Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Not too shabby... Not in prime position for grill acquisition at the moment unfortunately. But thanks for the heads up

 

Yeah I bought "meat scraps" from Publix. Ribs, just the tip.

 

So this is new to me. My pork butt sat in the fridge overnight after being rinsed and dried, then rubbed with yellow mustard and a liberal coating of Pitfaced rub, then wrapped in a double layer of cellophane. This morning, there was a significant amount of liquid in with the meat, probably 1/4 to 1/2 of a cup. I reserved it and I’m going to use it like a mop after the first hour, but what could have caused that? I’ve never had that happen with SPOG rub before.

 

I got a really dirt cheap one, label said 23% of weight was water added. Next morning I had a 1/2 cup of liquid too. I think it is from the cheap way of curing, inject with brine water. The slightly more expensive ones I bought say "water added" but no percentage, I'll let you know when they go in the smoker on Christmas....

 

Not sure why it hasn't happened with SPOG before? I'll frequently do briskets the night before with SPOG and they sweat just as much as anything else. Shouldn't be a problem.

One thing you may notice is that, with the Meat Massage, it is a much lower salt content, so letting the rub sit overnight will have the effect of sweating, then reabsorbing some of the flavor, but it won't cure the meat the way higher salt content stuff does. The curing can add a ham-like flavor to pork. Not saying good or bad, just different. Of course, with a pork butt, this effect is less pronounced. It would be more noticeable in ribs where the ratio of surface to interior meat is higher.

I don't see any reason to be concerned, though! Ought to taste mighty fine. Let me know either way!

 

Hm. I don't think my pork had any water added; there's a butcher shop in town that works with local producers so I don't think that sort of preservation is necessary.

Thanks for the explanation about how different ingredients affect the meat. I don't see that the 'sweat' as you call it is a problem; I was just curious. We are really looking forward to supper tonight, and I'll be happy to send a quick review your way!

 

That's an interesting conundrum and you're probably right to consider it different from brisket.

I think the idea of undercooking it slightly, then finishing at the destination is a pretty good one.

If you reverse sear it and let it shed a little of its residual heat afterwards, I don't see why you couldn't wrap a finished roast, though, and avoid it cooking much/any more during transportation.

If you're as finicky about avoiding a gray band on the outer edge as I am, then you have quite the task ahead of you! Good luck!

 

I’m doing a double smoked ham and a pork lion rib roast (if that’s the term) for Xmas. It’s going to be a race against the clock. Leaving my parents at 10AM, driving four hours home, will have to open whatever gifts Santa dropped here, get everything prepped and on the smoker in time for a 6 PM dinner here.

I’m thinking of doing them at 275-300 just to get them done in time.

 

Just pulled my first ever smoked brisket to let it rest.

My first visual impression of it there is not a lot of bark on it. I think my electric smoker is starting to not be able to hold temp like it should. My last 2 smokes have been big pieces of meat and I know that it has to work harder to keep temp but should not be lagging like it is. Its about time to ditch the electric Bradley and make the jump to pellet or charcoal smokers.

Also think I trimmed way too much fat during trimming but guess we will see in a hour or so....

 

Love me some RB&R... mmmm

 

Got any pics?

 

Only thing keeping me going right now at work Just looking forward to eating some at home

 

Honestly, I would not worry about over-trimming. I have only done 4 briskets and the best one so far was the most trimmed and no wrap for the stall. Pulling it at the right internal temp is more crucial, IME.

 

Supposed to be single digits above zero on Christmas here now instead of below. Hell they will change it 20 times before then. Both my sons want spicy chicken now. I can do that and have the smoker already loaded with fuel and ready to go.



Have a couple of ideas for the spice for the chicken. Jealous of the prime rib and standing rib roasts many are doing but both my sons like beef well done so not going to waste the money ruining perfectly good meat. Not sure exactly where I went wrong with them

Did a ribeye for me tonight and the youngest who moved back in with me a couple of months ago wanted chicken breast strips for wraps. So I thawed and marinated some strips for him and seared my steak. Then put the grillgrates on and did his chicken on it until my steak was almost done. Rotated the grillgrates over direct heat to finish them.





Turned out perfect for both of us.



Balmy out at 23* tonight when I did this. Gets a bit tricky as it gets colder though.

 

That looks like it turned out good . And don't worry about the meat thing. My wife, when we met wouldn't eat it if it wasn't brown and ruined. I simply refused to cook it that way for her. Finally she ate it and said... Wow... It's so much better this way. one of my better victories. . It'll come

 

Also, @Cold Iron , jealous of the snow...

 

I have a 20lb prime rib getting sitting in my refrigerator waiting for Christmas dinner. I’m going to smoke it for about 4 hours then put it in the oven to finish cooking. I will update with pictures this weekend.

 

Swear my story is the very same. She wouldn't even try a ribeye, and wanted a sirloin cooked to "shoe leather". Can't even remember what was the event that swayed her. But now she'll say "it's great, just a minute or two too long."

 

All this prime rib talk and I still have three in the fridge



And the alcoholic cream soda is not good by the way...

 

It is for brisket mop sauce