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BulimicGoat posted:I picked up the 30" Masterbuilt when it was cheap on Amazon and I'm trying smoking for the first time with a 6lb butt. With all these electronic components and digital thermometers, I'm nervous I'll gently caress it up. As long as you don't pop a breaker and not notice, or pull it out before a probe slides into it like warm butter, there is pretty much no way you're going to screw it up to the point that it won't be still be delicious. The only suggestion I have is to go easy on the harsher smoke woods (hickory/pecan/mesquite) until you get an idea of how the final product tastes, but don't be afraid to mix and match.
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Oct 14, 2013 01:26
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McSpankWich posted:Yea I've learned over the course of my smoking career that with the exception of baby back ribs, it's all generally extremely forgiving. Ran 30 degrees over for 15 minutes? No problem. Ran out of half of your rub ingredients and stores are all closed? Still delicious. Especially with pork butts. I agree and my next smoke will be two small butts, one totally unprepared and one with the unsusal treatment. Very interested to see the results. Also, if you guys can ever get your hands on a duck, loving smoke that bastard ASAP. I smoked two of the yard ducks my landlord killed a week or so ago and they were amazing. I rubbed them with S&P and left them uncovered on a rack in the fridge for like 12 hours. Then more S&P and basted them in a thin paste of 5spice, Apple cider vinegar, and agave syrup. Smoked them at 350 over cherry for maybe 2 hours for two 1.5lb ducks. Then we pulled them and stuck them on a grate like an inch over a huge pile of coals for maybe 45s per side to tighten the skin. They were amazing beyond belief, people were passing the carcasses around to gnaw on.
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Oct 14, 2013 03:13
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They actually sell duck at Costco now, I wouldve picked one up but I haven't had any time to smoke anything lately. I'm no hunter, so I don't know how it measures up with something you shot yourself.
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Oct 14, 2013 21:12
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Hah, these were not shot. Landlord's daughter goes to some hippy school and they incubated and hatched ducklings. When they got too big for the school they ended up coming to the farm I live on and were let loose in the yard. They stuck around until fall and while owls got about half of them, my landlord got the other half. If you have the room and dont mind getting your yard tore up a bit, then I totally recommend getting some yard ducks.
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Oct 14, 2013 21:28
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coronaball posted:They actually sell duck at Costco now, I wouldve picked one up but I haven't had any time to smoke anything lately. I'm no hunter, so I don't know how it measures up with something you shot yourself. The ducks you buy at the store tend to be fairly greasy compared to wild ducks. Depending on where the ducks have been living and what they've been eating, the wild ones may be a bit gamey and are usually cooked with citrus to mask it a bit.
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Oct 14, 2013 21:47
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I've read that some duck can taste like fish if they have a diet primarily of fish. The only duck I've ever cooked I scored first and steamed to let the fat drip out.
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Oct 15, 2013 05:49
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Anyone have experience cold smoking salmon? I seem to be having an issue with the curing step. The fish gets very firm. Almost the consistency of jerky. Simple dry cure of salt and sugar in equal parts for two days followed by the smoke. If anyone has a recipe/method they have used to some success I would greatly appreciate it.
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Oct 15, 2013 16:26
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The recipie I used (Steve Raichlen's) was for hot smoking, but it used 2/1 sugar to salt + various herbs and pepper. You may be using too much salt or curing too long if it gets dry like that. Raichlen usually suggests 4 hours. I've done it less, and my guests preffered it but again, the fish gets fully cooked the way I do it.
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Oct 16, 2013 19:07
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AxeBreaker posted:The recipie I used (Steve Raichlen's) was for hot smoking, but it used 2/1 sugar to salt + various herbs and pepper. You may be using too much salt or curing too long if it gets dry like that. Raichlen usually suggests 4 hours. I've done it less, and my guests preffered it but again, the fish gets fully cooked the way I do it. My hot smoking method is pretty top notch, but I am working on replicating the kind of lox found on a bagel (which the internet tells me is from cold smoking).
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Oct 17, 2013 12:16
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Crazyeyes posted:My hot smoking method is pretty top notch, but I am working on replicating the kind of lox found on a bagel (which the internet tells me is from cold smoking). Lox is unsmoked, just cured. Cold smoked salmon has a more delicate texture than hot smoked.
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Oct 17, 2013 15:44
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I cold smoked sockeye salmon before, and it came out fantastic. We used Alton Browns method found here with some minor adjustments (temp): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/smoked-salmon-recipe/index.html It came out ridiculously amazing. We used two grills as the cold smoker. Lit a few coals and put some wood in grill #1, and then attached some metal ducting to the smokestack and piped it into the intake on grill #2, with the fish on the grate in the middle, between the intake and the stack. It allowed us to keep the temp in grill #2 at ~80 degrees or so. The next day we made lox/capers/bagels and it was probably the best I've ever had. We had a second piece of fish that went bad in like 4 days though. So eat it quick! I can dig up a picture of the setup when I get home if you want to see it.
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Oct 17, 2013 16:53
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McSpankWich posted:I can dig up a picture of the setup when I get home if you want to see it. McSpankWich posted:So I'm on vacation this week from work, and a coworker and I decided it would be a good idea to just BBQ the whole week. We started off Monday with 2 failed attempts at a cold smoker out of his two grills and a garbage can, and a 3rd attempt which actually worked. We then smoked some cheese in it, and made a Bacon Explosion in my WSM, which was meh, but looked really cool. Here is the setup: This right here.
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Oct 18, 2013 04:28
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Haha! Yes that's it. Welp.
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Oct 18, 2013 12:07
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I'm trying to get into smoking/grilling, but in terms of meat quality; do grocery stores like publix typically have good cuts of meat? Or should I seek out a butcher shop?
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Oct 20, 2013 20:17
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kiresays posted:I'm trying to get into smoking/grilling, but in terms of meat quality; do grocery stores like publix typically have good cuts of meat? Or should I seek out a butcher shop? It depends on what kind of meat you're looking for. Shoulders, ribs, loins, and briskets, chickens, chops, etc., are usually fine from the grocery store. The packer briskets and ribs in the vacuum packs are usually cheap and taste fine. Steaks are the big exception. Prime steaks are a lot better than choice or select and a lot of grocery stores don't have a very good selection of grades or thick cuts.
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Oct 20, 2013 22:01
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kiresays posted:I'm trying to get into smoking/grilling, but in terms of meat quality; do grocery stores like publix typically have good cuts of meat? Or should I seek out a butcher shop? Publix is fine for things like ribs and pork shoulders. They never once had a full brisket though, just a trimmed up flat. Find a restaurant supply store. poo poo is WAY cheaper compared to a normal grocery store.
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Oct 24, 2013 12:27
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kiresays posted:I'm trying to get into smoking/grilling, but in terms of meat quality; do grocery stores like publix typically have good cuts of meat? Or should I seek out a butcher shop? I really love Publix's meat. Skin-on pork picnic shoulder, comes in a big sealed bag generally for anywhere from 1.19 to 1.30/lb. They also sell half picnic shoulders that sell for ten cents more. I also can find beef back ribs for .99/lb. This is in Nashville, for reference. My store seems to have unique cuts and will sometimes put out pigs' feet and honeycomb tripe.
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Oct 24, 2013 13:38
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Five Spice posted:I really love Publix's meat. Skin-on pork picnic shoulder, comes in a big sealed bag generally for anywhere from 1.19 to 1.30/lb. They also sell half picnic shoulders that sell for ten cents more. I also can find beef back ribs for .99/lb. This is in Nashville, for reference. My store seems to have unique cuts and will sometimes put out pigs' feet and honeycomb tripe. God drat you and those like you. It is not unusual for me to have to pay 2x that for picnics.
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Oct 24, 2013 13:43
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Some rear end in a top hat stole my big green egg last night. gently caress thieves forever and ever.
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Oct 30, 2013 03:33
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BraveUlysses posted:Some rear end in a top hat stole my big green egg last night. gently caress thieves forever and ever. Ouch. One of our customers brought his new trailer pit home Saturday night. Sunday morning, his pit AND his F-250 were gone. gently caress thieves.
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Oct 30, 2013 04:28
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PhotoKirk posted:Ouch. One of our customers brought his new trailer pit home Saturday night. Sunday morning, his pit AND his F-250 were gone. Well that is one way to get a bbq pit. =/
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Oct 30, 2013 12:51
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I'm trying my hand at using my grill to smoke some meat on Friday (a premarinated brisket and some sausage - I'm diving into the deep end of the pool). I had to buy a new hood thermometer because the old one is broken and I've always just set my gas to the lowest possible setting to do my grilling of steaks and such. I'd really like to get something better to monitor the heat inside of my gas grill since I know that the hood thermometer isn't going to be that accurate of a read. I'm thinking of getting either an oven thermometer to place inside of the grill or a digital probe that I can stick to the grill grates next to the meat. I want something cheap that can possibly be bought at a local WalMart, BB&B, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. or something that I could get off of Amazon. What kind of CHEAP suggestions do you guys have? Give me some options.
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Oct 30, 2013 13:49
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Is ~50 too expensive? The Maverick ET-732 is pretty popular with BBQ people. It has two probes - one for the meat and one for the grill temperature. It comes with a wireless monitor/alarm that will alert you when your meat has reached the set temperature or the temp of your grill gets out of the range you set. It's nice for overnight smoking because it will wake me up if something gets weird with my pit temp.
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Oct 30, 2013 15:32
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That doesn't seem to be too outrageously expensive considering what you get and considering that I'm doing this on the cheap without having to buy a smoker and a bunch of other equipment. What's the consensus out there on the iGrill since I'm seeing this as an option that Amazon is suggesting.
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Oct 30, 2013 16:50
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I went with the Maverick, and have been very happy with it.
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Oct 30, 2013 17:30
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Okay, I feel nuts for putting $60 on a thermometer, but this appears to be what everyone is using... that and I keep reading about how temperatures are so important. I bought the "special edition" (i.e. Black) one.
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Oct 30, 2013 18:50
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LaserWash posted:Okay, I feel nuts for putting $60 on a thermometer, but this appears to be what everyone is using... that and I keep reading about how temperatures are so important. That's the one I bought. I had no experience whatsoever with any digial thermometer (or smoking for that matter) and used it to smoke meat out of a smoker made from a tamale pot sandwiched between parts of a mini grill. The thermometer does a great job keeping up with the temp changes my shoddy rig maintains, so it should work well for your needs.
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Oct 30, 2013 19:17
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LaserWash posted:I bought the "special edition" (i.e. Black) one. haha.. I got the same one as well. It will serve you well.
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Oct 31, 2013 13:36
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After much stuffing around trying to find the right parts locally and then just ordering everything from mouser anyway... I finally got around to putting together the heatermeter.    Case was printed by one of my mates and bribed another with promises of BBQ if he soldered everything together for me. It works great in the garage, hopefully it performs just as well when attached to the BBQ. Now to go buy a lump of dead animal to cook.
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Nov 2, 2013 07:28
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Congrats, my buddy and I have like 95% of the parts to put ours together, just need to get around to it.
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Nov 2, 2013 12:34
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Yeah nice work, Chimpy. He had a really hard time trying to source compatible parts from places down under, so there's no excuse for you American types!
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Nov 3, 2013 01:25
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CHiMPY posted:Case was printed by one of my mates and bribed another with promises of BBQ if he soldered everything together for me. Your project looks really nice. Can you go more into how you got your case finished? I'd like to build one of these but making it not look terrible would be a huge plus.
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Nov 4, 2013 00:18
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Hed posted:Your project looks really nice. Can you go more into how you got your case finished? I'd like to build one of these but making it not look terrible would be a huge plus. The case is straight off the printer. I sent the stl files provided by the guys who designed it to my mate who has a replicator2 and he put it in the mail once it was done. The finish looks very much like a 3d printed object with all the layers but it looks pretty good IMO. You can get a better idea if you look at the high res images in the gallery here http://mcmonkey.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=51
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Nov 4, 2013 05:00
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Anyone got any good all-purpose dry rub recipes? Google essentially did give up and buy premade which has worked in the past but I bet homemade is leaps and bounds above.
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Nov 4, 2013 16:52
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Crazyeyes posted:Anyone got any good all-purpose dry rub recipes? Google essentially did give up and buy premade which has worked in the past but I bet homemade is leaps and bounds above. Homemade is basically the same as buying it pre-made, just less expensive. I'm a big fan of the texasbbqrub.com stuff if you want to continue that route... Otherwise almost everything is some permutation of Pepper/Salt/Mustard/Paprika/Garlic/Oregano/Cumin/Onion/Sugar. *shrug* Mix and match away.
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Nov 4, 2013 17:19
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McSpankWich posted:I use this on pork: For beef I just use salt/pepper/garlic powder/onion powder. Sometimes I just dump a bunch of crap on it. It never comes out bad. edit: Made that beef thing linked earlier in the thread this weekend. I cut up the peppers/onions beforehand and put them on the bottom tray of my WSM, so they would smoke and the beef drippings would fall into them. Used a bottle of Old Rasputin instead of Guinness. Came out pretty spectacular. I think I still prefer a pork shoulder though. McSpankWich fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Nov 4, 2013 |
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Nov 4, 2013 20:15
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Digital_Jesus posted:Otherwise almost everything is some permutation of Pepper/Salt/Mustard/Paprika/Garlic/Oregano/Cumin/Onion/Sugar. Replace the oregano and cumin with thyme and cinnamon and you have my go-to rub. I got some on some pork belly right now that I'm hoping to smoke on my day off wednesday if the weather isn't too bad. Just for an hour or two, though, before it takes a long, slow braise in some beer. Any recommendations for a good widely-available braising beer for finishing smoked meats, pork in particular? I usually just swipe some Budweiser from my dad's fridge when I'm over using the smoker since I don't drink beer at all.
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Nov 5, 2013 03:53
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Crazyeyes posted:Anyone got any good all-purpose dry rub recipes? Google essentially did give up and buy premade which has worked in the past but I bet homemade is leaps and bounds above. If you want premade, I like Penzey's Barbecue of the Americas or BBQ 3000 (haven't tried 3001 yet). Penzey's also has the best paprika for the amazingribs one. I agree, though, it's not going to make a huge amount of difference. I mean, if all you've tried is like McCormick's, then yeah there's a lot of improvement. But once you get into good rubs, whether your own variations or premade, they're all very good. It doesn't make too much difference.
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Nov 5, 2013 06:48
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i like nice words
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Republicans posted:Replace the oregano and cumin with thyme and cinnamon and you have my go-to rub. I got some on some pork belly right now that I'm hoping to smoke on my day off wednesday if the weather isn't too bad. Just for an hour or two, though, before it takes a long, slow braise in some beer. I'm a big fan of using New Castle for that purpose. Available basically anywhere. Also tasty.
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Nov 5, 2013 17:36
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Crazyeyes posted:Anyone got any good all-purpose dry rub recipes? Google essentially did give up and buy premade which has worked in the past but I bet homemade is leaps and bounds above. Dizzy Pig makes fantastic rubs. They are all pretty varied as well so you can find something to your liking. The guy who runs it has won a few bbq competitions with the rubs he sells. http://dizzypigbbq.com/
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Nov 5, 2013 17:59
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