Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Blind Squirrel]

ok....I'm on the amateur side of the art of smoking. I've done a couple of briskets and spare ribs and the wife and family are still alive and seemed to enjoy it, so I call it a success. I don't have a proper and dedicated smoker, so I do all my mad science experiments on my Weber kettle performer.
I've been doing some research on having a dedicated smoker, and I feel like I'll go with an offset cooker, but I have been intrigued by the RecTec pellet grill. Haven't heard anything negative on it and based on reviews, it seems like it is preferred over the Treager grill. Don't know. My way of thinking is that with a pellet grill, I can set it and forget it while doing other chores around the house (aka tending to my 2 wild children) and for cooking larger quantities of food when having friends and family over. When I want to do a traditional cook (aka drink a ton of beer while tending the fire), I can use my weber grill since I would only be cooking something smaller just for the immediate family.

Take a look at the Camp Chef pellet smokers too. I like the features they have to offer.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/camp-chef-smokepro-dlx-pellet-grill

 

[Knifemaker]

Take a look at the Camp Chef pellet smokers too. I like the features they have to offer

This one looks interesting:https://www.campchef.com/smokers-grills/camp-chef-smokepro-xxl-pellet-smoker.html

My question here is...I see bags of wood pellets used for fuel ....at like 6 bucks for a 40 pound bag..but ones of specific woods for smoking (like hickory or apple) are $18 for a 20 pound bag. Am guessing you don't want to use the regular pellets in a smoker?

I kind of settled on getting my "inefficient" offset because as Fred mentioned, fuel is cheaper for them...if you are just burning wood....because I have a pretty inexhaustible supply where I live. We just took down two more dead oak trees, along with a hickory. Enough to run my smoker 24/7 for years.

My other concern over the pellet smokers is they need electricity. If your power goes out, your smoker goes out.

But the biggest reason for getting the offset was the pellet smokers are basically smoking "machines"...you put in your meat and push a button... But that early caveman part of me wants to be more hands on .... physically tending the fire, making adjustments, and just walking away knowing it was MY work that produced that meal. LOL

But doing a 14+ hour cook, the advantages of the "machine" are desirable. So having both ...the pellet and a Weber do seem the way to go...

 

[Bounce]

A note for something that you probably already know, don't use green wood when cooking.

 

[PhilJet09]

Put a couple pork butts on this morning. Trying a pellet tube this time instead of putting 1/2 cup of chips in every hour. We'll see how these come out.

 

[Ndv21]

I threw a couple of raks of spare ribs on the weber kettle on saturday. Smoked them for about 5 hours with hickory chunks for the first 2 hrs. They came out pretty good. The wife unit, when asked about how the food comes out typically says "its ok...good", but when she took her first bite off of a rib, she had a smile on and said "oh my God!!!".....never one to miss out on an opportunity, I quickly said "now imagine how they would come out if I had a $1000 rec tec smoker"

 

[Knifemaker]

Well played. My wife bought my smoker as a present to me. First cook was several racks of ribs. Upon tasting she simply said "good investment. You should have gotten one sooner..."

 

[Bustanut joker]

I like the idea of the pellet units,however I don't want to be held captive if or when the manufacturers decide they need a huge price increase in order to see a profit.

 

[Knifemaker]

Well played. My wife bought my smoker as a present to me. First cook was several racks of ribs. Upon tasting she simply said "Oh My God". And then, "good investment. You should have gotten one sooner..."

Sorry for double post, was editing for accuracy and must have hit Quote instead of Edit.....

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Pellet smokers are about ease and repeatability of great smoked food. They are not for the frugal types.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Pellet smokers are about ease and repeatability of great smoked food. They are not for the fuckinugly types.

Yup, Barry. You're definately out! No pellet smoker for you, you pole smoker!

 

[Bustanut joker]

I love you too.

 

[Fred W]

Tried something a little different last weekend. My wife had bought something labeled a "Beef Spoon Roast" at the local market. Looked it up and it turns out to be another name for a boneless sirloin roast. Seemed like a great candidate for a quick smoke/roasting to medium rare. What was different was that, following some suggestions I found online, I first seasoned the roast well with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, etc., then seared and browned the outside of the roast on my gas grille with the burners on high. Only had it on there about 15 minutes and was turning it regularly to get an even coloring.

After searing I dropped it on the offset smoker preheated to 225F with propane burner for heat and apple wood chunks in the smoke pan. Pulled the roast after about 2 hours of smoking at 135F internal, and wrapped it in foil and blankets for carry over cooking until dinner time an hour later.

Sorry, no pictures were taken. It was perfectly cooked to medium rare, and quite delicious. I highly recommend trying that technique.

 

[Bounce]

Searing before smoking blocks penetration of the smoke. It's the same reason you sious vide before searing.

 

[Knifemaker]

Yeah, i think I would have done it the other way around, smoked the meat, let it rest, then sear it on the grill, and then serve it. Partially cooked meat (browned externally) will take on smoke, but not as much as uncooked meat.

If you just wanted a very little light hint of smoke, browning it first would do it.

But....I bet it tasted great anyway

 

[Fred W]

Yeah, I'm not sure the searing bothers the smoke absorption all that much. And the tricky part of doing the reverse searing (after slow cooking) is that you can easily overshoot past the desired temp. I'm not really sure how much lower a pull temp I'd have to cook to, to not overcook the meat, which is of primary importance to me. Doing it this way there was plenty of smoke flavor in the beef roast, and I hit my doneness target perfectly.

 

[Knifemaker]

Alton Brown explains reverse seating:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/dry-aged-standing-rib-roast-with-sage-jus-recipe-1939502

Basicly the "flaw" as he calls it with searing the meat first is you break down proteins and lose moisture. This of course doesn't mention smoking the meat, but I think the point remains.

Also there can be a difference between "searing" and "browning" ....what temperature your doing either makes a difference too. Ive seen chefs make steak both ways however...actually alternating between a hot zone and a "not so hot" zone on a wood fired grill.

Logically, if you do lose moisture on the surface from cooking a roast at a high temperature first, that would effect the amount of smoke it takes on. How much? Guess it depends on the size and type of meat, and how long it gets smoked.

My thoughts mirror Mr. Browns. I'd smoke the meat until it was a bit UNDER the target temperature, then let it rest...then roll it on the grill (set to high) until it hit the target. Many smoking forum sites do recommend smoke first, sear after....but have no scientific testing to vouch for this other than that "logic" above. So would never say you did something "wrong" here... Cooking/smoking meat is a never ending experiment, and if you ate it and it tasted great, you did good, no matter what us fools say about it....

 

[Fred W]

I won’t belabor the point, but it’s surely much harder to hit your target doneness with the meat browning / searing on a 600 to 700 degrees broiler than on a 225-235F slow cooker / smoker. But I won’t disagree with the idea completely until I give that a try.

 

[Bounce]

Many likes in today's posts

 

[Bustanut joker]

Yep, far too many to like.

 

[PhilJet09]

I like the idea of the pellet units,however I don't want to be held captive if or when the manufacturers decide they need a huge price increase in order to see a profit.

I use this sometimes in my electric smoker. https://www.amazon.com/Amazen-Pellet-Tube-Smoker-12/dp/B00CS6YFIC

Burns for about 6 hours, lays right in the bottom of the cabinet. This way you don't have to load chips in the normal part every hour, but if you don't like the price of pellets, you can always go back to the chips. Combined with the ease of the electric smoker, it's almost as hands off as a dedicated pellet smoker, but a bit more flexible.