke? There are some nice pellets at Costco right now. If it's just a matter of a dish of pellets and water or whatever, I wouldn't mind trying my rib recipe outdoors.
Thanks.

Generally, you can get it done. If you have a three-burner grill, you tend to turn on one of the side burners and keep the other two unlit. Set up wood chips in a pack of aluminum foil or a "smoker tray" above the lit burner. Perhaps set up a water pan under the meat if you want to help block the direct heat for an indirect smoke.

It'll look something like this, with only the leftmost burner turned on.

Edit: I'd use hardwood chips [available at pretty much any home improvement store], not pellets designed for a pellet grill. The pellets may not smolder properly.

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@bwarbiany
Wow, I can do that; I have plenty of room. And don't use pellets. I probably don't need water then since space isn't an issue.
I'm going to do some baby back ribs which come out great in the oven. If I am successful, I am going to do a prime rib.
I should never have clicked on this thread and saw all the great-looking food.
Thank you.
 
Solid.
Generally, you can get it done. If you have a three-burner grill, you tend to turn on one of the side burners and keep the other two unlit. Set up wood chips in a pack of aluminum foil or a "smoker tray" above the lit burner. Perhaps set up a water pan under the meat if you want to help block the direct heat for an indirect smoke.

It'll look something like this, with only the leftmost burner turned on.

Edit: I'd use hardwood chips [available at pretty much any home improvement store], not pellets designed for a pellet grill. The pellets may not smolder properly.

hGnaZ.jpg
 
I fired up the smoker for some easy boneless ribs....

Tossed them in this at noon kickoff. Now to warm up the smoker for an hour of heavy smoke and then a grill as normal.
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This is after.... Ready to eat.... They got hit with an apple juice spritz once every 15 minutes for about 2.5-3 hours

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