Slow Smoking Meat: I'm a Microbiologist, Dumbass.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Slow Smoking Meat: I'm a Microbiologist, Dumbass.

Crazyeyes: Nov 5, 2009; If I were human, I believe my response would be: 'go to hell'.

sellouts posted:

I didn't mean to imply that, only suggesting that you need to learn basics before you buy a niche attachment to your grill. Everyone starts somewhere.

Orange flame means you need to adjust those shutter looking things if you can. Light it on low and find the adjustment screw. I wouldn't be surprised if it's damaged which is why only part of the row of burner is orange while the rest is blue. But it really doesn't matter too much to be honest.

I'd actually take this one step further and properly clean the burners. If some kind of residue is clogging them it will cause those uneven flames. I'd take the burner off and very thoroughly make sure all the seals and orifices are well cleaned and intact if you haven't already.

:synpa:

# ? Oct 6, 2015 16:26

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 18:36

sellouts: Apr 23, 2003

I figured the 600 degree burn he did likely cleaned them but yeah, good idea. They're very likely clogged

# ? Oct 6, 2015 16:27

niss: Jul 9, 2008; the amazing gnome

There is only one solution.. Cleanse it with Fire.

# ? Oct 6, 2015 17:46

coyo7e: Aug 23, 2007; by zen death robot

Crotch Fruit posted:

Speaking of staying lit, when grilling I did notice that there were longer orange flames from the far right burner that I didn't see from the other burners, what could have caused this? There was a slight breeze when I was grilling, probably less than 10mph wind.

Where does the hose enter and from which side? There can sometimes be pressure differences at the far end from the fuel source. Also lines and stuff can get clogged - always leave a flame going and then shut off the fuel at the tank and let it sputter out before closing the dials on the grill - propane can leave a sticky buildup in the lines if not vented.

Scrub the rust off the grill and then season it well with oil and use a brush to rub more oil on after cleaning and before cooking. You won't need to replace the grills for probably two years at least, unless you just must have a brand new shiny surface to cook on.. And if you can spend 50-60 bucks on new parts you may as well seriously nconsider buying a new entire thing.

# ? Oct 7, 2015 18:18

Not Wolverine: Jul 1, 2007

Gas enters left, far right burner had the longer orange flakes when grilling. I took out the grates and vents and lit the burners in my garage (no wind, on for less than a minute), wi5h the burner tubes exposed I did not see any noticeable difference between any of the burners. I guess either wind was the issue, or the 600F might have toasted a spider web. I will report back after my next grilling excursion.

In response to turning the bottle off first, I noticed the manual mentioned a leak detection on the regulator and said it could be accidentally by leaving the gas knobs on with the bottle off. I am sure you know more than me, but at the moment I am thinking that might not be necessary. Similarly, the top of the grates that contacts the food is only rusty in one spot, I am not sure how to derust the spot without removing more porcelain.

Grates are an investment, and it's not be necessary, but at the moment I am under the impression this bargain budget grill might last a few years. The grill is years old already and the finish still looks great on everything except the wear items.

# ? Oct 8, 2015 02:15

Crazyeyes: Nov 5, 2009; If I were human, I believe my response would be: 'go to hell'.

Crotch Fruit posted:

Gas enters left, far right burner had the longer orange flakes when grilling. I took out the grates and vents and lit the burners in my garage (no wind, on for less than a minute), wi5h the burner tubes exposed I did not see any noticeable difference between any of the burners. I guess either wind was the issue, or the 600F might have toasted a spider web. I will report back after my next grilling excursion.

In response to turning the bottle off first, I noticed the manual mentioned a leak detection on the regulator and said it could be accidentally by leaving the gas knobs on with the bottle off. I am sure you know more than me, but at the moment I am thinking that might not be necessary. Similarly, the top of the grates that contacts the food is only rusty in one spot, I am not sure how to derust the spot without removing more porcelain.

Grates are an investment, and it's not be necessary, but at the moment I am under the impression this bargain budget grill might last a few years. The grill is years old already and the finish still looks great on everything except the wear items.

Glad to hear it was just the wind.

Wouldn't suggest grilling in your garage, though. Those things are best troubleshot far from things you don't want potentially burning.

# ? Oct 8, 2015 15:43

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

Crazyeyes posted:

Glad to hear it was just the wind.

Wouldn't suggest grilling in your garage, though. Those things are best troubleshot far from things you don't want potentially burning.

Nor should you ever have a propane tank indoors regardless, really.

# ? Oct 8, 2015 15:46

Crazyeyes: Nov 5, 2009; If I were human, I believe my response would be: 'go to hell'.

Vulture Culture posted:

Nor should you ever have a propane tank indoors regardless, really.

This too

# ? Oct 8, 2015 15:47

Not Wolverine: Jul 1, 2007

Crazyeyes posted:

Glad to hear it was just the wind.

Wouldn't suggest grilling in your garage, though. Those things are best troubleshot far from things you don't want potentially burning.

Vulture Culture posted:

Nor should you ever have a propane tank indoors regardless, really.

I appreciate your concern, I am trying to do things safe, and I did ask about this in the quick questions thread:

Crotch Fruit posted:

<snip>
My parents never had a grill when I was growing up, I don't know a drat thing about how to use this. I know the basic plug in the hose and turn the knobs stuff but other then that I have no idea what I am doing. I am currently storing the grill in my garage (don't worry, I will wheel it out before lighting), the manual seems to suggest that storing a propane bottle indoors is a bad idea. The bottle looks to be in good condition and I plan to use an exchange instead of refill service (I am honestly not even sure how any of that works) so I assume the bottle will be in good, leak free condition. Am I going to explode? I disconnect the bottle when not in use, I am just a little paranoid one of the neighborhood hooligans might attempt to steal the bottle if I leave it outside, I don't really have a safe spot.
<snip>

pile of brown posted:

<snip>
It says not to keep the propane indoors as a CYA measure and if your garage gets super hot it MIGHT be a problem but a propane tank in good condition should be able to be safely stored anywhere not adjacent to a furnace.

I assumed based on this reply that if I am leaving the propane off and unhooked it probably won't kill me inside my garage, and of course I will pull it out whenever I grill. That said, once I get a chance to lay down some pavers I will probably move the whole grill and tank outside since that is harder to steal. I could simply store the tank outside right now but I'm paranoid about the neighborhood kids, I've already called the cops on them (anonymously) and I've only been here for a year.

# ? Oct 8, 2015 16:23

Crazyeyes: Nov 5, 2009; If I were human, I believe my response would be: 'go to hell'.

It is 100% CYA. If you have no where else to store it keep it in your garage, but keep it in a low traffic area where you or others are unlikely to bang into it/drop stuff on it. And never open the valve in your garage or other poorly ventilated place for a variety of compelling reasons.

If you're worried about neighborhood hoodlums get a valve lock so they can't screw with it when you aren't looking.

Regardless where you store it keep it out of the elements and protected from big temperature swings. If there is rust on the flanges or valve just exchange it. Better safe than sorry.

# ? Oct 8, 2015 17:03

coyo7e: Aug 23, 2007; by zen death robot

Crotch Fruit posted:

Gas enters left, far right burner had the longer orange flakes when grilling. I took out the grates and vents and lit the burners in my garage (no wind, on for less than a minute), wi5h the burner tubes exposed I did not see any noticeable difference between any of the burners. I guess either wind was the issue, or the 600F might have toasted a spider web. I will report back after my next grilling excursion.

In response to turning the bottle off first, I noticed the manual mentioned a leak detection on the regulator and said it could be accidentally by leaving the gas knobs on with the bottle off. I am sure you know more than me, but at the moment I am thinking that might not be necessary. Similarly, the top of the grates that contacts the food is only rusty in one spot, I am not sure how to derust the spot without removing more porcelain.

Grates are an investment, and it's not be necessary, but at the moment I am under the impression this bargain budget grill might last a few years. The grill is years old already and the finish still looks great on everything except the wear items.

I don't understand what leak detection has to do with anything - you don't want to leave inert propane in the line between tank and burners because it will gum poo poo up. It's your grill though, party on.

# ? Oct 9, 2015 06:06

Tenzarin: Jul 24, 2007; .; Taco Defender

Cooling down from summer in Texas and I'm trying to start cooking again. I never get a very pronounced smoke ring in my WSM and I am looking to improve. Any tips?

# ? Oct 9, 2015 22:31

ada shatan: Oct 20, 2004; that'll do pig, that'll do

Tenzarin posted:

Cooling down from summer in Texas and I'm trying to start cooking again. I never get a very pronounced smoke ring in my WSM and I am looking to improve. Any tips?

Don't worry about a smoke ring?

How does your BBQ taste? If the smoke ring is your only problem, you are better off than a lot of us.

# ? Oct 10, 2015 02:00

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

Tenzarin posted:

Cooling down from summer in Texas and I'm trying to start cooking again. I never get a very pronounced smoke ring in my WSM and I am looking to improve. Any tips?

The smoke ring is just cosmetic and doesn't affect the flavor. It's basically a reaction between carbon monoxide and other gases in the cooking chamber and the surface layer of the meat. There's lots of reasons you might see or not see a smoke ring, including the particular color and myoglobin content of the meat you started with in the first place. AmazingRibs.com did a great article on the smoke ring if you want to get real deep into the science of it:

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_the_smoke_ring.html

If your meat isn't getting a great smoke flavor, that's more cause for concern, but there's lots of people with lots of opinions on how to fix that problem.

# ? Oct 10, 2015 06:50

McSpankWich: Aug 31, 2005; Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center. Sounds charming.

Also, my wsm usually gives me a good size smoke ring, sometimes even much larger than average. Maybe walk us through your normal bbq process? There could be something else you're doing differently.

# ? Oct 10, 2015 13:17

Dang It Bhabhi!: May 27, 2004; ASK ME ABOUT
BEING
ESCULA GRIND'S
#1 SIMP

Ok guys I finally got tired of smoking on a weber genesis and ordered the traeger lil tex elite. Wood pellets seemed like the laziest form of smoking so it was right up my alley.

# ? Oct 11, 2015 18:29

Bone_Enterprise: Aug 9, 2005; Inception Cigars
www.inceptioncigars.com

Vulture Culture posted:

The smoke ring is just cosmetic and doesn't affect the flavor.

THANK YOU!
Hate this debate, and have got in to it more times than I care to keep track of.

# ? Oct 12, 2015 14:27

dalstrs: Mar 11, 2004; At least this way my kill will have some use; Dinosaur Gum

Any of you guys see this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1977846026/meater-the-first-truly-wireless-smart-meat-thermom/description

If it works as advertised it could be great for smoking.

# ? Oct 21, 2015 20:12

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

dalstrs posted:

Any of you guys see this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1977846026/meater-the-first-truly-wireless-smart-meat-thermom/description

If it works as advertised it could be great for smoking.

The problems I see with this are:

�It's a giant spike instead of a small probe
�I don't want to have to unlock my phone and launch an app to see where the temp is

I suppose if I had the smoker going when I wasn't at home that would be useful, but around the house I'm fine with a freestanding display. And the "Meater Block" just seems like overkill.

I guess Im old-fashioned in thinking not every device needs to be connected to the cloud.

# ? Oct 21, 2015 20:31

dalstrs: Mar 11, 2004; At least this way my kill will have some use; Dinosaur Gum

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

The problems I see with this are:

�It's a giant spike instead of a small probe
�I don't want to have to unlock my phone and launch an app to see where the temp is

I suppose if I had the smoker going when I wasn't at home that would be useful, but around the house I'm fine with a freestanding display. And the "Meater Block" just seems like overkill.

I guess Im old-fashioned in thinking not every device needs to be connected to the cloud.

The size of the probe is my main concern. I'm happy to use my phone if it means I don't have to mess with the wires. And having internal and ambient temp on the same probe so I can see the temp close to the meat seems like an awesome idea.

# ? Oct 21, 2015 20:42

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

There have been smartphone-connectable thermometers on the market for a long time, like the iGrill2, which also have a bright LED readout so you're not constantly taking out and unlocking your phone. I don't see the value in having the probe itself be wireless.

e: it's also telling that their "cook a mouth-watering steak" picture is a steak that's overcooked to medium well, hasn't rested properly, and has been given a slight adjustment to the red levels in the photo to throw you off the bad doneness. But it's okay, because their food photographer sprinkled cubes of what looks like very coarse salt on top!

e2: hahaha, what did they do to the outside of that pork butt?

Vulture Culture fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Oct 21, 2015

# ? Oct 21, 2015 20:42

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

�It's a giant spike instead of a small probe
�I don't want to have to unlock my phone and launch an app to see where the temp is

Yeah the giant spike is really crazy but it has to hold all the goodies. Also it is sealed and therefore the battery is not replaceable so you're buying a ticking clock. They battery lasts 48 hours though and after 300 recharge cycles you should see at least 75% of that right?

As far as unlocking the phone, this is a bluetooth device and there's going to be an API so I am hopeful they don't just mean "you can poll our servers every 5 minutes LOL". If it is pushing out updates every 10 seconds then I can pair it with a HeaterMeter and use it as input which means you now can have a physical device that works anywhere in bluetooth range as well as have an iPad or laptop or pebble app connecting to that over wifi. They also have a Meater Link but I already have LinkMeter/HeaterMeter which already has all this software written, so I am kinda excited about it.

But that probe is as big as my dick. If you tried to put it in the average person's steak they sell at the grocery store you'd have to wrap the steak in duct tape first so it doesn't explode when you slide it in.

# ? Oct 21, 2015 22:13

coyo7e: Aug 23, 2007; by zen death robot

dalstrs posted:

Any of you guys see this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1977846026/meater-the-first-truly-wireless-smart-meat-thermom/description

If it works as advertised it could be great for smoking.

Thank god I had my phone in my pocket during that water balloon fight, otherwise the food would have been ruined!

I too look forward to giving powerpoint presentations to my yuppie friends and then having my phone notify me that my meat is done.

And holy poo poo they got a lot of backer money.

coyo7e fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Oct 22, 2015

# ? Oct 22, 2015 04:52

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

coyo7e posted:

Thank god I had my phone in my pocket during that water balloon fight, otherwise the food would have been ruined!

I too look forward to giving powerpoint presentations to my yuppie friends and then having my phone notify me that my meat is done.

And holy poo poo they got a lot of backer money.

It's these people who drove the price of brisket up to like $7/pound. I make pasta now. Fuckers aren't gonna make ravioli unaffordable anytime soon.

# ? Oct 22, 2015 06:31

El Jebus: Jun 18, 2008; This avatar is paid for by "Avatars for improving Lowtax's spine by any means that doesn't result in him becoming brain dead by putting his brain into a cyborg body and/or putting him in a exosuit due to fears of the suit being hacked and crushing him during a cyberpunk future timeline" Foundation

Vulture Culture posted:

It's these people who drove the price of brisket up to like $7/pound. I make pasta now. Fuckers aren't gonna make ravioli unaffordable anytime soon.

You just haven't been using the right flour...

# ? Oct 22, 2015 07:06

Digital_Jesus: Feb 10, 2011

Note: Not actually a text from Derek's wife.

Also I paid $3.48/lbs yesterday for brisket... I feel for you if your brisket is approaching strip steak pricing.

# ? Oct 22, 2015 13:50

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

Digital_Jesus posted:

Also I paid $3.48/lbs yesterday for brisket... I feel for you if your brisket is approaching strip steak pricing.

New York

# ? Oct 22, 2015 17:22

Digital_Jesus: Feb 10, 2011

I'm in NY....

# ? Oct 22, 2015 17:30

Suspect Bucket: Jan 15, 2012; SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Lets just group buy a cow. Name it Lowtax and feed it mangosteen and ten dollar bills. Then FEAST ON THE BLOODY CORPSE WITH BONFIRES AND BURNING PITS

# ? Oct 23, 2015 20:00

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

Speaking of New York, A&P (Waldbaum's, Path-Mark, The Food Emporium) is going out of business and most of their stores are in pretty heavy clearance. I walked in hoping to find some cryovac briskets, and came out empty-handed on that front, but charcoal's 30% off and I managed to snag 50 pounds of Royal Oak lump for just over $20. Should help get me through the winter with how badly the jumbo WSM burns through a load. I'm hoping nobody else is interested in the lump stuff and I get to snag the rest at 50-70% off once the clearance prices go down even further.

# ? Oct 24, 2015 18:15

coyo7e: Aug 23, 2007; by zen death robot

Suspect Bucket posted:

Lets just group buy a cow. Name it Lowtax and feed it mangosteen and ten dollar bills. Then FEAST ON THE BLOODY CORPSE WITH BONFIRES AND BURNING PITS

Maybe there's some kind of hipster meat market co-op kickstarter? or curated meat mailed to you each month

# ? Oct 24, 2015 21:05

Rocko Bonaparte: Mar 12, 2002; Every day is Friday!

I am going to be building an outdoor kitchen and was planning to cap one end of it with a brick vertical smoker. I'm planning to build a pizza oven on the corner, which can slow cook overnight, but does not necessarily smoke very well. So I figured between a smoker, a grill, and the pizza oven, I have covered just about all my bases (maybe a burner). I see lots of pictures of vertical smokers, and posts online from people that just kind of did it, but I was wondering if anybody knew where to look for good rules on building these things. I assume there are good rules of thumbs for the size of the firebox, shape, and setting up temperature control.

# ? Oct 27, 2015 16:52

coyo7e: Aug 23, 2007; by zen death robot

If you want to turn a brick oven into a smoker you probably ought to think about adding a smoke box off to one side, I would think?

edit: oops I misread that you are building another smoker.

# ? Oct 27, 2015 17:23

unknown: Nov 16, 2002; Ain't got no stinking title yet!

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

I am going to be building an outdoor kitchen and was planning to cap one end of it with a brick vertical smoker. I'm planning to build a pizza oven on the corner, which can slow cook overnight, but does not necessarily smoke very well. So I figured between a smoker, a grill, and the pizza oven, I have covered just about all my bases (maybe a burner). I see lots of pictures of vertical smokers, and posts online from people that just kind of did it, but I was wondering if anybody knew where to look for good rules on building these things. I assume there are good rules of thumbs for the size of the firebox, shape, and setting up temperature control.

http://www.amazon.com/Smoking-Smokehouse-Design-Stanley-Marianski/dp/0982426704

$5 for the kindle edition - which gives you that foundation on design of smokers.

# ? Oct 27, 2015 18:04

Proust Malone: Apr 4, 2008

O want to make laulaus and I'm wondering if I can make them in my WSM. Most recipes call for them to be steamed. Am I going to dry them out too badly if I smoke them? Maybe steamed for a little bit then transfered to the smoker?

Anyone tried this?

# ? Oct 27, 2015 18:07

Rocko Bonaparte: Mar 12, 2002; Every day is Friday!

unknown posted:

http://www.amazon.com/Smoking-Smokehouse-Design-Stanley-Marianski/dp/0982426704

$5 for the kindle edition - which gives you that foundation on design of smokers.

By any chance do you have the book? I'm trying to figure out what it's getting into with the masonry smokers. A problem I have is I get into "smokehouse" territory when I start looking up masonry vertical smokers, and all of those I have seen have been for cold smoking. I can't peek enough at it on Amazon to tell. I guess for $5 I could just get the online copy and get on with my life.

Edit: Ehh screw it. I looked at the reviews and it sounds like I should get this no matter what.

Rocko Bonaparte fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Oct 27, 2015

# ? Oct 27, 2015 18:44

unknown: Nov 16, 2002; Ain't got no stinking title yet!

I've got the book, it's decent in that it gives you a good foundation on what it takes for building a fire based cooking device, be it masonry or whatever. I found that afterwards I started looking at designs and going "Hmm, there's a potential problem/tradeoff".

There's valuable stuff in things like firepit design, smoke dispersion, and all that jazz. One thing of note - The guy that wrote it is Polish, so it's heavier on the cold smoking side of things (think sausages and the like) than American BBQ style.

Worth the $5 if you're serious about the project (which will probably cost you $1k+, so what's $5?)

Edit: Whoa, there's a website with a lot of it's content: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/

Edit2: And a forum. With a crazy guy building a 5m (~15ft) high smoker... http://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7589

unknown fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Oct 27, 2015

# ? Oct 27, 2015 19:00

Porkchop Express: Dec 24, 2009; Ten million years of absolute power. That's what it takes to be really corrupt.

After getting married this past weekend the wife and I got an electric smoker for our tiny apartment patio, and after doing a brisket yesterday for dinner we are already hooked on using this thing! We are still getting the hang of it and didn't read about foiling the brisket until it had been in there for a while, so we pulled it out when it was at 165 and it tasted fine, a little on the chewy side but still delicious as all gently caress. Right now I have a slab of bacon cooking in it that I am going to chop up to be used in some fried rice, I am hoping that an hour is long enough for it to cook because I need to get it in to the frying pan here real soon.

It is unfortunate that we don't have much in the way of room, one of the nicer gas smokers would have been nice but this electric one is working nicely and fits perfectly with the amount of room that we have to spare for it. I am really looking forward to experimenting with this thing and seeing what we can crank out with it, I am already thinking about an excuse to throw a party so we can fill this fucker up with meat and go to town.

I am curious if anyone has any experience with smoking multiple types of meat in one smoker? IE: Lets say I wanted to cook a brisket, some chicken and some sausage, how would one go about pulling this off?

EDIT: The bacon came out perfect, took it out after 55 minutes and stuck a thermometer in the pile of bacon, temped at a piping hot 165 degrees. It wasn't crisp but the smoke flavor on it was loving delicious, and it tasted great in the fried rice!

Porkchop Express fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Oct 28, 2015

# ? Oct 28, 2015 02:16

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

Porkchop Express posted:

I am curious if anyone has any experience with smoking multiple types of meat in one smoker? IE: Lets say I wanted to cook a brisket, some chicken and some sausage, how would one go about pulling this off?

The real answer is "it depends." Most meat only takes smoke flavor during the first ~2 hours of the cook, and the cook times for brisket, chicken, and sausage will be vastly, vastly different from each other. Chicken and sausage are also fairly predictable with respect to cook times, while brisket will hit the stall and take anywhere between 8 and 16 hours depending on the particulars of the meat, smoker, and weather that you're working with. My advice is not to try to time all of them to finish at the same time; due to brisket's insane variability, plan to do brisket in advance and reheat it unless you're hosting a party at midnight, then do chicken and sausage closer to when you expect your guests to eat.

# ? Oct 28, 2015 03:46

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 18:36

Digital_Jesus: Feb 10, 2011

The only thing you should keep in consideration when mixing poultry with beef/pork is that birds benefit from being cooked up at a higher temp usually if you don't want them to come out like rubber.

I throw sausage in with my brisket/shoulder/ribs all the time.

# ? Oct 28, 2015 06:34

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Slow Smoking Meat: I'm a Microbiologist, Dumbass.

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