Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[LittleJon]

That's a cool part of my job. We build great big (shed size-garage size) stainless steel washing chambers. I started in 2006 as an electrician. A friend who worked here greased the wheels for me. He was the lead welder. Over the past almost 10 years, I've learned my share of the whole process, from fabrication to welding to piping. Welding is an art form. I can weld. Meaning I can make 2 pieces of metal stick together. If I want it to be pretty, I hand it off. A custom formed stainless steel smoker chamber would be pretty bad ass, and welds stitched by a guy who knows what he's doing would just add to the overall beauty of it.

 

[Knifemaker]

Well if we are talking fantasy pits.... I'll take one that has a stainless steel interior to the food chamber, is insulated all the way around, with a shell of carbon steel. So still high temp black on the outside, but with an inside that won't rust. Add one of those thermostatically controlled stokers and a fire box with a hopper and automated feed of your charcoal and wood chips. Just toss in your meat, turn the timer on and walk away..

When I was picking out a tank for my pit, the guy had an old stainless steel beer barrel...(like from the 50's ) I'd say it was 40-45 gallons in size. I figured it was too small for me, but I though it make a great patio grill, as they tend to rust out over the years.

I think if you have a huge smoker, you're less likely to use it on a daily basis. If you're just wanting to smoke a pork tenderloin for dinner,....what? You gonna use 20 bucks of fuel to heat the whole thing up for a 4 buck loin?

 

[Knifemaker]

Two weeks later....pulled out the fourth slab of ribs I wrapped up and put in the freezer.

A bit over an hour later wrapped in foil in a 275 degree oven....

Just as good as they were the day I cooked them. Looks like I'm going to build that rib rack and fill up my freezer....

 

[Fred W]

Mmmmm... tasty.

I saw a sale at one of the supermarket chains this week for whole picnic shoulders for 99 cents / lb. I think I might be smoking up a couple shoulders this week sometime, and throw the extra in the freezer. Pulled pork is like candy to me.

 

[Knifemaker]

So...I'm going to smoke up a few (maybe three) boneless turkey breasts for Thanksgiving.

Anyone have tips on this?

 

[Fred W]

Yes.

1) Brine em up. Longer is better

2) Keep the seasonings (and smoke) somewhat light. Turkey is delicate and needs the same treatment.

3) Enjoy!

I love me some smoked turkey.

 

[Knifemaker]

So, for a few 3-4lb boneless breasts, cook to a internal temp of 160-165 degrees....roughly about 3 hours at 250?

Got some apple wood for the smoke. I see that many of the breasts sold (like Butterball) come with a brine "solution" already. Should I still brine them anyway?

 

[Fred W]

Try to go with fresh turkey if you can find it. Whole, or breasts.

The butterballs have been injected with some sort of stuff, with who knows what in it. The frozen ones will not impove with the freeze thaw cycle.

Around here we get "ShadyBrook Farms" as one brand of fresh turkey. I do not know how wide spread they are or even if their claims are 100% accurate, but I've had good luck with them in the past.

Even with butterballs, I'm sure you could just slap them on the grille, cook them low and slow, and they would be awesome. I like to pull them off a bit early and let them finish cooking in a cambrio (insulated cooler) so as not to overshoot the 165 too much.

Enjoy!

 

[Knifemaker]

I'll give trying to get a some fresh turkey first. My wife has a freind that has offered us fresh whole turkeys before from their farm. I'll have her find out if they have fresh breasts. From what I've gathered, the "solution" in those Butterballs is simply salt water...nothing else added...and they give the salt percentage of the solution on the label.

Most sites suggest removing the breast when it hits 165...but a few point out that after pulling them out of the smoker and wrapping in foil to rest (for 20-30 minutes) the interior temp will rise about 5 degrees. I'm planning on doing 3 breasts...one to eat, one to eat later, and one for the wife to take to the annual T-day party at work.

So, am looking for three that are about the same weight so the cooking time is even for all of them. (My idea is to place them across the grate and put the probe in the middle one...(as with the ribs I saw only a few degree difference between one side and the other in my pit)

My plan is to roll them all in a combination of olive oil and butter, and to use a dry rub that's heavy on the garlic/onion/pepper side without the cayenne and paprika one uses on pork. And....Using orange juice instead of brown sugar.

Damn, my mouth is watering just thinking about this....

 

[08FJR4ME]

I put my request in for a steel barrel with one of the guys at work. Let's see what happens. I am thinking of throwing something in the smoker for Thanksgiving just to compliment the rest of the fixens. I haven't decided what it will be yet though.

Stay tuned,

Dave

 

[Bappo]

I just did a fresh turkey breast with some olive oil, a spicy Butt Rub dry rub, cold smoked (180ish) for about 3 hours and then finished to 165 with the smoker at 225-250. Wrapped in foil and let it rest for an hour. It was divine. It had a spicy bark and the interior meat was as moist as is possible. Not very traditional but I will be doing this again. And soon.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Now my mouth is watering.

 

[Fred W]

I put my request in for a steel barrel with one of the guys at work. Let's see what happens.

Dave - Make sure it is a "food grade" barrel (i.e. was not used to store oil or chemicals, or anything nasty.) and that the lid is removable.

I just used a bunch of sticks from the back yard to burn out the plastic lining in mine (all food grade steel barrels have a thin sprayed-in plastic lining) and then rattle can re-painted the outside with regular gloss black rustoleum.

Of course you could paint it any color that suits your fancy. Maybe even paint a nice Patriots logo on the side of it would be appropriate since they seem to be going "scorched earth" this season.

The regular temp paint seems to be holding up to the low and slow smoker temps just fine.

 

[Fred W]

Went out shopping today and bought a nice whole pork shoulder (the picnic and the butt combined). 11 lbs of porky goodness.

Also snagged a couple of nice looking tenderloins to throw on the smoker at the same time. Trimmed off the skin along with much of the fat cap off the shoulder, and gave them all a healthy dry brining with kosher salt and course black pepper.

These will be going on the smoke at oh-dark thirty tomorrow morning with a little Meathead's Memphis Dust on the shoulder only (I like the delicate tenderloins without the rub). The tenderloins will come off at around noon, but I don't expect the shoulder to finish till well after dark.

 

[Knifemaker]

Nice hunk of meat there Fred.

On the "dust".... I used dark brown sugar only, no white. If you use ginger...try using fresh ginger and grating it. I also used a bit of smoked paprika (like 5/6ths regular and 1/6th smoked) just ....because.... I also tossed in a Tbsp of chilli powder and a tsp of cayenne. It really was in no way "hot" but I think softened some of the sweetness.

Awaiting photos....

 

[Bounce]

I didn't know pork shoulders came any smaller.

Good luck. Send picks of the results.

 

[Fred W]

I still have some "leftover" Memphis Dust all pre-made from the last batch of ribs, so I'm going to use that up. With anything that sits in the smoker for 12 hours I don't think the spices in the rub make much difference anyway. It's mostly the sugar that's converted to delicious dark bark. And yeah, I think I made it with brown sugar, not white.

Looks like I'll be delaying the big cook-a-thon until tomorrow (Saturday). That's fine. I love to smell the BBQ smokin' all day while I'm out clearing up the leaves. Maybe it's due to the unseasonably warm weather, or maybe it's just time, but all of the oak trees have decided that this was the week to dump their leaves, or at least most of them.

 

[LittleJon]

Ben, he of Ben's Jamin' Ribs, has announced Friendsgiving to be held on November 22. They are about to move into their new home, and it will be a very nice house warming party. I expect some very interesting, and hopefully unconventional smoking. One of those days when the food will only be outdone by the company. Very much looking forward to it, and I will do my best to remember the food porn.

 

[Bounce]

Everyone knows that there isn't any real brown sugar anymore. It's all processed sugar with molasses added back in.

To make one cup of light brown sugar, combine 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses
to make one cup of dark brown sugar, combine 1 cup granulated sugar with 1/4 cup molasses

the food processor works great for this, if you have one.

 

[Fred W]

Yeah, I knew that tid-bit about brown sugar, but I'll keep paying a little more for the convenience of not having to "mix my own" sugar.

I'm frugal, but not that frugal!

Smoke is on as of 0630.

This cook I'll be testing out a new smoker farkle, a cast iron "DHD" (Direct Heat Deflector).

It's a 14" round, cast iron, pizza pan with a handle that I attached to drop down and sit on the top of the charcoal basket, like so:

We'll see how this works out.