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Question for the pellet pooper fans...

Have you tried the Kirkland pellets? Just saw them today in my local Costco. Appears to be $12.99 for 40#, which is a pretty smokin' deal.

I know Traeger says it'll void the warranty if you use non-Traeger pellets, but my hand-me-down grill is so old that it's WAY out of warranty. So I'm not worried about that.
 
Question for the pellet pooper fans...

Have you tried the Kirkland pellets? Just saw them today in my local Costco. Appears to be $12.99 for 40#, which is a pretty smokin' deal.

I know Traeger says it'll void the warranty if you use non-Traeger pellets, but my hand-me-down grill is so old that it's WAY out of warranty. So I'm not worried about that.
I've not tried them myself but from what people are saying on the forums and reddit, Kirkland pellets are good quality and allegedly made by lumberjack.

On a side note, Traeger may try to fool you into believing that using other brand pellets voids your warranty, but that practice is illegal. My Weber tells me to fill the hopper with Weber pellets (which incidentally are also made by Lumberjack) but I've used all kinds of different brands without issues. Well except the one time I used Traeger pellets, had my first flameout and discovered hard lumps of burnt residue in the burn pot after running the bag. Won't be buying those ever again.
 
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cleaned the beast and made pork neck and wings, turned out quite nice
 
Smoked a 15# brisket on the Rectec Sunday. When the flat reach temp I separated it from the point. I cut up the point for burnt ends. So good! Forgot to take a pic of the burnt ends.
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Smoked a bird night before last with pecan. Was raining so I used the electric smoker. Note how I’m preheating the wood like splits on top of the cook chamber of a TX offset smoker😂😂😂😂😂
 

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Due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn't able to fish the sockeye salmon run this year. So we've been catching pinks like crazy. Although not the preferred species, when smoked, it's not terrible. 😉
And for anyone who has a Weber Summit Kamado, the jerky tray kit sold at Bass Pro and Cabela's fits perfectly in the grill.
 

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Do I see red pepper flakes? I gotta try making a spicy butt!
comes in one of 2 rubs I combined

reinforced in the sauce

equal parts ketchup, water & ACV with that rub, some brown sugar & a little more red pepper. Plus Frank's sauce. original & Chili 'n Lime

just me & the BigHair chowing on this one, so it gets a little spicier than if we have friends/family over
 
That’s kinda what happens all the time with the beef back ribs. Not much meat on them. Far better for braising to make a stock or chili IMHO.

Beef short ribs are where it’s at.
I make beef ribs on the smoker just to use the meat for bbq beans on the next grill day. "Brisket" beans without the hassle.
 
Stressing...

Put a 12# brisket on the smoker this morning for dinner tonight. I was down to the dregs of my bag of charcoal (a lot of tiny pieces & dust) so the Big Joe was taking a long time to come up to temp. Got the meat on maybe 7:30ish.

About 1 PM it looked like it was stalling, so I wrapped in foil because otherwise it'll never get done. Now it's running at about 290 degrees and the meat hasn't hit 180 yet.

I *think* it'll be all good for about 6:00 PM dinnertime. But I hate not being sure. I'd much rather it be done at 3:30 and just resting in a cooler for a few hours...
 
Stressing...

Put a 12# brisket on the smoker this morning for dinner tonight. I was down to the dregs of my bag of charcoal (a lot of tiny pieces & dust) so the Big Joe was taking a long time to come up to temp. Got the meat on maybe 7:30ish.

About 1 PM it looked like it was stalling, so I wrapped in foil because otherwise it'll never get done. Now it's running at about 290 degrees and the meat hasn't hit 180 yet.

I *think* it'll be all good for about 6:00 PM dinnertime. But I hate not being sure. I'd much rather it be done at 3:30 and just resting in a cooler for a few hours...
I'd get some more charcoal in there and crank it up a bit, now that its wrapped it won't lose much moisture. As you said, better to finish early and let it rest in a cooler than end up rushing it just before serving.
 
Stressing...

Put a 12# brisket on the smoker this morning for dinner tonight. I was down to the dregs of my bag of charcoal (a lot of tiny pieces & dust) so the Big Joe was taking a long time to come up to temp. Got the meat on maybe 7:30ish.

About 1 PM it looked like it was stalling, so I wrapped in foil because otherwise it'll never get done. Now it's running at about 290 degrees and the meat hasn't hit 180 yet.

I *think* it'll be all good for about 6:00 PM dinnertime. But I hate not being sure. I'd much rather it be done at 3:30 and just resting in a cooler for a few hours...
I always plan a minimum of 14-16 hours for a full packer which includes the rest. If I’m serving at 4 pm it’s going on at 12 am the night before.

That’s pretty much for anythin slow and slow cut. For example, I’m doing an 11lb shoulder at 225 and plan to serve 4-5 pm tomorrow, ill be tossing it on at about 12 am

You can always rest it longer but you can’t cook it any faster
 
I always plan a minimum of 14-16 hours for a full packer which includes the rest. If I’m serving at 4 pm it’s going on at 12 am the night before.

That’s pretty much for anythin slow and slow cut. For example, I’m doing an 11lb shoulder at 225 and plan to serve 4-5 pm tomorrow, ill be tossing it on at about 12 am

You can always rest it longer but you can’t cook it any faster

I don't think I had it in me for a midnight start. I figure running a little hotter (275 instead of 225) and then using the crutch to get me past the stall can get it done a lot faster without sacrificing quality. What got me today was that the smoker wasn't coming up to temp as fast as I wanted so I got worried.

For pork shoulder I actually go turbo. Run that about 350 or so and you can knock out a butt in 4-5 hours. Powers right through the stall without a crutch. You get a slightly more desiccated bark but given the surface->inside ratio of a butt it works fine. I wouldn't go turbo on brisket though.

All in all it worked out.
 
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