Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)
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Knifemaker
Not me
A while back in this thread I posted how I made a custom rib rack using aluminum angle and 1/4" threaded rod. Can't find the original post, but here's some photos of what it looked like. You could use the same idea to make racks to whatever size and spacing you want...
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eflyguy
Well-known member
Kewl.. I have a few different rib racks, which are fine for 6" or so ribs, but slabs of pork belly are much thicker (less space between) and taller. I may do something like that..
When it was done, I brought it indoors to cool before putting in fridge (I'll slice tomorrow).. I couldn't resist cutting off those end pieces.. My baby dog and I had had a small, delicious pork feast.. It was like popping a can of pringles.. once you start..
When it was done, I brought it indoors to cool before putting in fridge (I'll slice tomorrow).. I couldn't resist cutting off those end pieces.. My baby dog and I had had a small, delicious pork feast.. It was like popping a can of pringles.. once you start..
Knifemaker
Not me
Well. It's supposed to be 27F Sunday morning when I plan on firing up the smoker. Guess we'll see how that works out.
Worst case scenario is I yank the propane burner, stuff the charcoal basket instead and try to get three hours of smoke on the meat and finish it in the oven inside.
Update. Got up at 5am. Fired up the burner. It's 26F outside. 35 minutes later pits up to 135.
Meat put in, wood added. Suns coming up
Having some problems with Photobucket again, but got the before shot:
Worst case scenario is I yank the propane burner, stuff the charcoal basket instead and try to get three hours of smoke on the meat and finish it in the oven inside.
Update. Got up at 5am. Fired up the burner. It's 26F outside. 35 minutes later pits up to 135.
Meat put in, wood added. Suns coming up
Having some problems with Photobucket again, but got the before shot:
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eflyguy
Well-known member
I've smoked below freezing before, even with an uninsulated steel drum smoker - needs more fuel but otherwise no issues.
Knifemaker
Not me
Yep, didn't take that long to get up to temp. Using a mix of hickory and applewood. So far pits sticking right around the 228F mark...(about an hour and a half in) temp likely dropped because of the big chunk of cold meat...
eflyguy
Well-known member
Many people miss that, and change the airflow to compensate. Then you have a fire out of control. It's perfectly OK to have a stable pit cool down when you put the meat in, the fuel will still burn at the same rate and the temperature will recover as the food warms.
That's actually one of the things I don't like about my pit controller, although it does have an option to disable the blower for five minutes. I think it should be longer, so I'm building my own (Arduino)..
That's actually one of the things I don't like about my pit controller, although it does have an option to disable the blower for five minutes. I think it should be longer, so I'm building my own (Arduino)..
Knifemaker
Not me
I think my only concern is the wood never "caught fire" in the pan. Not sure if I need to make it lower, or use a different container for the wood. Hopefully the smoke from it won't be off putting. It's been about 3 hours now and I think I'm just going to stop adding anymore wood. It's warmer now, 33. Pits up some around 235-240 now. (Meats at 100)
Going for an internal of 200.
Going for an internal of 200.
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Yeah, if the wood isn't quite reaching combustion temp you could lower the pan closer to the burner, but the lack of flame may also e from lack of O2. As long as the smoke is thin and blueish you should be good. And I wouldn't worry about having too much smoke on a pork shoulder. I've smoked them for the full cooking time and it wasn't too much.
By the way, if you get sick of waiting for it to power through the stall you can always wrap it up and toss it in the oven at 225F. That doesn't hurt the flavor in the least after pulling
By the way, if you get sick of waiting for it to power through the stall you can always wrap it up and toss it in the oven at 225F. That doesn't hurt the flavor in the least after pulling
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Knifemaker
Not me
Smoke was thin and blue-ish. So far pleased with the burner. It's held between 127-133 for the last 6+ hours.
I think I'm going to ditch the pan and have Andy build mea tray out of heavy steel that will sit in there and be a few inches lower. I hit the wood at one point with my Benzomatic torch and it fired right up...so I'm thinking it's not lack of oxygen but the wood isn't getting quite hot enough.
Right now the meats at 161. I've got a lot of things to do today outside, (put up some lights, winterize the boat) so I'm not in any hurry on the cook. I want to go the distance on this so I have a a better idea on how long other cooks will go.
As aside here....neighbor on the left had some guy come out to trim a dead tree. Was a classic "hold my beer and watch this" moment as the limb fell into a power line, sparked and took out the power for everyone past my house....
Update. It's 4:00 and we are at 173. My target time was 6pm for the cook. Chamber temp holding at 135-136. (I bumped it up a smudge) ...anticipation.....
I think I'm going to ditch the pan and have Andy build mea tray out of heavy steel that will sit in there and be a few inches lower. I hit the wood at one point with my Benzomatic torch and it fired right up...so I'm thinking it's not lack of oxygen but the wood isn't getting quite hot enough.
Right now the meats at 161. I've got a lot of things to do today outside, (put up some lights, winterize the boat) so I'm not in any hurry on the cook. I want to go the distance on this so I have a a better idea on how long other cooks will go.
As aside here....neighbor on the left had some guy come out to trim a dead tree. Was a classic "hold my beer and watch this" moment as the limb fell into a power line, sparked and took out the power for everyone past my house....
Update. It's 4:00 and we are at 173. My target time was 6pm for the cook. Chamber temp holding at 135-136. (I bumped it up a smudge) ...anticipation.....
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Knifemaker
Not me
Well, about 5:22 I guess the propane went down. Temps dropped to 210 and started to go down from there. Meat was right at 181. I yanked the meat, put it in convection oven at 275 in hopes of finishing it. Guess if it was a five pounder I would have made it...or if I didn't do a three hour test run with the same tank last week.
Either way....the thing looks wonderful, and now we will have to smell it for the next hour(I hope) before we finally get to eat it....I can wait......
Made some tradional sause with ketchup, apple cider vinegar, mustard, onion powder, cayenne pepper,black pepper, kosher salt, and some chili powder.
Crap....I'm getting hungry
On another note. Neighbor down the street just came by and gave me a 2-1/2 pound venison loin.(AKA "Backstrap")
Should I smoke it like a pork loin?
Either way....the thing looks wonderful, and now we will have to smell it for the next hour(I hope) before we finally get to eat it....I can wait......
Made some tradional sause with ketchup, apple cider vinegar, mustard, onion powder, cayenne pepper,black pepper, kosher salt, and some chili powder.
Crap....I'm getting hungry
On another note. Neighbor down the street just came by and gave me a 2-1/2 pound venison loin.(AKA "Backstrap")
Should I smoke it like a pork loin?
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Knifemaker
Not me
Out of the oven (after an hour internal temp hit 200F)
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08FJR4ME
-WYNPRO-
It will most likely dry out to much smoking it. It has almost no fat content to keep it moist and self-basting. Maybe if you get the grill running much hotter and don't smoke it for long you might get lucky. Second thought, wrap it in bacon.
Also, I think I had the best smoked meet today off my smoker. I bought some thick ribs the day before and put my TN rub powder on them and let them sit in the fridge overnight. I fired up the smoker mid afternoon with some Maple wood over some lump charcoal with some applewood briquettes. The temp stayed between 280 /300 degrees. I also put some brat's and Italian sweet sausage on too. I removed the sausages after an hour and they looked perfect. I let the ribs go another 1/2 an hour on the smoker. Even my son said it was the best I ever had done. I will say the Italian sweet sausage kept most of its flavor which seemed to be competing with the smoke flavor. The brat's on the other hand were to die for. When I go to lunch tomorrow the rest of the crew at the table will be in envy.
Dave
Knifemaker
Not me
Well, I think I'll slice up the venison loin into "fillets" and quick fry them for like 90 seconds.
Anyway...the pulled pork after much todo....came out awesome. I let it hit 200F in my convection oven...mixed it all up...(there was a pretty hard bark when I pulled it) thumbs up from the SO and our granddaughter. Tender, good taste, I'm happy with the result.....not sure if I'll do another one however....
Anyway, happy with the results....have lunch for the next few days...
Anyway...the pulled pork after much todo....came out awesome. I let it hit 200F in my convection oven...mixed it all up...(there was a pretty hard bark when I pulled it) thumbs up from the SO and our granddaughter. Tender, good taste, I'm happy with the result.....not sure if I'll do another one however....
Anyway, happy with the results....have lunch for the next few days...
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08FJR4ME
-WYNPRO-
I like the hard bark the best. That's what has the best flavor to it. Generally I add some BBQ sauce to my pulled pork. Just enough to give it a light coating.
Dave
Dave
Glad things came out well. I'm a bit surprised that you ran out of gas, but I've never done anything requiring 12 hours of cooking (shoulder or brisket) on the offset with gas before. Also, your pit being so big, and of a reverse flow design, it may require more BTUs.
Looking at your results I guess there is still an advantage to having a vertical smoker that will run 12 hours on a bag of charcoal with no tending. As Dave mentioned, the dark bark is a big bonus on PP and the offset just didn't seem to generate as much of that. You really want it to come off meteorite black. But, for most other meats where the offset has many other advantages, definitely try some other things using the gas burner and smoking wood before you give up on it.
As for the pulled pork, I let the eater choose their own sauce(s). That also lets me use some of it for the very best thing that you can do with pulled pork: add it to some home made mac n' cheese. If you want people going ga-ga over your PP try my Smokey Mac'n Cheese recipe from earlier on in this thread. Yup, it's that good.
You might consider treating the venison as you would a pork tenderloin. That is also extremely tender and lean and, and it doesn't suffer at all from low and slow smoking to 145F internal. I would imagine the venison could stand up to a fairly strong wood smoke, maybe hickory?
Looking at your results I guess there is still an advantage to having a vertical smoker that will run 12 hours on a bag of charcoal with no tending. As Dave mentioned, the dark bark is a big bonus on PP and the offset just didn't seem to generate as much of that. You really want it to come off meteorite black. But, for most other meats where the offset has many other advantages, definitely try some other things using the gas burner and smoking wood before you give up on it.
As for the pulled pork, I let the eater choose their own sauce(s). That also lets me use some of it for the very best thing that you can do with pulled pork: add it to some home made mac n' cheese. If you want people going ga-ga over your PP try my Smokey Mac'n Cheese recipe from earlier on in this thread. Yup, it's that good.
You might consider treating the venison as you would a pork tenderloin. That is also extremely tender and lean and, and it doesn't suffer at all from low and slow smoking to 145F internal. I would imagine the venison could stand up to a fairly strong wood smoke, maybe hickory?
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Knifemaker
Not me
Oh, I'm not giving up on the gas burner...as stated, if I didn't do a three hour test run with that tank, it would have made it through the cook. (Or chosen a 5 pound butt instead of a 7 pounder) It kept a pretty constant tempature...with no fiddling (225-235F)...so pleased with that.
I can also see switching from charcoal to gas...durring a cook. If I get things positioned, I can switch from charcoal to gas in under 30 seconds. Which means I can get a good wood smoke on whatever I'm cooking with charcoal and wood, then swap out the fuel for the end of the cook. That idea seems the most beneficial
My time estimate on the butt was fairly close at 12 hours. (12:48) Given that it was below freezing out to start with and I was still able to do my outdoor chores that day and not have to constantly monitor the pit, I'm very pleased with the results. I will however get a different pan made for the wood. I didn't taste any ickyness from the smoke however (yes, I did have a piece of bark only to taste, cooks privilege)
Well, for the first shot at a butt, it was pretty good. Anything new is just a learning situation, and in theory you get better the more you learn.
And yeah, given the large amount of meat, I let everyone pick their own sauce. I went with the traditional North Carolina type (as I wanted to try it) wife went for Baby Ray's Original BBQ, straight out of the bottle. Granddaughter went for the Baby Ray' s also. I can definitely see adding cheese in some away...
And once you have a smoked brat, you'll never go back to grilling them.....
I can also see switching from charcoal to gas...durring a cook. If I get things positioned, I can switch from charcoal to gas in under 30 seconds. Which means I can get a good wood smoke on whatever I'm cooking with charcoal and wood, then swap out the fuel for the end of the cook. That idea seems the most beneficial
My time estimate on the butt was fairly close at 12 hours. (12:48) Given that it was below freezing out to start with and I was still able to do my outdoor chores that day and not have to constantly monitor the pit, I'm very pleased with the results. I will however get a different pan made for the wood. I didn't taste any ickyness from the smoke however (yes, I did have a piece of bark only to taste, cooks privilege)
Well, for the first shot at a butt, it was pretty good. Anything new is just a learning situation, and in theory you get better the more you learn.
And yeah, given the large amount of meat, I let everyone pick their own sauce. I went with the traditional North Carolina type (as I wanted to try it) wife went for Baby Ray's Original BBQ, straight out of the bottle. Granddaughter went for the Baby Ray' s also. I can definitely see adding cheese in some away...
And once you have a smoked brat, you'll never go back to grilling them.....
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I've seen some gas retrofits that allow you to start the wood / charcoal with the gas burner and then turn it off. I guess if the burner was protected from falling ash there's no reason you couldn't just fire it back up later on in the cook. Your set up seems perfect for that. Slide your burner out after the fire is started and slide your ash pan in, then swap them back later on when you only want steady heat.
danh600
Well-known member
Damn, all this time I thought this was a quit smoking thread. I never opened it.
I am going to have to dig up some pictures and jump in this thread.
I am going to have to dig up some pictures and jump in this thread.
Knifemaker
Not me
You're not alone. Perhaps they can edit the title to say "Smokers...(cooking that is)....let's talk about it"
