Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

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FOOD porn. Geez, some guys.
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Those look quite delish. I'm a Toro guy too, but tend to gravitate to Hondurans. Haven't been herfing much lately, but do need to make a trip down to Two Guys one day and score a bundle.

Do you have a humidor big enough for whole boxes? When I was crazy for cigars I had a 40 quart cooler that I was using for one and had between 6 and 8 boxes going at a time. Now I just have a desktop cedar box that is down to a single stick inside.
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Those look quite delish. I'm a Toro guy too, but tend to gravitate to Hondurans. Haven't been herfing much lately, but do need to make a trip down to Two Guys one day and score a bundle.
Do you have a humidor big enough for whole boxes? When I was crazy for cigars I had a 40 quart cooler that I was using for one and had between 6 and 8 boxes going at a time. Now I just have a desktop cedar box that is down to a single stick inside. :sadsmiley:
I have up till recently only been buying cigars (singularly) a few at a time. Got that box in Mexico and the wife said I should just buy a box when I run out instead. I've been ordering them online at:

https://www.mikescigars.com

Fairly decent prices and usually the shippings free, or they toss in some extra swag. I do have a top lid humidor that can hold about 40 cigars at a time (of the size shown) This is perhaps the first time it's been that filled up :)

 
I highly recommend Moore & Bode (bow day). A boutique mfgr that is the last to use the entubar method of rolling where each filler leaf is individually rolled into a tube before gathering them together in the binder and wrapper. Never a plug, always a consistent smoke with great flavor. I especially like their Flaboyan Dark.

https://www.mooreandbode.com/classiccigars/

 
Oh yeah... I forgot to report back to you. I checked in my market when I was grabbing the Chuck Roasts and the most prevalent brand of baby back ribs in cryovac bags is from Smithfield.
There is another brand I see there that is less famous.

I've heard of Smithfield...for their hams. The cryovac bags at the local shop here are from Farmland. And are frozen, so I guess I'll pick them up tomorrow to give them a day or so to thaw abit.

 
Thanks. And yeah, given the choice I would still go with pulled pork over pulled beef, which is crazy good luck considering how cheap pork is.

But, you know the catch phrase: "Sometimes you feel like a nut, ..."

For my next smoking 'speriment, I'm going to try turning some Pork Tenderloins into "Canadian Bacon" using smoke and heat only. The normal way is using curing salt, but I figure if I cook it longer than normal (normal is to pull it at 145F) with a lot of smoke throughout the process, I should be able to get the smoke ring to nearly the center of the tenderloin. Of course, I'll also be cooking it so that will eliminate the need for chemical curing.

 
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For my next smoking 'speriment, I'm going to try turning some Pork Tenderloins into "Canadian Bacon" using smoke and heat only. The normal way is using curing salt, but I figure if I cook it longer than normal (normal is to pull it at 145F) with a lot of smoke throughout the process, I should be able to get the smoke ring to nearly the center of the tenderloin. Of course, I'll also be cooking it so that will eliminate the need for chemical curing.
What you make won’t be Canadian bacon – it’ll be smoke-roasted pork. Should still be super delicious, but more perishable and not quite the same, flavor-wise.

https://www.nwedible.com/how-to-make-canadian-bacon-at-home/

 
Yeah, I know that's how you normally make Canadian bacon (cure it, then cold smoke).

I am looking for a way to make something like bacon but truly uncured (without nitrates or nitrites). Some people care about those.

Modern refrigeration and freezers make the need for curing less important.

 
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Smoked Chuck Roast are amazing! I usually catch some of the drippings so I can make smokey gravy so we have smoked pot roast, with sauteed vegetables and smoky gravy.

MMMM mmm

 
I been thinking of combining my stuffed pork tenderloin with my smoked version. I've never done a stuffed on other than in the oven. I think it will work.

 
Wow, Knifemaker, you must be getting ready to feed an army! That's a lot o' pork, my friend.

I kicked off my pseudo uncured bacon experiment early this morning, so I could get done with the cooking before it gets really hot out. Fired up the OK Joe a little before 8 and had the 3 pork tenderloins on by 8:30. I cooked these with straight wood, just some dry splits I have pruned from a flowering crab-cherry tree in the front yard. A chimney full of lump charcoal as a starter, and then just the wood from there.

Starting to get the hang of feeding the wood without causing a lot of white smoke. The trick is to pre-warm the splits on the top of the firebox, then tuck them inside the FB away from the fire for a while to drive off any remaining moisture. And then when I fed them to the fire 2 at a time I would leave the door open until they were in flames before closing down the air intake. I'd get about 1/2 hour per pair of chunks and then have to feed it 2 more.

Tenderloins were dry-brined (salted) overnight, and just sprinkled with black pepper before flopping them on the pit. Since I had 3 tenderloins, I decided to pull the first one out at the "normal" 145F internal so we could eat it today for a Lumberjack's Dinner. Woodsmen in Maine eat their big meal at noon-time and they call it "dinner". The lighter meal at night is called supper. Now you know...

Only took an hour and a half of smoking to reach 145F. Took it off, wrapped in foil and towels and into the cooler until lunch time

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Sliced it up on my piggy cutting board. Mmmm, smokey delicious and juicy and tender too. Hard to beat a good smoked tenderloin. Pretty good smoke ring for only an hour and a half.

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After I pulled the 1st one, I continued smoking the otehr two until I got the internal temps up to 180F internal, about 4 hours total time. Should be well done and heavily smoked.

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Wrapped them and they are resting and finishing cooking in the "faux cambrio" now. Will pop them into the fridge after about 2 hours rest to chill and firm up, then I'll slice them up with my little Rival meat slicer.

I'll be back later with the final results of the 'speriment.

 
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Yep, a lot of pork. I always figure if I'm firing up the smoker, might as well fill it up. We will likely will put three of those slabs in the freezer for future dinners, and we usually send folks home with a meals worth of the left overs.

The double pork loin (I tied two loins together) took 2-1/2 hours, went into the cooler while the ribs cooked. I just pulled the ribs, sauced them up, wrapped them individually in two layers of heavy duty foil, and put them in the oven with the loin at 190 degrees until the crowd shows up.

Ribs went for 4 hours, and im proud to say I'm getting better with gauging the charcoal and wood....had no problems keeping the grate temp at 220-225 with very little fiddling. (It's like 100 degrees here today, so was nice not to spend much time outside fussing with the smoker.)

Photos of the finished products to follow.... :)

 
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Great job! Those both look fantastic. I'm betting the diners were all wildly enthusiastic.

What did you think about the babies vs. your normal St Louis cuts? I've found that you have to keep a close eye on them and test when to get them off the heat at around 5 hour mark based on the bend test. I've heard the longer ribs take a bit longer.

My "fakon" experiment didn't go quite as well. It was, in one word, FAIL.
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Everything went according to plan alright, just that my plan that was apparently no good.

Chilled the two little tenderloins in the fridge and then sliced them up nicely on my nifty food slicer. The thicker loin I sliced cross grain like Canadian bacon and the other I sliced lengthwise to simulate "American" bacon.

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The smoke ring penetration was nearly to the center of even the thicker loin. But the taste was not what I was shooting for at all. I have found the threshold for the quantity of smoke flavor that is enjoyable, and exceeded it by a considerable margin. I'm here to tell ya, anyone that tells you that meat doesn't continue to absorb smoke after the outside becomes cooked is wrong.

The other funny thing that happened is that the residual salt from the dry brining, which tastes fine when cooked 90 minutes to 145F, concentrated in the dried meat during the addition 2 1/2 hours of smoking and it tastes quite salty.

Now trying to think up new ways to use salty and overly smokey, dried-up pork loin as a flavoring in other recipes, because otherwise it looks like I'll have to pitch it.
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Oh well.. I've wasted a lot more time on more expensive mistakes before.

 
Make bits and use it as salt for eggs/omlets

Woodsmen in Maine eat their big meal at noon-time and they call it "dinner". The lighter meal at night is called supper. Now you know...

Wheat harvest crews do that, too.

 
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Hey Fred, you should try some of that failed meat in some dried beans (navy or pinto, or even some of the mixed bag). With the salt and smoke content, it should be a good seasoning meat. Big O'l pot of beans and some good cornbread is hard to beat.

 
Hey Fred, you should try some of that failed meat in some dried beans (navy or pinto, or even some of the mixed bag). With the salt and smoke content, it should be a good seasoning meat. Big O'l pot of beans and some good cornbread is hard to beat.
That was my thought. Make a pot or two of Pinto Beans in the Crock Pot. Drop a thickly sliced oion in there with chunks of this meat. It'll be awesome!!

 
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