Who's smoking meat this weekend?

[OG-wan Kenobi]

Did some hickory smoked wings on my Weber kettle with the vortex last night, takes a little longer than you would think for them to cook at such a high temp but they were crispy and juicy

 

[jaymosbeershack]

Woke up to this chunk looking great and sitting at 150*

 

[jaymosbeershack]

My second brisket was way better than the first.

 

[S-Met]

Smoked tomatillo salsa. Couple onions, Couple heads of garlic and a few peppers. Great topper for my lobster tails and ribeye.

 

[wepeeler]

Maple Bourbon rub from VT

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

Got a new Kamado Joe and broke it in this weekend we did chicken and sausage one night, salmon and cod another and smoked ribs yesterday it all came out great

 

[corkybstewart]

So I had about 1.5 pounds of porkloin, probably the driest cut of meat on earth. While my wife searched for French recipes for it I decided to throw some dry rub on it and toss it on the smoker. 2 hours at 225F it hit an internal temp of 150 and I took it off. It as incredibly tender and juicy, much to my shock. Last night I made a brown gravy with mushrooms and put the leftover slices in the gravy to warm up, it was still tender and juicy, shocking my wife. We both work at a rural food distribution once every month-any food with a torn package, or that hits the floor has to be thrown out so we usually take it home if nobody else wants it. This frozen porkloin had no label so it was deemed trash.

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

Pork loin is awesome I am glad one finally worked out for you, I usually pull mine 140-145 and it's always very tender and juicy I just did these last night on my Kamado Joe and they were great

 

[bleme]

Here in California, you don't even need a smoker. Just set your meat outside!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

First time smoking on the Traeger...

 

[DBhomebrew]

How many beans per pint?

I shoot for an ounce of beans per ounce of fluid. Somewhere around 16-20 beans.

My apologies, that should have been 1oz beans to 8oz liquor.

The leaves are just barely starting to yellow, my cue to make a new batch. Twenty-five grade B beans (1.6oz) in 12.5oz of bourbon.

 

[jaymosbeershack]

My first attempt at jerky. Dr Pepper Jalapeño

 

[NGD]

Curious how you liked the Traeger compared to the Kamado?

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Mmmm, short ribs...

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Curious how you liked the Traeger compared to the Kamado?

I definitely like it for smoking.

When I got the Kamado, I was ditching my propane cabinet smoker and my wretched old gasser that was way past its prime. So I need "one grill to rule them all", and I was deciding between Kamado and Pellet for that grill. I determined that the Kamado was going to be more versatile, with its ability to get high direct heat for searing, which IMHO is the sort spot for pellet grills.

Smoking on a Kamado is great, in that if you have it dialed in well, it'll hold a temperature rock solid like nothing else. However, I don't think it gives all that much smoke flavor because you're basically building a TINY charcoal fire and barely smouldering your smoking wood, in order to keep that Kamado in the 225-275 range. If you're having issues with leaky gaskets, or if you get a flare-up from dripping fat, or basically anything else that affects your fire, though, the temp can creep. My gaskets get somewhat abused from high-heat cooking, so it's something I always have to watch. And set up is a lot more difficult--I usually light the grill 1-2 hours before I plan to put the meat on, in order to make sure my temps are perfectly dialed in and stable. Granted, that's overkill, but I am a perfectionist.

The Traeger is true set & forget, which is nice. The flavor on both the ribs and the short ribs I did yesterday was great, so I don't think there was anything lost in translation. It's not quite as rock-solid temp-wise as the kamado, I did see it fluctuating in the 240-270 range when I had it at the 225 set point... Part of that could be that it's an older model that I got secondhand. I also learned on the ribs that it does have hot spots, so when loading it with 3 racks of ribs I'm going to have to rotate them occasionally for even cooking. The rack in the back definitely got more heat than the others. But it's easier to set up and just get to smoking than the kamado, and it takes care of the temp control for you. Just plug it in, turn it on, and in 15 minutes you're set up and cooking.

I think that the Traeger, going forward, might be my primary smoker, whereas the Kamados will be my primary grills. The Kamado does high direct heat MUCH better than the Traeger, so anything that needs a sear is best on the Kamado. For smoking, the Traeger is at the very least equal to the Kamado in flavor, possibly slightly better smoke flavor since the fire needs to be stronger and is based on the wood pellets instead of the primary heat source being charcoal. But the Traeger wins on simplicity for smoking by far.

So... Both great at what they do. I definitely feel that for grilling, my decision back in 2014 to get the Kamado is validated. It's a better grill, and it's capable of doing everything. But for smoking, the Traeger is just easier with no loss [and potentially a very slight gain] in quality or taste.

 

[Dgallo]

@bwarbiany #traegernation

 

[bkboiler]

I have a lot of friends who love their Traegers and rave about them. I think the new term should be Traeger-happy

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I have a lot of friends who love their Traegers and rave about them. I think the new term should be Traeger-happy

I think a lot of people get into that in-group and don't like to admit that the Traeger has a serious difficulty doing any high direct heat grilling, though.

 

[Dgallo]

I think a lot of people get into that in-group and don't like to admit that the Traeger has a serious difficulty doing any high direct heat grilling, though.

Which Traeger do you have? I will say it’s not the same a direct heat grilling but I have the 650 pro and once I found the hot spots, I can get a solid sear. For me it’s the first 1/3 of the grill close to the hopper and then entire bottom 6 inches of the grate horizontally

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

My pit boss has the open flame sear option it's pretty nice and you get that direct flame sear from a pellet pooper

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Which Traeger do you have? I will say it’s not the same a direct heat grilling but I have the 650 pro and once I found the hot spots, I can get a solid sear. For me it’s the first 1/3 of the grill close to the hopper and then entire bottom 6 inches of the grate horizontally

Actually not sure. It is about 5 years old and got passed down when my FIL was looking for a smaller footprint grill to make more room on his patio.

But it certainly isn't the same sort of sear I can get off of a roaring Kamado.

 

[bleme]

I picked up 20 pounds of butt to smoke this weekend

 

[seanjwalker1]

Filipino style ribs, garlic jalapeno pecan smoked wings.

 

[bleme]

“I like big butts” just sounds better than “I like big shoulders”. Got a late start yesterday so they didn’t come off the smoker until 3:30 am this morning. Started pulling at 5:30 and finished just in time to go to work. Good thing Monday’s are never crazy/hectic!

 

[Staestc]

View attachment 699937 Filipino style ribs, garlic jalapeno pecan smoked wings.

Ribs look great, but the wings just look amazing!!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

“I like big butts” just sounds better than “I like big shoulders”. Got a late start yesterday so they didn’t come off the smoker until 3:30 am this morning. Started pulling at 5:30 and finished just in time to go to work. Good thing Monday’s are never crazy/hectic!
View attachment 700371View attachment 700372View attachment 700373

Ugh. I've been using the Kitchenaid mixer to pull pork butts because I'm lazy, but when I see yours it makes me want to pull out the bear claws next time and do it by hand.

That looks delicious!

 

[HoppyDaze]

my pulled pork is so tender I just use my tongs to pull it....only takes a minute

 

[jdauria]

Did a small 7 lb pork butt for pulled pork this weekend for the Pats game. Along with a tangy mustard/Schwarzbier BBQ sauce. Was a hit with the family.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Brisket last weekend. No time for good pics, there was food to be devoured.

vacuum sealed and froze the point to sous vide for the next family get together. Not as much bark as I’d like but man was it good. Pulled at 202F rested an hour. I think a longer rest is in store for the next one.

 

[Dgallo]

For those who think you can’t get a sear on a Traeger