BBQ Thread (Smoker/grill)

[Dieter the Brock]

Looks great @Dieter the Brock

Getting to know your smoker/grill is part of the fun of cooking for me. It takes practice, but once you get to know each other the zen thing happens. I know I've mentioned this before, but alcohol always improves the chef's artistry. Keep that jug I saw you with handy when that Brick Smoke House is cooking.

Hahahah you're 100% correct
All I want to do is smoke today but I have tons of turkey
Doesn't matter!!! Today is all about pork shoulder and pale ale

 

[RamFan503]

@RamFan503
the smoker is all seasoned and ready to go - gonna smoke a Turkey today, thinking of cutting it up instead of keeping it whole
you mentioned smoking the chicken for 45 minutes cause it gets that smoke on fast then to the oven - I was figuring to do a similar thing with the turk
- any pointers would be greatly appreciated!!!!

I guess I'm a little late in responding.

I do turkeys whole. I generally inject them a couple days ahead and lightly season the skin and let them sit in the refer until I fire up the smoker. When the skin gets to the color you want, oil down some brown paper like from a grocery bag and cover the bird. Parchment paper is best for this but even foil will do.

 

[RamFan503]

That turkey looked awesome. BTW

 

[Dodgersrf]

I'm trying my hand at a brisket tomorrow.
I didn't want to experiment on a full packer, so I bought a 4 lb flat from Costco. I got the thickest one they had. It still has about 1" of the point attached. Not prime, but at least its Choice grade. They had the fat cap facing down in the packing. When I opened it this morning, I realized they trimmed most of the cap off. Pissed me off a little.(rookie mistake on my part, Should have asked the butcher). At this point, I decided I better get some tenderizer and fat in this thing, so I injected it with a combination of beef stock and liquid margarine. Also coated it with some mayo(more fat, wasn't in my plans) before dusting with salt and pepper.

As tough and lean as this thing is, I may wrap it a little early with butchers paper. I was intending to wait until close to the stall temp of around 150-165 but i think it may be better to sacrifice a little smoke for moisture.

I'm going with Pecan on this, do to the long smoke times. The famous Perfect Blend cooking pellets can get a bit "hammy" with the sweet smoke of the maple in it. I may add some Hickory to the mix if it looks like I have to crutch early.

I'm not expecting great results tomorrow, but I have to start somewhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rhinobean]

I'm trying my hand at a brisket tomorrow.
I didn't want to experiment on a full packer, so I bought a 4 lb flat from Costco. I got the thickest one they had. It still has about 1" of the point attached. Not prime, but at least its Choice grade. They had the fat cap facing down in the packing. When I opened it this morning, I realized they trimmed most of the cap off. Pissed me off a little.(rookie mistake on my part, Should have asked the butcher). At this point, I decided I better get some tenderizer and fat in this thing, so I injected it with a combination of beef stock and liquid margarine. Also coated it with some mayo(more fat, wasn't in my plans) before dusting with salt and pepper.

As tough and lean as this thing is, I may wrap it a little early with butchers paper. I was intending to wait until close to the stall temp of around 150-165 but i think it may be better to sacrifice a little smoke for moisture.

I'm going with Pecan on this, do to the long smoke times. The famous Perfect Blend cooking pellets can get a bit "hammy" with the sweet smoke of the maple in it. I may add some Hickory to the mix if it looks like I have to crutch early.

I'm not expecting great results tomorrow, but I have to start somewhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

With the lack of fat on the meat, you might like to smoke for 2-3 hours and then remove it to some foil, wrap it and finish it in the oven. 4 hours at 325 in a pan with some stock in it. Hope this helps! It works for me when not doing a whole one!

 

[Dodgersrf]

With the lack of fat on the meat, you might like to smoke for 2-3 hours and then remove it to some foil, wrap it and finish it in the oven. 4 hours at 325 in a pan with some stock in it. Hope this helps! It works for me when not doing a whole one!

Thanks rhinobean. Great advice. Braising would help keep it moist. It's more than likely the smartest way to go.

However. This is my virgin run with this cut of meat. I really want to cook it all the way with my smoker, to get a feel for it.

 

[Selassie I]

The wife and I were invited over to dinner last night. The couple who had us over asked if we'd bring an appetizer. So I decided to make some tiger prawn kabobs.

Step one with kabobs is to soak the skewers. If you're using wooden skewers of course. I prefer the wooden ones... the kind I get are pretty thick and hold everything great during the cooking process. There's no clean up with the wooden skewers either. Hahahaha

I put spoons on top of them to make sure they are submerged in water for at least a couple of hours. They don't catch fire this way.

 

[Selassie I]

I mentioned the tiger prawns from Costco in an earlier post. They sell 2 sizes... large and extra large. I prefer the extra large for grilling.

I marinate the shrimp for 2 hours. The Marinade is top secret.

Cut up some onion and peppers - I use red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. The green peppers are poblano peppers... I prefer them over the green bells. Salt and pepper the veggies and then coat them well with olive oil.

 

[Selassie I]

I got 6 skewers full...

 

[Selassie I]

I cook them at around 400 on a cast iron grate. Direct heat. Cook em for 12 minutes total. I flip them every 3 minutes. During the last 2 flips I will pour the remaining marinade over them.

 

[Selassie I]

Here's what my appetizers looked like. Our friends were very happy. They claimed this was a dinner.

 

[HeiseNBerg]

Here's what my appetizers looked like. Our friends were very happy. They claimed this was a dinner.

Damn, that looks good!

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Here's what my appetizers looked like. Our friends were very happy. They claimed this was a dinner.

Dude that looks insane!!!!!

 

[RamFan503]

Here's what my appetizers looked like. Our friends were very happy. They claimed this was a dinner.

Looks awesome. And great choice on the peppers BTW. I so much prefer Poblanos to green bells. Personally, I find cooked green bells kinda gross and the poblanos have a natural smoky taste with a little heat to them. And the sweetness of the other peppers is great with skewers.

BTW - great tip on soaking the skewers. Of course I always forget to do that and end up with no handles to grab.

 

[Selassie I]

Looks awesome. And great choice on the peppers BTW. I so much prefer Poblanos to green bells. Personally, I find cooked green bells kinda gross and the poblanos have a natural smoky taste with a little heat to them. And the sweetness of the other peppers is great with skewers.

BTW - great tip on soaking the skewers. Of course I always forget to do that and end up with no handles to grab.

Man... you described poblano peppers exactly like I would. You and I feel the same about green bell peppers too. LOL

 

[Dodgersrf]

Let it set overnight with the beef stock injection.

After about 11 hours in the smoker. I kept it low (190) most of the way. It stalled at about 167. That's when I wrapped it in butchers paper to finish. Turned up the heat the last couple hours to about 250, until the internal temp hit 203. Pulled it off and wrapped it in a town for a couple hours.

Finish product.
Came out incredibly tender. Pretty juicy still as well. Good piece of meat from Costco.
Next time I'll go with Hickory. I thought the Pecan wood would be good with the long smoke times. I was wrong. The pecan wasn't as prominent as I would have liked. This cut needs some heavy duty smoke imo.

 

[iced]

BTW I highly recommend ya'll try smoking some snow crab legs/king crab leg w/ cherry flavored wood - it'll blow your friggen mind...

gonna do that here in the next day or two - except add a lot of jerry juice to the water bowl to get some more sweetness

 

[Selassie I]

BTW I highly recommend ya'll try smoking some snow crab legs/king crab leg w/ cherry flavored wood - it'll blow your friggen mind...

gonna do that here in the next day or two - except add a lot of jerry juice to the water bowl to get some more sweetness

Make sure to take a few pics of this Brudda.

 

[iced]

Make sure to take a few pics of this Brudda.

will do - although I won't lie, they don't look nearly as good as they taste.

 

[Selassie I]

will do - although I won't lie, they don't look nearly as good as they taste.

Crab legs always look good to me.

I'm more interested in the smoking process really. Since the crab legs are normally precooked when purchased, I'm just wondering how it changes the flavor and possible look of the meat.