Smoking & Grilling

@Cbeach2 Yeah, I think @lkrfletcher is on the right track, it sounds like you have some “fat out” which is just where some of your fat renders out of the meat and drips down. Depending on how much renders out it can range from just a little extra cleanup in the drip pan all the way to a dry and not very tasty snack stick. Sounds like you are probably more on the mild annoyance scale but if you use a binder like Sure Gel or Super Bind, or even Soy Protein Blend and mix your meat a little longer you will fix that. Also, if you go much past 70/30 (lean to fat) you are going to experience some rendering almost no matter what you do.

Does anyone have a specific recipe/time/temperature advice for cold smoked salmon? I want to be prepared when it does turn cold. Last time I did it was when it didn’t get above 36;F for the day. I know it’s hot now, but just want to be ready. Thanks

@Lost-River-Jones Do a search for Alton Brown homemade smoker. He uses an old army crate with a heat plate and some air holes drilled in the top to make his own smoker. Take out the hotplate he uses to generate smoke and you have a low temp oven. After you get the idea of what he does then research a PID(proportional–integral–derivative) controller. You can purchase one off the web for under $50. That would make his design pretty full proof on maintaining temps. Now you could buy a cheap electric smoker and modify it with a PID controller to get the desired temp control. I would probably go that route as even a cheap model will have the racks and door etc already in place.

Yes medium rare the way to go

@pr0wlunwoof said in Smoked Butts and Sous vide ribs.: For dissert I made oreo delight. Good on ya. You saved a piece of cake for all of us right?

@PeterDunlop We made them out of beef and added whiz, it was pretty great actually https://www.instagram.com/p/CBbSyD0CN0Y/

@lkrfletcher That is a good $20 spent!

@bpschuebel While it being greyish would mean the cure wasn’t effective it being pink doesn’t necessarily mean it is perfectly safe. Color change is one of the properties of the cure, it isn’t the only thing it does. I’d still treat it as a fresh product, it might be fine but I wouldn’t think it would be worth risking it. Freeze whatever you arent going to eat in 3-5 days and vac seal everything else and you’ll be safe.

@lkrfletcher That does sound mighty good.

I’m not sure how stove fans work exactly, but I think they require a substantial difference in temperature between the contact point and the ambient temperature. Meaning if you put it in a room that is a constant temperature above 120 it won’t spin. The spinning is the action of it dissipating heat which it wouldn’t be able to do at a constant ambient temperature.

cdub2007 I have used a commercial Hobart mixer for pulled pork and it worked very well. That was for feeding several hundred folks though. Nice to know a hand mixer works, thanks.

@jim-volk A full bowl goes a long way. The most I’ve ever used is a nearly full bowl that I’ve gone back and added a handful or two later on in the cook, and that was a very smoky product. As @twilliams mentioned, you can have too much smoke on your product. Even if it’s not bitter, the smoke can overwhelm. There have been times I am glad I didn’t use a full bowl in the first place. If you don’t see anything coming out of your stack, you can go shake up or stir up the bowl. The stuff in the center doesn’t burn up so much. In fact, if you’re going to be around during the cook, you’re probably better off starting with a bowl that’s half or maybe 3/4 full and then adding more later on if you want to. Again, keep in mind that the bowl gets HOT!

Never had a pork butt with to much bark. I don’t like to wrap for that reason, but do like others when time is more of a factor.

@TexLaw Yup, thank you for clearing that up!

@Jonathon Thank you for the response on “casings” to utilize. Will be purchasing some soon. You guys are wonderful and your candor is exactly what’s needed. No “beating around the bush” is required. Keep up your good work, banter and sarcasm. Now, go have another good day.

@glen Thanks, that really presents beautifully. I think that has a lot of possibilities.

@TexLaw Awesome, thanks for giving people the dimension too, that would help anyone wanting to do the same!

I did smoke another brisket last week. I used SPGR rub and the BBQ prime brisket injection. it was just as good as the Pa’s but has a more beefy flavor as tex77 mentioned. you cant go wrong using either one.

Well I will try my normal method and run the IT up around the 190ish mark. If that doesnt yield the results I want I will go down the road of a rotisserie and report back.

Jonathon, Thanks for the reply. Will give it a try. Members Mark Strip Steak can be found at Sam’s club