Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Fillet mignon pop tarts?!?! You may be on to something there

 

It was and it was amazing. Hard roll, Italian beef with lots of juice to soak the roll and topped w/ a slice of provolone.

 

It looks like sandwich meat. I'm not sure why you are slicing it so thin.

 

Got the last two prime Ribeyes trimmed up and in the Umai Dry Steak Bags for a 4 week age. The paper at the ends is to allow the vacuum sealer to draw the air out. These bags work great!

Starting trimmed weights of 10lb 12oz and 10 lb 8oz.

Once they're aged I'll re-weigh and trim the dark meat off. Then cut those into prime rib roasts.

The back one is dark because my garage fridge is running a tad cold and it started freezing last night. Turned it down and letting em ride.

Link to bags. https://www.drybagsteak.com/

 

Why is chipped ham, chipped? Why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west? IDK! I didn't invent the Italian beef I just follow the directions given.

 

Oh you made it into Italian beef. I missed that part. Was wondering why the hell you were cutting the daylights out of such a nice cut of meat. Guess it turned out so bad you had to make it into a sandwich LOL

I'll pass on the suz what ever it's called for now. Like I said, doesn't seem appetizing. And takes too long. I'd rather go for a brisket in half the time.

 

I've never been able to get a brisket in 9 hours. Most of the ones I make take between 14 and 20 hours. Can you divulge you technique?

 

horstuff said: ↑
When you go hot and fast for brisket, is it like 350 until stall and then wrap and put back on, total of about 4 hours plus rest?

 

Think I have the wings and grease problem solved. Grill grates and the Jumbo Joe of course. It is small enough can bring it in the garage (heated) easily and scrape any grease out of it. Has only been above zero a few times in the last 2 weeks and today it hit 30. You betcha..



Had 4 pounds of wings and got all but 8 of them on. My youngest son and I are stuffed the other 8 are cooking now think we will fight over who will NOT be eating them LOL. Success. Will stick with 3 pounds for the 2 of us. @Misplaced Nebraskan this beer is for you. Sorry too late it and several of its brothers are gone, if you were closer would save you some wings and beer.

 

And I'd gladly accept. Craving me some wings and beer. Looks mighty tasty!

 

Ok I gotta ask why Buckhannon
We go there for Lowe’s, donuts, Arby’s, and Wendlings food service
Seems like u could find any those things closer to home lol
Except wendlings

 

Pretty much, but I can't tell you the last time I used the stall as a timing mechanism. I go 325-350* until I get a good color on the outside. You may have to temper expectations on the bark a little, given that you're going fast, but not much. When it is a deep burgundy or even a little darker - this should be between 2 and 3 hours - then wrap it up until it finishes (foil, not butcher paper, here). At that temp, try to give yourself 5 hours, but it might finish closer to 4.

 

What temp are you cooking at? Try cooking at 275* and see what that does to your cook times. I assure you, if you still nail the timing on pulling it off the pit and give it a couple hours rest, the quality of the end result won't suffer at all. I started out cooking at 225* and I think that cook was in the 10 hour range (?). Now I'm at 275* mostly, with the occasional run up above 300* when I sleep in a little too long .

Also, give wrapping a whirl. I have no qualms about wrapping in foil (I personally think the effect on the bark is overstated), but have been doing butcher paper wrapping for the past 6 or so months. The butcher paper does preserve the bark a little better, though it doesn't speed the cook up quite as much. Kind of a really happy medium between wrapped and unwrapped (and Aaron Franklin's method of choice, for what it's worth).

Here are some results from cooks that were at ~275*, wrapped in butcher paper, and came in under 9 hours (shameless brisket pic whoring about to follow ) :

 

What's the word on turning a brisket into corned beef? I want to do it for St Pat's day this year, but I don't know how long to plan on it taking. Can a whole brisket be done or is it better to get a smaller portion?

 

@Poindexter didn't you do this a few times? I feel like I remember you posting about it on the GTO boards or was that just pastrami?

 

The word is you need to "corn" the brisket which means it needs cured with curing salts, spices and time. You can use the point or the flat or the whole thing. The curing process depends on the thickness of the meat and the process. I cure with dry rubs (don't care for brines) and plan on the cure penetrating the meat at approximately 1/4" to 1/2" per day depending on curing temps. Then add in a couple extra days to make sure the cure got the whole way through and then you are done with the 1st phase. For the record I cure 2-1/2" think bacon for 2 weeks so the point on brisket plan on 20+ days to cure. After its cured it is taken out of any collected juices and let to air dry and rest on a rack over a drip pan in a refrigerator for a day or two. This "rest" will also to let the cure/salt equalize within the meat. Then you have a cured brisket and can do one of two things with it. If you steam or Sous Vide it and the finished product is corned beef. If you cover it in pepper/spices, hot smoke it and it will be pastrami.

Some notes on curing.

-Use Mortons Tender Quick or cure #1. Cure #2 is for long aged air dried meats.

-The good news is you cannot over cure meats (within reason). So if you want corned beef on St Patrick's day start curing it 25 or 30 days prior. Hold in the cure until a day or two before you want to cook then pull from the cure, rinse air dry and cook. Since you can't rush curing you need to build in a buffer if planing on it being ready on a certain day.

-The bad news is you can under cure meats and this is bad. Since you cannot rush the process you need to revert to the above

-Curing temps! Curing must be done between 38*F and 42*F. If the temp is colder than 38* it will slow the curing process to the point where the meat can spoil before it cures. If the temp is to high nasty's can grow before the meat is cured. Nitrates/nitrites have one job while curing meats. They inhibit botulism from establishing and contaminating the meat. The salt in the cure helps leach out moisture in the meat which also inhibits bacterial growth. The combination of the 2 compounds gives us the ability to cure meats safely over long durations while nasty's are kept at bay.

-Sugar and other certain spices also can inhibit bacterial growth but not to the extent of nitrate and/or nitrite and salt.

-If you have a vacuum sealer they are a big help in the curing process. Apply the dry rub/cure to the meat put in vac bag and pull out 90% of the air and seal. You want just a little bit of air in the bag so the collected fluids that contain cure can be washed over the meat when you flip it. You can also cure in any food safe container as long as it is non-reactive. Just keep a cover on it so the meat does not dry out.


Not all that hard to do it just takes a while.

 

I go for the best baked steak in town.

 

Yes please

 

ohhh yes, instant pot is the sh*t !!!