Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Fred W]

Doing smaller pork butts is probably the best way to go. The last ones I did took over 16 hours at 235F steady, but they were both pretty big. Next time if I have a lot to do I plan on chunking them up to 3-4 lb sized hunks. Cook faster and get more bark surface. Win-win!

 

[Knifemaker]

Yeah, I got a boneless butt and butterflied it. Came out great and took about half as long as it would if I didn’t. Bonus is more bark

 

[Fred W]

Hey! Is it a holiday weekend? Then it must be time to cook some pork ribs for the fam.



Cooking some St. Louis cuts following the Jeremey Yoder Texas pork rib recipe. Score the silverskin, SPG for rub. I’m using applewood because that’s what I’ve got. Pleasant day to sit out tending fire. Even got a few things done in the garage while watching the pit.

I’ve done these Yoder ribs before, and they were good! No doubt they will be again. Happy Labor Day weekend to all you FF’s!

 

[Bounce]

And it's below 100º all this week!!!!

 

[Knifemaker]

Putting 15 drumsticks on the pellet smoker this morning to take to a family gathering for my recently deceased cousin. Brined overnight, then coated with melted butter, olive oil, and some seasonings.
Will glaze them with a bbq sauce in about 2 hours and then sauce them with a thicker BBQ sauce with added brown suger and garlic.

 

[Knifemaker]

Got a picture before they were all gone:

 

[Knifemaker]

Smoked Greek stuffed pork loin:





Feta cheese, red pepper, onion, garlic and spinach was the stuffing

 

[Bounce]

I did a blue cheese stuffed on once and didn't realize how many people don't like blue cheese.

This may be the version they'll all like.

 

[Knifemaker]

I love blue cheese. No one in my family does. However, I once tried a local restaurants “blue cheese burger” and could not eat it. Seems the mix of beef flavors and blue cheese don’t mix well for me. Not sure how it be with pork (or chicken) but to play it safe I’ll just use blue cheese on my salads or on crackers.
Just in case you do the “Greek” filling, you need to sauté the mix first before using it as a stuffing. I cooked the onion, red pepper and garlic in med heat in a half stick of butter first, after they were tender, I slowly added the chopped spinach, after it was all wilted, I added the feta cheese. Then let this cool..(put it in a bowl in the refrigerator) before spreading on your butterflied pork loin.
Some people add chopped kalamata olives to the mix too.
BTW…it was really good. I smoked it for about 2-1/2 hours @ 225°F using apple wood. (Internal temp 145°)

 

[FJRBluesman]

Knifemaker, that looks fantastic!

Is this the longest thread ever?

I can't remember but I'm sure I have some replies in here... I love smoked foods. Now I'm going to be picky and cause a ruckus here, but... I am not very much of a sauce guy. I see so many things in this thread absolutely buried and OD'd in sauce. To me that takes away form the flavor of the meat, which IMO is the most important. I like my meat rubbed, and my pork pulled. I love that saying. I rarely use sauce and when I do it's only to try and enhance a bit and it's put on very sparingly. The flavor of the meat the smokiness, etc., to me, again, some feathers will be ruffled here, too much sauce means, you don't care about anything but sauce flavor. That's fine, make soup. Or you're hiding poor quality smoking or true BBQ. Take your pick and have at'it.

I have some pet peeves with too much heat, too much sauce, etc. You can have a delicate balance of herbs and spices and then drown it in sauce or heat and those herb flavors are wasted, you'll never taste them. Like putting a ton of hot sauce, ketchup, or steak sauce (YUK), on some meals why? Or having a Belgian style, peach, wheat brew, (BTW I hate fruit in beer but it's for the lesson) IPA. As soon as you add too much hops for the IPA portion, the style and flavors are lost. So what's the point of going to so much trouble to drown it in something at the end? Now that's just me. So be kind, or not.

 

[Bounce]

I love blue cheese. No one in my family does. However, I once tried a local restaurants “blue cheese burger” and could not eat it. Seems the mix of beef flavors and blue cheese don’t mix well for me. Not sure how it be with pork (or chicken) but to play it safe I’ll just use blue cheese on my salads or on crackers.
Just in case you do the “Greek” filling, you need to sauté the mix first before using it as a stuffing. I cooked the onion, red pepper and garlic in med heat in a half stick of butter first, after they were tender, I slowly added the chopped spinach, after it was all wilted, I added the feta cheese. Then let this cool..(put it in a bowl in the refrigerator) before spreading on your butterflied pork loin.
Some people add chopped kalamata olives to the mix too.
BTW…it was really good. I smoked it for about 2-1/2 hours @ 225°F using apple wood. (Internal temp 145°)

I overdid the smoke on my tenderloins this last time. Didn't have apple, so used mesquite. It burns hotter and is a stronger flavor. The medalions are fine but MAN is there a lot of smoke.

Still, stab-em-with-a-fork porkcicles (warmed not cold) are mighty tasty without extras.

 

[biknflyfisher]

Hey Smoking Folks:
I’m looking to add a pellet smoker to my arsenal and would like some “personal experience” opinions from those that follow this sub-forum. I still have and regularly use my OK Joe, and will continue to do so when I feel like being outside babysitting the fire. But, there are times I’d like to have something smoked but DONT want to have to babysit the fire. Or, come home at lunch from work and throw on some ribs and they will be approaching ready when I get home from the office - I would like to have that as an option.
My son has a Traeger and has had very good luck with it over +-5 years, but I know as with anything mechanical/electrical things can often go wrong with equipment, but his experience has been very positive.
I’m willing to spend some money on this unit ($2K or less) to get something that works well and is dependable.
Looking for some some personal experiences and observations.
Brian the biknflyfisher

 

[FJRBluesman]

I had a Traeger and now have a Green Mountain Grill. I made the switch due to the Traeger having large temperature swings that I didn't like. The GMG was far more consistent. Traeger may have corrected the issue by now, I'd hope after 12 years. FYI the guys that started GMG worked at Traeger and thought they could do better.

I like the simplicity of the pellet smokers, they're easy to use, maintain, and cook with out having to stoke the fire or have huge swings in temp, etc. I'm sure the better real smokers using wood are very good and love it and might taste better, but for what you get I believe the pellet smoker is pretty dang good. I know many real wood smokers that have pellets smokers too.

That also being said if you use high quality pellets (also use pellets for cooking not for other things) that use real wood material and not added flavorings you'll do well in taste. So far I like the Traeger pellets best. Without getting exotic at some wood places and the price point makes Traeger pellets a great deal for flavor, burn, etc. I've tried Kirkland, Cabella's, and other brands pellets and most are filled with oak. They don't taste as good, leaves me with lighter smoke rings, and faster hotter burns. I buy six different flavors of Traeger pellets and put them in five gallon Lowe's buckets and I mix my own blends all the time.

I hope this helped. Good luck!

 

[Bounce]

You can get nearly all the benefits of a pellet smoker with a controlled blower to manage air flow in a wood smoker. Feeding it during the smoke being the big missing piece.

 

[Knifemaker]

Knifemaker, that looks fantastic!

Is this the longest thread ever?

I can't remember but I'm sure I have some replies in here... I love smoked foods. Now I'm going to be picky and cause a ruckus here, but... I am not very much of a sauce guy. I see so many things in this thread absolutely buried and OD'd in sauce. To me that takes away form the flavor of the meat, which IMO is the most important. I like my meat rubbed, and my pork pulled. I love that saying. I rarely use sauce and when I do it's only to try and enhance a bit and it's put on very sparingly. The flavor of the meat the smokiness, etc., to me, again, some feathers will be ruffled here, too much sauce means, you don't care about anything but sauce flavor. That's fine, make soup. Or you're hiding poor quality smoking or true BBQ. Take your pick and have at'it.

I have some pet peeves with too much heat, too much sauce, etc. You can have a delicate balance of herbs and spices and then drown it in sauce or heat and those herb flavors are wasted, you'll never taste them. Like putting a ton of hot sauce, ketchup, or steak sauce (YUK), on some meals why? Or having a Belgian style, peach, wheat brew, (BTW I hate fruit in beer but it's for the lesson) IPA. As soon as you add too much hops for the IPA portion, the style and flavors are lost. So what's the point of going to so much trouble to drown it in something at the end? Now that's just me. So be kind, or not.

It was fantastic. And you’ll notice just a rub, no sauce..

Most everything I grill or smoke I don’t use sauce. I might spray my ribs with some kind of liquid, but that’s not sauce. Cleaning burnt BBQ sauce off a grate is a pain.

Unfortunately the wife and granddaughter like BBQ sauce on their ribs and chicken. So I usually serve that on the side for them.
The chicken above was served in a homemade sauce, but it was thin, and didn’t stick that much, so not as overwhelming as pouring a thick sauce over them. Those that wanted to were free to spoon on more if they wanted to.
I mostly agree with you, but sometimes I like a coating of sauce that’s been caramelized onto the meat…. Mostly stuff off a grill where there’s no real smoke on it anyway.
I don’t care if some guest pours BBQ sauce or ketchup over something I’ve served them….
Unless it’s a carefully cooked steak. Then of course, I have to shoot them…….

biknflyfisher

I have an inexpensive Pit Boss pellet smoker I got on clearance at Walmart for $168. So far, seems to work fine. It does have a slight temp swing, but it’s only like 12 degrees and always above the set temperature, not below it.
That said, I’ve heard only good stuff about Green Mountain, and if I had the money at the time, that’s what I would have bought.
Been happy with Lumberjack pellets.

 

[FJRBluesman]

I concur knifemaker. I make ribs half with rub only and half with sauce. Lightly sauced. I like both. And yes that loin cut you cooked is usually dry not much fat. Yours looks great (nice fat cap), and I can see the moister glistening. You did an awesome job. I can taste it form here. Excellent job Chef... ur uh Pit Boss.

 

[biknflyfisher]

I’ll have to see if there any retailers near me that carry Green Mountain Grills.
I think I’ll watch some You Tube videos on GMG in action…..

 

[Knifemaker]

Happy Thanksgiving all. As usual, we again broke from tradition and this year, instead of turkey, I smoked a nice big salmon fillet.
I dry brined it for 5 hours using a 2:1 mix of kosher salt and light brown sugar. I then glazed it with “hot honey”… honey simmered with jalapeños from my garden and red pepper flakes. Smoked with applewood in my pellet smoker @ 225°F for about a hour, pulled at 125°.
Was totally outstanding. Had the nice buttery taste of baked salmon with an aftertaste of cold smoked salmon. Definitely doing this again.