Who's smoking meat this weekend?

[Jayjay1976]

New smoker finally arrived!

 

[AzOr]

Spare ribs on the GMG Daniel Boone. This was the other day. So, not a weekend.
I used cherry/hickory pellets and it turned out to be a great combo for pork.

 

[AzOr]

New smoker finally arrived!
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I haven’t heard much about that grill but ime everything from Weber is good quality.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I haven’t heard much about that grill but ime everything from Weber is good quality.

It's their first pellet grill, first generation had lots of issues but they backed their product and sent out replacement parts. This is gen 2, still the same platform but they've apparently fixed all the problems. Thought I'd take a chance on it with their 100-day money back guarantee. I also like that it's made in USA (to some extent) and I prefer Weber's porcelain enameled finish vs. powder coated steel. Another big advantage IMO is the pellet chute that drops them into the burn cup which virtually eliminates the chances of fire crawling back into the hopper, a configuration you only find on commercial style ($$$$) pellet smokers. Last but not least it's just pretty to look at, a gleaming black BBQ limousine. Can't wait to fire it up.

 

[Brewin’&Qin’]

I have a Rec Tec Pellet cooker and love it. You will love your Smokefire JJ. I always say go bigger than smaller. You can always not use the space you have, but can never add space you don’t. Enjoy your new toy,

 

[AzOr]

It's their first pellet grill, first generation had lots of issues but they backed their product and sent out replacement parts. This is gen 2, still the same platform but they've apparently fixed all the problems. Thought I'd take a chance on it with their 100-day money back guarantee. I also like that it's made in USA (to some extent) and I prefer Weber's porcelain enameled finish vs. powder coated steel. Another big advantage IMO is the pellet chute that drops them into the burn cup which virtually eliminates the chances of fire crawling back into the hopper, a configuration you only find on commercial style ($$$$) pellet smokers. Last but not least it's just pretty to look at, a gleaming black BBQ limousine. Can't wait to fire it up.

That’s exciting!
I’ll go ahead give some advice since you didn’t ask.
If you follow a recipe, YouTube clip etc, make sure they are using similar devices. For ex- a 12 hr smoke at 225 yields totally different results from stick burners to pellet grills.
BBQ Made Right and the Traeger YouTube channels have great recipes/methods for pellet grills.

 

[Jayjay1976]

It's 34f here in the west Chicago burbs and I'm standing out here clutching a Samuel Smith, freezing my toes off to try out my new pellet pooper. All I had on hand I'm embarrassed to say was 9 frozen jumbo shrimp. Marinated in Tony Chachere's creole butter injection and sprinkled with Old Bay, let's see how these turn out.

 

[passedpawn]

It's 34f here in the west Chicago burbs and I'm standing out here clutching a Samuel Smith, freezing my toes off to try out my new pellet pooper. All I had on hand I'm embarrassed to say was 9 frozen jumbo shrimp. Marinated in Tony Chachere's creole butter injection and sprinkled with Old Bay, let's see how these turn out.

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First cook must be a pork butt. Cmon JJ!!! I'm ready to sell my Traeger and get on the Weber train. I was looking to stay with Weber but man there were some bad vids of their first pellet smoker and flame-ups.

 

[passedpawn]

It's 34f here in the west Chicago burbs and I'm standing out here clutching a Samuel Smith, freezing my toes off to try out my new pellet pooper. All I had on hand I'm embarrassed to say was 9 frozen jumbo shrimp. Marinated in Tony Chachere's creole butter injection and sprinkled with Old Bay, let's see how these turn out.

View attachment 764231

I'm surprised there isn't a bulkhead gasket to feed that temp probe into the barrel.

 

[passedpawn]

It's 34f here in the west Chicago burbs and I'm standing out here clutching a Samuel Smith, freezing my toes off to try out my new pellet pooper. All I had on hand I'm embarrassed to say was 9 frozen jumbo shrimp. Marinated in Tony Chachere's creole butter injection and sprinkled with Old Bay, let's see how these turn out.

View attachment 764231

Also surprised that many of these smokers don't have any gasket material around the lid. Probably doesn't matter, but for enthusiasts it's hard to watch smoke and heat escaping from around the lid.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Also surprised that many of these smokers don't have any gasket material around the lid. Probably doesn't matter, but for enthusiasts it's hard to watch smoke and heat escaping from around the lid.

From what I've read a gasket on these SmokeFire units can be counter-productive but I'll keep assessing as I gain experience... In my mind a tight-sealing lid is paramount. But then there are those gill-shaped louvers at the rear, IDK.

It's important to note that pellet grills have a variable-speed fan that stokes the fire constantly during use as a method to moderate temperature, I dunno if sealing it all up would interfere with that mechanism but I can say with absolute certainty that this thing imparts plenty of smoke flavor. From the beginning I read that smoking shrimp was a very quick affair, ~20 minutes tops, and imparting sufficient smoke flavor is a challenge. I brought these up to about 112f before realizing I should have used the smoke boost so I did it then. It cooled down to ~165f and made some smoke for about 20 minutes then returned to the 200f set point. The resulting shrimp were on for maybe 45 minutes total and had about as much smoke character as I would prefer. In all honesty I had the wind at my back what with near freezing temps and breezy for such a delicate cook like this so my expectations for smoking shrimp on July 4th weekend will be somewhat lower.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Just want to add that my recent pellet grill acquisition has completed my lusty list of meatitude; I have now in my possession a sausage grinder, a sausage stuffer, a deli meat slicer, and finally a smoking pit. If I can make hay with fresh sausage I might next try my hand at dry-aging/fermented sausages. For this summer homemade hotdogs and kielbasa will have to suffice!!!

 

[passedpawn]

Just want to add that my recent pellet grill acquisition has completed my lusty list of meatitude; I have now in my possession a sausage grinder, a sausage stuffer, a deli meat slicer, and finally a smoking pit. If I can make hay with fresh sausage I might next try my hand at dry-aging/fermented sausages. For this summer homemade hotdogs and kielbasa will have to suffice!!!

!!!

 

[Jayjay1976]

I have a Rec Tec Pellet cooker and love it. You will love your Smokefire JJ. I always say go bigger than smaller. You can always not use the space you have, but can never add space you don’t. Enjoy your new toy,

My wife was like WTF this thing is ENORMOUS... I'm like yeah baby its like our first date. She was not impressed. Nearly ripped our patio door off its track wheeling it throught our place from the front door to the patio, did not want to think about carting it all the way around the end of our row of townhouses. Seriously made it by 1/4". Still couldn't be happier with my purchase but she's looking at Vuitton purses now to get even with me....

 

[passedpawn]

My wife was like WTF this thing is ENORMOUS... I'm like yeah baby its like our first date. She was not impressed. Nearly ripped our patio door off its track wheeling it throught our place from the front door to the patio, did not want to think about carting it all the way around the end of our row of townhouses. Seriously made it by 1/4". Still couldn't be happier with my purchase but she's looking at Vuitton purses now to get even with me....

They should put bigger casters on the bottom of these things. Pizzes me off when they put those wee ones on there. I've got pavers behind my house - I need to put larger ones on mine.

 

[Jayjay1976]

They should put bigger casters on the bottom of these things. Pizzes me off when they put those wee ones on there. I've got pavers behind my house - I need to put larger ones on mine.

Some SF users upgrade to 5" rubber casters, I really want those on mine but then again they would make it that much easier to roll away if someone wanted to steal it. What to do!?

 

[NTBeer]

Some SF users upgrade to 5" rubber casters, I really want those on mine but then again they would make it that much easier to roll away if someone wanted to steal it. What to do!?

Fellow Chicagoan so I feel your anxiety, but how is someone stealing it going to get it out of your place any easier than it was getting it in?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Fellow Chicagoan so I feel your anxiety, but how is someone stealing it going to get it out of your place any easier than it was getting it in?

Well hopefully whomever might steal it won't be dragging it through my living room past the cartoons and cat tree and out through the front entrance...

 

[NTBeer]

Well hopefully whomever might steal it won't be dragging it through my living room past the cartoons and cat tree and out through the front entrance...

You know if they did the state's attorney would give them extra credit.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Never skip rib day.

At least I think that's what my trainer said ..

 

[Oldskewl]

From what I've read a gasket on these SmokeFire units can be counter-productive but I'll keep assessing as I gain experience... In my mind a tight-sealing lid is paramount. But then there are those gill-shaped louvers at the rear, IDK.

It's important to note that pellet grills have a variable-speed fan that stokes the fire constantly during use as a method to moderate temperature, I dunno if sealing it all up would interfere with that mechanism but I can say with absolute certainty that this thing imparts plenty of smoke flavor. From the beginning I read that smoking shrimp was a very quick affair, ~20 minutes tops, and imparting sufficient smoke flavor is a challenge. I brought these up to about 112f before realizing I should have used the smoke boost so I did it then. It cooled down to ~165f and made some smoke for about 20 minutes then returned to the 200f set point. The resulting shrimp were on for maybe 45 minutes total and had about as much smoke character as I would prefer. In all honesty I had the wind at my back what with near freezing temps and breezy for such a delicate cook like this so my expectations for smoking shrimp on July 4th weekend will be somewhat lower.

I think you'll enjoy your SmokeFire. It sounds like they got the bugs worked out of it now. I bought a Rectec in November and have about a handfull of smokes on it. I really like it. It is an adjustment though. I used a Bradley Electric Smoker for 10+ years which I was happy with as well until I started fighting with the puck feeder(smoke genrator). I does seems to cook faster. I smoked an 8# brisket & 4# pastrami(with half priced corned beef) over the week-end for my daughter's 18th B-day. Both turned out awesome. I forgot to take a pic of the brisket. I always make up my own sauce too!

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

At the beginning of the month I picked up a brisket to corn myself and half was used for Reubens on paddy's day and the other half I let brine a couple extra days then made pastrami with with it. I was very happy with it and will make some minor adjustments but overall it turned out good.

I didn't take a pic of the larger section of pastrami apparently... the small piece was leftover from the half that was used for Reubens. I also make my own Russian dressing, I like a little more horseradish in mine.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I have a corned beef stashed away in the freezer for pastrami, time to dig it out that looks fantastic!

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

A friend of mine has done several, which I only found out after I made this one, my first, so I'll get some pointers from him next round. I somewhat followed the rhulaman recipe but naturally made some changes. I do feel a lot of the flavor still comes from the corning and the spices used in that brine. But I will say corning it myself made a much better product. However it does take up some fridge space for a week or 2, luckily the brewing habit I have means I can make room in one of the many fridges available haha.

 

[passedpawn]

A friend of mine has done several, which I only found out after I made this one, my first, so I'll get some pointers from him next round. I somewhat followed the rhulaman recipe but naturally made some changes. I do feel a lot of the flavor still comes from the corning and the spices used in that brine. But I will say corning it myself made a much better product. However it does take up some fridge space for a week or 2, luckily the brewing habit I have means I can make room in one of the many fridges available haha.

When corning, I put the flat into a large (2.5g) ziplock with the corning broth. You can fit that anywhere.

 

[RevA]

I put some chicken on the grill this morning. I love the perks of working from home.

 

[popquizkid]

I put some chicken on the grill this morning. I love the perks of working from home.

Chicken looks great. What are you using for your drip pan?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Chicken looks great. What are you using for your drip pan?

Looks to me like a Poppin' Fresh pie tin. Haven't seen one of those in a long time!

 

[RevA]

Looks to me like a Poppin' Fresh pie tin. Haven't seen one of those in a long time!

It is basically yes. Works very well

 

[Jayjay1976]

DIY folding front shelf for the smokefire. Slab of acacia and stainless folding brackets. I'll be cutting it down from 48" to 40"