Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[eflyguy]

There you go.. you can work with anything but you need to know how it's reading in your cooker. A few $$ for a reasonably accurate device and you can know for sure.

 

[Bounce]

Good cuts of lean meat don't need long cook times. Pretty much the opposite really.

This was marbled like kobe beef. The recipe i had was 24 hours for a 2 lb steak. I'll look elsewhere before starting the next one. Do you have a link? Thanks for the heads up because that seemed a long time.

 

[Knifemaker]

Good cuts of lean meat don't need long cook times. Pretty much the opposite really.

This was marbled like kobe beef. The recipe i had was 24 hours for a 2 lb steak. I'll look elsewhere before starting the next one. Do you have a link? Thanks for the heads up because that seemed a long time.

Sorry, I was not saying that as far as sous vide cooking, but just as a general rule for smoking/grilling. If you have information with your sous vide cooker that says 24 hours, I'd imagine that's what they take.
I've had a nice thick Fillet Mignon that was done by sous vide, and it was one of the most tender steaks I've ever had...you quite literally cut it with the edge of your fork. I'm guessing the cook did toss the fillet into a pan or torch it to get those nice crispy edges, but I didn't get to watch.

This kinda brings up the idea of what are you trying to achieve when cooking meat. Is it just for total tenderness, for taste alone, or for a mixture of the two?... When smoking meat, and for that matter grilling, I find the aromas generated by both those methods adds a certain appeal to the food itself. Nothing gets my taste buds as excited as the smell of meat cooking. Just the other night I did two 2 inch thick fillets on the grill. They were not as tender as the one I previously mentioned, but the total experience of smelling the seasonings and the bit of char put on the steak overshadowed the slight inconvenience of needing a knife to cut it.

Cooking for hours in the sous vide and you miss all that great aroma.... (although I imagine the end result is what you're going for)

 

[Bounce]

No worries. After you said that, I went and looked and found alternate sources that say anything over 4 hours (based on thickness) doesn't change the flavor; just the texture. Here's the best I found that matches the results we have from the long cook. The steak was more tender than anything I've ever had; even from a good pro. The problem is that I learned that some times there can be such a thing as "too tender".

https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html (you can jump to the 1, 4, 24 hour pictures if you want the Cliff Notes).

They're different tools in the tool bag. Fish is perfect for sous vide because you can set the target temp and it won't get over cooked. Using other methods a fish filet can quickly head to dry.

The main thing is if you have a bunch of stuff of your agenda that day, the sous vide can be running with less hands-on than a grill or stove top. It's like a gentler crock pot.

I'm all about my smoker but when it's been over 100 for a week, less so.

 

[Knifemaker]

I skipped the cliff notes and read the whole thing....I've been known to spend hours just reading stuff at the SE site... (of stuff I likely won't ever make)

I'm intrigued by the sous vide method. Perhaps I'll have the wife get me one for my birthday.

I've also thought of making a searing "station" out of a cheap Wok and a cast iron pan (toss small amount of hot charcoal into the wok, place iron pan on top) just big enough to do up a steak or two...

I think I get almost more enjoyment cooking than I do with the actual eating....

 

[eflyguy]

I typically use a cast iron skillet to finish my steaks. Sear them in a little olive oil and butter. It doesn't have the bitter crust you get from coals or even a hot gas grill - not saying that's better or worse, but it is different. I will probably get a sears-all in the near future, just to try..

This is prime NY strip, sous-vide 125F for about an hour, finished as above. This is immediately after cutting, so it appears a little darker than it actually was. Note - prime - it was quite heavily marbled, yet that is not evident in the cut. Most of that has broken down into the meat, and contributes to the flavor.

 

[Knifemaker]

^ Nice. That's what a steak is supposed to look like. I'd call that medium rare...

When I first met my wife she absolutely refused to eat a steak with any pink to it... However after cooking a few for her that were and getting her to try it, she's a lot better about it now. Still can't do a rare one, but at least they don't have to be well done (or as I see that..over done ) If it's a good cut, I like mine "very rare"....

Luckily, I'll eat a medium rare steak if I have to, so now we can at least split a large steak.

 

[Bounce]

I've sous vide(d?) smaller steaks and also sear them in hot cast iron. If they end up a little too rare, then I'll nuke them for 10 to 30 seconds and that usually finishes them to perfection.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

This is prime NY strip,

Where do you score prime beef? Prime is very hard to come by in my area.

 

[Knifemaker]

This is prime NY strip,

Where do you score prime beef? Prime is very hard to come by in my area.

https://www.lobels.com/store/category/usda-prime-beef.htm
There's a few other online sources. Sometimes you just have to ask around for a local store that carries it. From this article it sounds like it's supposed to be easier now to locate:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204423804574286451880334042

If that link doesn't work ..sorry.

A lot of what I've had lately has been grass fed, from a local farm. I tend to buy leaner cuts now, so it being "prime" isn't that big of a deal to me.

Here's a guide to online prime:

https://gearpatrol.com/2012/10/10/mob-10-mail-order-beef-companies-a-survey/

 

[HotRodZilla]

This is prime NY strip,

Where do you score prime beef? Prime is very hard to come by in my area.

You have to move to a cattle state. Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming or Montana. Here, every meat store I've ever been in has prime beef.

 

[TomInPA]

Prime beef is available most places, including Costco, but it comes at a price. It tacks about $7 to $10 per pound to the price over USDA Choice. Dry aged will be even more. If you're a steak sauce person, don't bother, but the taste of prime beef is very different and good. Only you can decide if nearly double the price is worth it for a more flavorful, and tender steak. FWIW, you can buy Choice Filet Mignon for about the price of Prime strip. If you have access to good T-bone/Porterhouse, you can get close to prime flavor with choice grade, since the tenderloin is included with the strip. Also better than choice strip is any Rib Steak. IMO, boneless beef is over-rated. You may pay for bone that you throw away, but it is a big flavor component.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Since it was the last day of my vacation I wanted to get a little project out of the way. Well maybe is wasn't so little. It took me all dam day. Some times I get carried away.

Step one, the bottom base.

Step two, The corners.

Step three, The top rails.

Step four, finish adding the expanded mesh.

Step five, add the handle.

The final results several hours later.

That's all for now. The welds could use some cleaning up but for now it will do. I need to spray it down with some vegetable oil too I guess.

Dave

 

[Fred W]

Why bother? The oil will all burn off completely on the first cook. Just fill that puppy with your favorite char and get cook in'.

Nice work (as usual) on the basket fab, Dave

 

[HotRodZilla]

Don't to forget to put moly grease on it so it doesn't rust.

Hehe...

 

[eflyguy]

Prime beef - I get it from Costco, where they often have it, or even Kroger when they have it now and then.

As to being a little under-done - just up your water temperature to exactly the done-ness you like. Even 1 or 2 degrees makes a difference - although not every piece of meat needs the same temp. It can't over-cook, and it will be perfect all the way thru.

For me, most steaks have to get to 125 to be tender, any lower and they still feel stringy. That's my taste, yours may vary.

 

[falsus nomen]

Ok, all of these topics are good info.

1. Get a box that works.

2. Marinades / brines

3. Wet vs Dry, seasonings and rubs vs wet mops.

4. keeping moist meat....

5. Heat, and maintaining heat

6. How long do you cook the damn thing?

1. I didnt spend a 1500 on a ceramic Egg or something. I went with a side box, vertical.

I got it a dyna-glo, on sale at amazon, side box, for like $180. I can cook 2 full turkeys, 8 chickens, 5 full sides of ribs, 4 briskets, or some combinations of those.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/44897247?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227032998172&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=66809353472&wl4=pla-130759965392&wl5=9031999&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=44897247&wl13=&veh=sem

2. I brine, longer than recommended, and then fridge marinate for a couple of hours.

3. I smoke with water (will explain later) so I do dry rubs. I wipe the liquid of the marinade off, and then dry rub with the seasonings I want. I always score a bit and add brown sugar as about 1/2 of my rub, but i use strong spice rubs.

4. Since I cook with dry rubs, I put each meat in a cheap aluminum pan, and flip it every 4 hours. At the bottom of the smoker, I put a deep pan of water, with a whole chopped onion and ~8 cloves of garlic. I add water about every 2-3 hours. This keeps my "smoke" about 1/2 steam, and provides a ton of moisture, to keep from drying out the meat.

5. Some people do complicated firebox mods to their smokers to make them run longer, snake, etc. I epoxy'ed a fireproof thermal blanket over my firebox to keep the heat in the box (I have enough to do another if you want it), and I check it about every 2 hours. I do a combo of Hardwood charcoal, hardwood/oak, regular briquet charcoal, and flavored wood (wetted, in a box, inside the smoker). I try to keep it about 35% hardwood charcoal, 15% hardwood, and 50% regular charcoal. I burn the regular charcoal to white coals in a can before I add it. I could run more hardwood charcoal or actual hardwood, but that takes the heat too high. So, to keep the heat low and slow, I keep those percentages.

Pre-burning the charcoal in a Weber can keeps my heat very even at about 210, and my smoke nice and clear. If you have white smoke pouring out the top, your bbq will look like the original posters pic, some bark, heavy pink ring,

center white/brown, and be really bitter to the taste. You want light, wispy smoke coming out of the top of your smoker.

6. It all depends on how much heat and how clean your smoke is. The lower the heat, with clean smoke, it should go longer.

Beef ribs, I like to do about 5.5 hours. Fatty pork ribs can go about 6.5-7. Brisket depends on which cut, how thick, and how much burnt ends you want, as well as how you trim it. 6-8 hours depending. Pork shoulder, I like to run for about 9 hours. I also add some Dr. pepper to it every time I flip it.

My dry rub with a wet/steam smoker trick seems to keep the moisture in the meat much better, so it can go for longer. If you keep the heat to 215, which I consider just the perfect temp, then you can cook for longer. If you run at 230, you need to cut your cooking times.

The last party I had, one of the guys was shaking the pork ribs. His comment was, I have never seen meat just fall off the bone. He gave the pork ribs one shake, and the meat fell off onto the plate. Not saying I make the perfect ribs, but they are damn good.

 

[Knifemaker]

First off, I'd be glad to take that left over blanket off your hands, PM me on what you want for it.

Second....I think most rub recipes are heavy on sugar. Mine, a blantant ripoff of Meatheads Dust, with a slight variation, is more than 50% I think. Just something about "sweet and spicy" as a guide to sauces and rubs works so well.

Last cook I used Pepsi in a spray bottle to hit my ribs with halfway through... It's amazing that with all this the ribs never taste sugary.

Not sure if there's any real advantage cooking at 215F as opposed to 225-230. I think many folks get freaked out when their tempature spikes some, (as I did on my first smoke) I think maintaining a "range" is easier to shoot for than trying to maintain a specific tempature....of course how easy this is does depend some on the smoker itself.

I've cooked ribs with and without maranade....really didn't notice much of a difference. The maranade did seem to add something on meats I grilled as opposed to smoke.(I use Italian Dressing right out of the bottle) For ribs a dry brine seems to work as well as a wet brine, it's easier to avoid over salting for me doing it dry.

Do you really notice any addition in flavor with the cut up onion/garlic in your water?

 

[gapiob]

Is it considered that the smoked meat?

7 hours later

We do that for the baptism of my daughter.

 

[ionbeam]

Sort of a tangent topic here. Good Pillion had stopped at a high end butcher shop for some very delectable meatie items and there was a guy there giving away samples of the fire starter in the picture; she was given several sample bags.

First, I have to say that this fire starter answers the question never asked. Newspaper works great in a starter chimney and newspaper spritzed with Pam or salad oil gets the fire going quickly and surely, even in tough conditions. This stuff works better than that. Fill the starter chimney first, then stick a handful under the charcoal chimney, use one match and it lights. It burns hotter than paper and gets the coals going very quickly. If you are doing a minion setup the extra heat will light the minion ring too, you've been warned. This small bag started 4 batches of coals as dosed out by one handful per start (XL glove hand size). It works as advertised and it is a good value when it's free like these were. If you have a paper shortage or you are looking for quicker starts this stuff works. If you are a Frugal Yankee like Fred W you won't be buying stump wood

If I can conveniently find some and it isn't insanely priced I will probably score a small bag, our household has embraced the digital age making newspaper sometimes scarce, plus it is fast and easy to use. If you have the room to pack some, I can see this as being a sure and easy way to start a camp fire. If you ever need a small, very hot fire this is the ticket. And yes, it does seem to shout GIMMICK but it does work as well as advertised, but then again newspaper works good too.

Edit to add: This may be useful to get the smoking wood, well, smoking. I suspect that any very, very dry wood that has been shattered into little pieces would work just as well.

Edit II: Came home tonight and discovered that Good Pillion had stopped and picked up some more Good (M)eats for supper and she brought home a real bag of Stump Chunks. The bag is 10 times the size of the freebie sample (.7 cu/ft) for $6.00 and should last until winter arrives.